//------------------------------// // Chapter Fourteen // Story: Where No Pony Has Gone Before // by RK_Striker_JK_5 //------------------------------// Kang paced back and forth. He stood in the hallway just outside the room with the mirror, Kirk, Spock, Mara, and Twilight were there as well. He finally stopped in front of Twilight, crossed his arms, and glared down at her. “Let me see if I have this right. In the reality this Sunset Shimmer resides in, the entirety of the Federation, the Empire, perhaps all of our galaxy, we are all fiction, there?” Twilight met his stare. “I've seen the footage, Captain. I know how insane it sounds, believe me. I've recently had my own view on the difference between reality and fiction shaken.” Kirk spread his arms out. “Kang, there's a speech from an old play that comes to mind. 'All the world's a stage, and– ” Mara interrupted him. “Yes, yes. Kang and I know. 'And the people, merely players'. Act II, Scene VII from 'As You Like It'. We've seen the play many times, Kirk. It does apply here, even if it's quite cliched.” Spock and Kirk looked to her. Spock arched an eyebrow. “I am rather... surprised that you two are familiar with the play, Mara.” Kang chuckled. “Of course we are, Spock! You should come with us to the First City to see it.” He glanced to Mara. “After all, you've never experienced the Bard until you've heard it in the original Klingonese.” Kirk and Spock looked to each other. “I'm sorry, what?” Kirk asked, leaning forward. Twilight looked inside the door. “Okay, time to form the portal. Now, Sunset talked with Trixie about this, and they both promised to be on their best behavior. Still...” Her expression softened. “Please don't be too harsh on either of them, all right? They're trying to help and, well, you're all heroes to them.” With that, she walked into the room, stood in front of the mirror, and fired a beam from her horn at the crystal atop the mirror that connected Equestria to Canterlot High. Kang's eyes followed Twilight. “It's still... unsettling, to learn one is fiction, even if it's in another reality.” He held up a hand. “Yes, yes. I've read the reports about the Terran Empire, and what happened near the Tholian Border with the Defiant.” He jabbed a finger at Kirk. “But it's one thing to read dry text, and another to experience it firsthand." Any response was cut off as two ponies, one an alicorn, the other a unicorn, emerged from the mirror. Sunset Shimmer walked out first, once more wearing her Starfleet costume. The second one, Trixie, wore a blue long-sleeved shirt, black pants, and had a large grin on her face. Trixie's suitcase floated behind them, wrapped in the distinctive glow of Sunset's magic. Trixie's eyes whipped back and forth. “That was a lot... smoother than I thought.” Her legs stumbled slightly, but she regained her balance quickly enough. Trixie twisted her head around and looked herself over. “Just like you said, Sunset. This is...” She held up a foreleg and looked it over, eyes stopping at the hoof. The smile fell away and her eyes watered.. “Oh, no!” She hung her head. “You were right, Sunset. I can't perform the Vulcan Salute!” Everyone in the hall slowly looked to Spock, who merely stood there, eyebrows raised slightly. Sunset patted Trixie on the shoulder. “Come on, Trixie. You and I both know that won't matter.” She looked over to Twilight and nodded slightly. “Twilight, good to see you again.” She craned her neck in the general direction of the door. “Are they...” Trixie's ears swiveled about. She followed Sunset's line of sight and began walking in the direction of the door. “Are who... do you mean...” She suddenly floated a half-foot off the floor. Trixie let out a gasp and kicked at the air. “Hey, what gives?” She grunted and her head twitched. “How do you... activate this damned horn?” Sunset floated her back down to the ground, but kept Trixie enveloped in her magic. “Okay, first off, how did you know you have a horn?” Trixie rolled her eyes. “I can feel the thing sticking out of my forehead!” She glanced at Sunset. “What, you can't feel it, or those wings?” Sunset blinked. “Okay, I concede that point. The second is, remember what we talked about? These are real people, not the actors and actress. We have to treat them with respect and not be overwhelming jerks.” Trixie swallowed. “You're... right, Sunset. Trixie-I'm sorry about that.” She looked to Twilight, eyes widening. “Oh, Twi... Princess Sparkle?” Twilight shook her head. “'Twilight' is fine, Trixie. We're all friends, after all.” She looked over her shoulder. “Captains? Mister Spock? Miss Mara? You can come in, now!” The quartet entered the room. Sunset's cheeks colored almost immediately. Trixie, meanwhile, stood stock-still, eyes wide, and with a rather stunned expression on her face. Her mouth opened slightly, then slammed shut with an audible clack. Kang looked from Trixie, to Sunset, then to Twilight. “I am Kang, son of K'naiah.” Trixie thumped her chest with a hoof, then extended her foreleg. “ben law' batlhmey SoH, qeng, puqloD k'naiah, je tuqwIj!" Kang reflexively returned the salute. “Glory to you... Trixie Lulamoon. And to you, Sunset Shimmer.” He looked back to Trixie. "Not bad, although there's still a hint of a Terran accent." Trixie beamed. Sunset glanced up at Kang. “Captain, sir. Twilight told me you and Mara would be told about this whole thing.” The suitcase floated forward and popped open. “If you're still a bit confused about it, don't feel bad. It's still a little murky to everyone else.” Her brow furrowed. “There's a line from a play. Perhaps you've heard of–” Kang threw his arms up. “Are you earthers incapable of referencing anything other than Shakespeare?” Sunset chuckled. “Fair enough, Captain. How about Lewis Carroll then: Are you the dreamer or merely a part of someone else’s dream?” Without waiting for a reply, she opened the suitcase and floated several cases out of it. “All right. Here we have the entirety of the Star Trek television series.” She sorted the cases into seven groups, then paused. Sunset blinked. “Trixie, that's your cue.” She looked to her right. “Trixie?” Trixie stared up, her eyes locked on Spock. Her mouth was slightly open as she mumbled incoherently. With a start, she closed her eyes and shook her head. “Gyah, I... I am so sorry about that.” She looked at the cases. “Ah, these are...” She scrunched her face up in concentration. “They're divided up by series, and the movies. The Original and Animated series, those cover your five-year mission, Captain. Then there were six movies.” She paused, lowered her head, and bit her lip before continuing. “Then the Next Generation, which covers the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D.” Kirk's right eyebrow shot up. “The 'D'?” He looked to Spock, grinning. “Quite the... honor, that they kept our registry number. Wouldn't you say?” Spock nodded. “Agreed, Captain. It makes one wonder what we shall do in the future to earn such an honor.” Trixie opened her mouth, but suddenly shoved a hoof into it. Her eyes bulged out slightly as she breathed around the hoof. Everyone stared at her for a moment. Mara held out her tricorder and turned it on. “I'm reading an elevated heartbeat from her, as well as increased brain activity. Are you well, Miss Lulamoon?” Sunset slowly extended a wing over Trixie. “Breathe in, breathe out. It's all right. Would you like me to continue?” Kang grunted and crossed his arms over his chest. “To be treated in such a manner is so... undignified. Can she not control her impulses?” Mara rolled her eyes. “And how would you react, dear husband, if you met Captain Koth of Battlecruiser Vengeance?” Kang's countenance darkened, but he remained silent. Trixie slowly removed her hoof. “Okay... Deep Space Nine is about a space station on the edge of Federation space. That's the one with Sisko, who you met during 'The Trouble with Tribbles'. Voyager is about a ship stranded in the Delta Quadrant, and Enterprise is about the NX-01.” Kirk nodded. “Ah, Archer's ship. Required reading at the Academy.” Kang's expression lightened slightly. “Wait... tribbles? And this was a mission the Enterprise was on?” At Trixie's nod, he stroked his beard. “I remember Koloth telling me about that, and that idiot spy fouling things up thanks to those damnable pests.” He shook his head, the smile falling away as quickly as it came. “Now they infest our food production worlds, and even with the glommer, we can barely keep up with exterminating them.” Twilight's expression fell. “Oh, I'm so sorry to hear!” She rubbed her chin. “You know, we do know a thing or three about dealing with pests. If things work out, we could send some help your way.” Kang leaned back slightly. “You would do this for us? What if negotiations do not work out?” Twilight shrugged. “We'd still like to help. What are friends for?” Kang stared at her, brow furrowed slightly. Sunset, meanwhile, opened up one of the cases and gently extracted a silver disc from it. “Okay, here's the first disc. Disc one of Star Trek: the Original Series.” She turned it around and read off the episode titles. “Mister Spock, ready?” Spock stepped forward and knelt down. He flipped his tricorder on and held its sensor wand up. “The tricorder is now ready to copy the data, Miss Shimmer.” He waved the wand over the disc while his eyes were glued to the small screen embedded in the tricorder. “This disc is finished, Miss Shimmer. The next one, please.” Sunset floated the recorded disc back into the case and floated the next one up. She repeated the procedure, finishing the case rather quickly. “I must say, Mister Spock, that went quicker than I thought.” Trixie nickered. “They may look like they were made in the 1960's, but that equipment's very advanced.” She glanced to Mara. “So... will you be recording any of this, too?” As everyone looked to her, she shrugged. “What?” Kang nodded to her. “She has a point. I am glad to have been let known of this, but are we to have this information, too? Is there anything of value for the Empire?” Sunset and Trixie exchanged a look. “Considering what's coming down the pipe, I think it'd be a good idea,” Trixie said. Sunset looked up at Kang. “And there's other, more... personal stuff.” She sucked in a breath. “Kang, Mara, in the future... an albino Klingon pirate will kill your child, along with the children of Koloth, and Kor.” Kang and Mara exchanged a look. Kang slowly shook his head. “We have no son.” Kirk stepped to Kang's side. “Kang, I may be missing something here, but this is your... son! How can you dismiss him like that?” Kang slowly looked to Kirk. “I spoke literally, Kirk. Mara and I have talked about it, but we have no children.” His expression changed to one of surprise, with more than a little shock. “A son? We'll have a son!” His mouth turned up in a wide grin. “A son, to carry on my name! A son...” He spun about and dropped to one knee in front of Sunset. “What do you two know about what he will do to our children?” Sunset's gaze turned distant for a moment. “In 2290, you three will break up his power base, but fail to capture or kill him. In revenge, he'll infect your children with a genetic virus through you. His name is Qagh. A key component of the virus comes from Omega IV.” She sucked in a breath and slowly turned her head to her right. “Captain Kirk, I feel it appropriate to tell you, he'll try and infect Hikaru Sulu to strike at his future daughter Demora. Fortunately, he'll turn out to be immune to it, due to having been exposed to elements of it on Omega IV.” A book with the title 'Forged in Fire' floated out of the suitcase, along with another case. “A lot of information is here, along with an episode of Deep Space Nine.” The case opened and a disc detached itself from its holder. Spock spoke up. “Captain, I believe it necessary to make all attempts to stop this 'Qagh' and safeguard Mister Sulu from any potential harm.” Mara's face twisted in rage. Her free hand clenched, tight enough so that blood dribbled down the palm of her hand. She abruptly stood up. “I will find this albino, carve his heart out, and eat it in front of him as he dies!” Kang placed a hand on Mara's shoulder. “No, Mara. We will carve his heart out together.” Sunset slowly nodded. “That sounds–” Her head shot around to Twilight's direction. The princess' head was down slightly, eyes narrowed. “Ah, Twilight?” Trixie cantered around to Twilight's side. She leaned in close. “Twilight, are you... all right? I know their reaction might seem a bit... extreme.” Kang's face flushed. “Excuse me?” Trixie continued. “This is their culture, though. And the Albino's threatening their family.” Twilight's head slowly rose. “Yes?” She looked from Trixie to Sunset. “I fully understand their reactions. This albino threatens their future children because they dared to stop him being a pirate.” She paused in thought. “A few years ago, my brother was getting married to Princess Cadance. There were some... problems in the planning and preparation. Long story short, I thought Cadance was using Shiny for some nefarious purposes. It turns out the pony I thought was Cadance was an impostor–again, long story. But one I'll tell.” She sucked in a breath. “When I found Cadance–the real Cadance, I was fully ready to blow a hole in her head. Fortunately, she convinced me she was the real one, but I can still understand how they feel.” Sunset stared at her for a long moment. “Wow, Twilight. That's... not exactly what I expected you to say.” Twilight looked to her,winking. “I'm a little more open to other ways of thinking than you might think.” She looked back up at Kang and Mara. “No matter what, you've got friends here in Equestria that will help you and any future children you'll have. You have my word of honor on that.” Kirk spoke up. “Kang, Mara... if there's any help I can offer, any at all, I too offer it. No one should... lose their child. Especially not like that.” Trixie bit her lip, her cheeks puffing out. Sunset eyed her, but remained silent for the moment. Kang slowly turned to fully face Kirk. He stared at the captain, expression as neutral as possible. “We would... not be averse to your aid, Captain. Not in a matter like this.” Trixie's took a step forward. “Captain, you may keep my copy, if you need to. I don't know how long you or Mara would need to read through it, or how we'd be able to arrange it to get back to me. So please keep it, as a gift.” She looked to Sunset. “Could you, please? I don't trust myself not to hurl the book into their faces.” Sunset's horn glowed, and the book floated over to Kang. He snatched it in midair and began rifling through the pages. “Can you read English?” she asked. Kang snorted. “We do have universal translators, Sunset Shimmer.” He closed it and looked down at her. “But yes, I can read this.” He glanced to Kirk. “As a rather wise human once said, 'know your enemies'.” Sunset looked to Trixie, who was still biting her lip. “Captain Kirk, first off, I believe it would be advisable for Mara to be able to copy the information on the discs. There's information there about the Empire, and I... do trust at least the two of them enough to be able to deal with the information properly.” Kirk slowly nodded. “I... also trust Captain Kang in this regard, to... do the right thing.” He motioned to Mara. “I won't stop you.” For the next several minutes, Mara and Spock waved their tricorder's sensor wands over the discs from Trixie's collections. After the last disc's information was copied, the two stood up. Spock flipped his tricorder flap closed and looked to Kirk. “Captain, with your permission, I shall prepare this information to be sent to Starfleet Command upon arrival on the Enterprise.” Kirk rubbed his chin. “Yes, Mister Spock. However... make an additional copy, and keep that one... on board.” He half-smiled. “Just for safekeeping.” Spock arched an eyebrow. “Understood, Captain.” Kang activated his communicator. “Pride, prepare for transport.” He held the book up. “Thank you for this. Mara and I are in your debt.” Kirk held a hand up. “Kang, I would like to read that book, too. After you're done with it. Sulu's life may be in... jeopardy as well. As well as the life of his daughter.” Kang glanced up, eyes somewhat wide. He looked at the book, then to Kirk. “You shall have this in your hand before my ship leaves the Equus System. I swear that to you, Kirk.” He activated his communicator once more. “Energize.” As the two Klingons transported away, Kirk knelt down. “Trixie, Sunset, I... thank you for this invaluable information. I'm not fully sure how it will be used, but rest assured. This won't be thrown or... filed away, to gather dust somewhere.” Sunset stared at Kirk, eyes wide. “Thank you, Captain. I think I can speak for Trixie and myself when I say it means a lot to us to hear you say that.” Trixie's head bobbed up and down. “Yes, yes! She does speak for me, Captain! I am so glad to help you and meet you and Mister Spock and I just want to tell you how awesome and cool you two are! I still remember the first time...” Her voice trailed off. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Trixie is sorry. That was... stupid of me to say.” She walked over to the mirror, head hung low and cheeks burning. Sunset grinned sheepishly, her own face slightly blushed. “Sorry about that. Trixie really does look up to you, and to the entire crew. This is... kind of restrained compared to how she was on the other side of the mirror.” She walked over to Trixie, leaned in close, and draped a wing over her. Kirk shook his head. “As I said before, Miss Shimmer, there's no apology necessary.” He smiled. “Better than hating us, at least.” He turned his head. “Don't you agree, Spock?” Spock nodded to Kirk. “A logical outlook at it, Captain. One I agree with.” Sunset looked to her right, and the mirror. “Maybe it's time we go back to our own reality? I think for the moment, we've done all we can.” Trixie's head bobbed up and down slightly, but her eyes remained transfixed on the floor. Kirk stood up. “Very well, Sunset. I do... thank you both, again, for doing this.” Twilight's horn lit up as she reactivated the mirror. She hugged Sunset, and patted Trixie on the back. “Thanks for doing this, you two. Trixie?” She waited for Trixie's head to tilt up slightly before continuing. “My personal hero is a unicorn named Star Swirl the Bearded. I think if I met him in the flesh, I'd fanfilly over him even more than you.” Trixie nickered. “Thank you, Twilight.” She glanced in Kirk and Spock's general direction. “I'll get you a copy of that book if I can. And... Mister Spock?” Spock took a step forward. “Yes, Miss Lulamoon?” Trixie sucked in a shuddery breath. “Some of the things from later installments of the franchise will be a bit... shocking to you, and to Captain Kirk, and to others.” Spock slowly nodded. “I shall keep that in mind. Thank you.” Sunset and Trixie walked through the vortex in the mirror, vanishing from Equestria. A half-second later, the vortex itself vanished, separating the realities once more. Spock held his tricorder up. “Captain, when we return to the Enterprise, I shall begin an immediate analysis of this data.” Kirk nodded. He looked down at Twilight, rubbing his chin. “Twilight... would it be possible for you to cross through the mirror without anyone on the other side... noticing your arrival?” Twilight eyed him. “I suppose... but why?” Kirk explained his idea. With each word, Twilight's expression brightened. “I'll do my best,” she said, smiling brightly. Kirk unclipped his communicator from his belt and flipped it open. “Kirk to Enterprise, stand by to beam up landing party.” He bowed his head to Twilight. “By your leave?” Twilight chuckled and returned the bow. “By my leave, Captain. Bye for now.” Kirk smiled. “Thank you. Enterprise, Energize.”