//------------------------------// // Season 2 Mini-Episode 10: “Reminiscence about the Future” // Story: Star Trek: Phoenix // by Dewdrops on the Grass //------------------------------// STAR TREK: PHOENIX S02ME10 “Reminiscence about the Future” Another meeting, another set of failures. She expected it at this point, really. While they’d had a few small victories here and there, for the most part their attempts just weren’t working. Adagio couldn’t be sure why, but she had a sneaking suspicion it was due to the lack of magical gemstones. Shimmer crystals were all well and good, as were dilithium or any number of similar lattice structures, but they just weren’t the same as a good old fashioned mana gem. At least they were aboard the Enterprise for this meeting, thanks to the latest attempt involving their shield generators. And while they were here, the two ponies suggested visiting the ship’s Stellar Cartography lab. So now they were being escorted there by Riker. Will Riker… every so often she caught him looking her way, just for a second or two. Those gray eyes, full of humor, wonder, and not a little bit of awe for her, or at least that’s how she read it. Framed by that soft but masculine face, that full beard lending a bushy look to his smile, his pearly white smile that— Adagio checked herself. This was absurd. She wasn’t feeling something for a humanoid, was she? Especially not one as hairy as these apes. And yet, that face, that beard. Just the way it framed everything so perfectly, and lent a charm to him that she couldn’t resist being attracted to. It helped that he had a pretty good looking body to go with, tall and strong, yet not so bulky or muscular that he’d crush her if he held her in his arms. Goddess, what was she thinking? She really had been humanoid for far too long. “Something wrong, Miss Dazzle?” Adagio shook her head, a light flush blooming on her cheeks. “No, of course not, Commander. Just… thinking.” He smiled at her – again that incredible smile – and returned his attention to the corridor. “Stellar Cartography is right through here,” he said as he entered a nearby door. “Huh, it’s very different from the old one on the Enterprise-D,” commented Sunset Shimmer, as they entered a single level room with a large screen dominating one wall, and an array of consoles laid out in front of it in a semi-circular pattern. “Probably because the Sovereign-class starships aren’t as scientifically-oriented as the Galaxy-class,” added Twilight Sparkle. Riker nodded. “Unfortunately true, and not just in rooms like this either. The Borg and then the Dominion reshaped a lot of starship design philosophies.” “Yeah, yeah, that’s great and all,” growled Aria as she stepped up to the console, “but I’d rather focus on why we’re here.” “Mmmhmm!” Sonata chimed in. She then stared at the console blankly. “So, uh, how does it work?” Riker gestured to Twilight, who stepped up to show them. “So you access the computer through here,” she said, her magic dancing across the controls, “and then we can bring up the database like this.” A map of the galaxy appeared on the massive screen. “Then we can zoom in to look at anything we have data on, so we can get an idea of where all you’ve been.” “So what exactly do you want us to enter?” Adagio said as she sauntered over to the controls. “We were hoping you could recall some of the constellations or stars you could see from the planet you landed on after you were first banished,” Sunset said. She gestured to the screen with her hoof, which showed an empty canvas of a night sky. Adagio hummed to herself, then after a moment of studying the keys, began to work the console. She managed to get a couple of stars entered, then hit some sort of cryptic error message she didn't understand. “Damn it,” she muttered. “Problem?” Riker asked as he stepped up to the console next to her. “Ah, I see what’s going on with that error. May I?” He held himself in place, waiting for an answer. Adagio smiled to herself. “Go ahead, you can reach around me.” She scooted over, just barely giving him enough room. He smiled in return, and deftly moved in till he was close behind her. She could almost feel his breath on her neck as he reached for the keys. “This is how you want to work it,” he said as he guided her the next few entries. The whole while, the physical closeness left Adagio burning on the inside more and more with each passing moment. “There, does that help?” “It does, thank you,” she said, feeling a little disappointed when he stepped away again. So she rushed to get the rest of her entries in, and soon enough the other two Sirens were filling in the gaps. “Okay, that should be plenty,” Twilight said after a while. “Computer, run an analysis of the night sky produced here against all night skies in the known Enterprise database. Correlate and list any and all similarities in order of most to least, and note any major discrepancies.” “Working. Process will take approximately five minutes.” “So what was the point of this again?” Sonata asked gormlessly, eliciting a deep desire in Adagio to smack her upside the head. She loved Sonata, but sometimes she could be so oblivious. “We’re trying to see if the Enterprise’s more advanced Stellar Cartography lab and more recent database might have something that the Phoenix didn’t,” Twilight said. She pointed to the list being formed. “It’s to help us track down Equus.” “Since you're not certain about where the planet you were banished to lies in space, we need to come up with a set of likely possibilities based on what you remember of the night sky. With any luck its location will help us out,” added Shimmer. “You really think the Enterprise has data that the rest of your Federation doesn’t?” Adagio asked, trying to hide how much she cared about the answer. Sunset nodded. “You never know. The Enterprise attracts weirdness like almost no other ship, and they end up in a lot of far-flung places. But we’re also going to run this against the database of every other ship in the fleet too, just in case.” “Hmph.” Adagio walked off to a corner of the lab while the others launched into some pointless conversation she had no interest in. After a moment, Riker joined her. “I hope I’m not interrupting,” he said, holding up his hands in a placating gesture, that ever present smile still gracing his face. Adagio raised an eyebrow. “Did you need something?” “Well, actually, now that you mention it,” he said, “I have a proposal. See, I’ve got a couple of people I play in a jazz trio with, usually on the weekends in Ten-Forward. It’s nothing fancy, nothing too dramatic, but it helps us keep our mood up. Especially with the war on, it helps to take some time off to play some music.” “Uh huh,” Adagio murmured. “And?” He let out a slight chuckle. “Well, I’ve long since wanted to add a vocalist, to make it a quartet. But I’d never found anyone I thought was suitable, at least… not until you.” “Oh?” She found herself smiling now as she crossed her arms. “And what makes you think I’m your gal, hmm?” “I’ve heard you sing in Ten-Forward before a couple of times. I couldn’t get it out of my head; it completely blew me away. With a live band behind you instead of recordings, I can only imagine what you’d be able to do.” Adagio let loose her own laugh, sultry and rich. “Well, my dulcet tones are famous for reeling in an audience.” Riker’s smile grew. “Well, you certainly caught my attention. If you'd like, after we're done here, you could perhaps join me in Ten-Forward? I can run you through some of our repertoire, maybe discuss some song ideas?” Adagio uncrossed her arms, and took a step towards him, deliberately sashaying her hips. “Why Commander, are you asking me on a date?” He blinked, his smile turning sheepish. “Well, that depends on whether you think I am or not.” She stepped closer, until their faces were mere inches apart. “If your playing is as sharp as your wit, you may just have a chance after all.” He took in a sharp breath, moving just a little bit closer. “I do like a challenge.” “Hey, computer’s almost done,” said Aria, startling the two into moving away from each other. Adagio glanced briefly at Riker, then sauntered over to the console. “Good. Let’s see what we’ve got.” The computer picked that moment to state, “Analysis complete.” And on the screen a list of systems blipped into being one at a time. “I don’t recognize the names of these systems,” Aria said, pointing to the list. “Not surprising,” Twilight replied. “If the inhabitants have regressed like you said they had, they likely have a different name for it than we would for our database. But these are the most likely candidates.” She pulled the first one up on the greater galactic map, then frowned. “Wait a minute. The next few systems on the list… computer, can you pinpoint the top five systems on the list, and showcase them on the map alongside Sol?” The computer bleeped once, then showed them the resulting image, and everyone gasped. “Okay, that’s weird,” Sunset said as she drew her hoof across the screen. “Since when do you get systems lined up in a straight line like this?” “You don’t,” Aria murmured. She rubbed her chin. “Hey, hang on though, how do we know any of these are the right places? We only went to the one planet. The other four don’t matter.” “I think it’s the first one,” Sonata chimed in. “It probably is,” Twilight said as she peered at the map. “But, Aria’s right. Seeing these systems lay out like this is bizarre… why would that happen?” She looked at Sunset. “Do you think…?” “Maybe?” Sunset said with a nod. “Computer! Tie in to the Phoenix database and pull up Shimmer file Alpha forty-two Baker, and cross reference with the list already shown.” “Working.” After a moment, a new night sky appeared on the left side of the screen. “That’s the night sky from Canterlot,” Twilight said. “Oh, no wonder it looks familiar,” Sonata said. She cocked her head. “But I don’t get it.” “Computer,” Sunset said. “With the data now available, can you plot a likely location for Equus?” The computer took a moment to respond before it let out a negative bleep. “Negative. Insufficient data.” “Damn it!” Sunset cursed, slapping the console. Riker gave her a sympathetic look. “It was worth a shot.” “Yeah, still…” Sunset sighed and looked at Riker. “Thank you for letting us use your lab, sir. We should return to the Phoenix.” Riker nodded, then took a moment to glance at Adagio and smiled softly. “I’ll contact you later to set up a good time,” he said. Then he nodded. “Ladies, Ensign, Commander.” The doors swished as he left the room. “Alright, let’s get to the shuttlebay,” Sunset said, directing everyone. Adagio followed last, content to make them wait for her. She walked in relative silence while the others chatted, and remained that way until they boarded the shuttlecraft, which Twilight piloted for their brief journey. Adagio, as usual, took a seat as far in the back as she could. It wasn’t long before Sunset wandered over to join her. “So, Riker, huh?” she said with a grin. Adagio raised both eyebrows. “What business is it of yours?” She let out a wry chuckle. “It’s not, not really. Buuuut, if you want some advice, I worked for the guy for a couple of years.” “Oh?” One eyebrow lowered, replaced by a subtle uptick of the right side of her mouth. “Alright, I’m listening.” Sunset stretched out her wings before responding. “Riker… is complicated. If you didn’t know him, you’d think he is a womanizer with how often he’s dating women, but the truth is, the guy just falls in and out of love hard, and he treats every relationship seriously.” She eyed Adagio. “So if you’re interested in him, make sure you take it seriously too.” Adagio snorted, glaring at the wall. Then, biting her lip, she looked back at Sunset. “Thanks for the advice. That’s useful, actually.” “Oh yeah?” Sunset eyed her knowingly. “You weren’t just interested in him for sex, were you?” Adagio sighed. “Maybe at first. But I’ll admit, there is something… unique about him. Intriguing.” “Well, if you do pursue him, make sure you’re serious about it,” Sunset advised as she stood up. “Because you’ll probably only get one chance.” Adagio reached out a hand to stop Sunset before she could head for the cockpit. “What makes you say that?” Sunset smiled as she looked back. “Because sooner or later, he’ll remember what a good thing he had with Deanna Troi and they’ll hook back up. For good this time.” She winked, then stepped away to take a seat near her sister. Adagio snorted. What the heck was that supposed to mean? What did Deanna Troi have to do with anything? Adagio had barely exchanged more than a few words with the woman. She’d tried to get Adagio to submit to counseling, but Adagio told her to stuff it, just as she had to every other counselor on every other ship, except for Hendricks. Hendricks, she could talk to, because that woman didn’t bother with pointless psychobabble. “Phoenix, shuttle Muo, requesting landing.” “Confirmed, Muo, landing approved in Auxiliary Shuttlebay.” “Acknowledged, Phoenix,” Twilight said as she guided the shuttlepod towards the Auxiliary Shuttlebay. Adagio wondered why the ship didn’t make more use of this one. While smaller than the cavernous Main Shuttlebay, it was positioned on Deck twenty-two, and unlike the Main Shuttlebay it didn’t directly face the pylon leading to the overhanging pod. Who was responsible for that design anyway? Why not build the shuttlebay into the pod’s pylon instead of putting it behind? Oh she knew it had something to do with the Nebula being, in many ways, a stripped down Galaxy-class, to the point of using the same saucer sections, but it still struck her as a peculiar design flaw. If it were up to her she’d have altered the pod pylon design to make room for shuttlecraft to exit without having to do funky maneuvers to get around it. But no one ever asked Adagio for advice on starship design. As soon as the shuttlepod landed, Adagio and her sisters exited. “So what’re you going to do now?” Sunset asked as she secured the shuttle’s main door, all of its occupants having disembarked. “Holodeck,” Sonata answered immediately. “We’ve been trying to recreate one of our favorite places on Equus. Wanna join us?” Twilight and Sunset exchanged a momentary look. “Sure,” Sunset said. “We’re both off duty now, so we might as well.” Adagio gave Sonata a long-suffering glare, having not really wanted the ponies along, but maybe they could help. Soon they were at one of the ship’s holodecks, and Sonata typed on the console. “Computer,” she said, her voice ringing, “Load Siren program E22.” “Program complete. Enter when ready.” The oversized Holodeck doors slid open with their telltale mechanical groan, revealing a rainy beach landscape, the area littered with rocks and shoals. The ocean loomed before them, cold and grayish blue, furling and roiling in the stormy atmosphere, waves washing ashore to leave strings of foam and bits of the occasional flotsam and jetsam. As the holodeck exit closed and vanished, Adagio glanced behind to see the beach lay at the foot of a series of hills that rose up above the beach, the land completely covered with trees and other lush, green foliage. “Oh wow,” Twilight gasped, looking all over, the rain washing her mane against her skull. “This isn’t what I expected.” “No, it looks like a beach right out of British Columbia, or Washington state,” Sunset added, fanning her wings out to catch some of the rain, before abruptly launching off to do a bit of flying around, soaring up in the sky then rocketing down to wash her hooves along the ocean before riding the wave back onto shore and landing right back where she had started. “It’s pretty nice in a way.” “Nice isn’t the idea,” Aria said as she found a rock to lounge on. “It’s supposed to be dreary.” “Ugly,” Sonata added, doing the same. “Dreadful.” “Miserable,” Adagio concluded, smiling in satisfaction. “Just like the emotions we crave, it’s like home. Or, what had been home once.” “We were born on shoals like these,” Aria said, pointing to the rocks. “This is supposed to be one of the beaches on the northern continent of Equus.” “Oh?” Sunset nodded. “Computer, load globe of Equus, based on Shimmer map file EQC two niner Alpha.” A globe appeared on the shore. “Increase size of globe by five hundred percent.” The globe grew til it towered over them, the metal fixtures of its frame creaking in the rain. Sonata perked up from her lounge rock. “What’s this?” “It’s a map of Equus that Sunset and I began building years ago,” Twilight answered as she walked up to the globe. “See, here’s the Equestrian continent, and the layout of cities.” Adagio and Aria both closed the distance to look at the globe. “...holy shit, you ponies really built a lot of cities after we were banished,” Aria said, her eyes wide with awe. She pointed to a northern city. “Here, this is where this beach is supposed to be.” “Bridleford,” Twilight read. “Equestria’s most northern town on the east coast. It’s cold there, a lot of the time.” “That’s right,” Sonata chimed. “Feels like the middle of summer in here right now.” “I wonder where this beach is relative to the town,” Sunset mused. “Not a tourist destination, I take it?” Adagio asked. Sunset shrugged in reply. “No idea, to be honest. I hardly ever left Canterlot when I was younger. I was an orphan, never knew my birth parents at all. So there really wasn’t anyone to travel with even if I had wanted to. I was close to aging out of the orphanage entirely when I won a place at the School for Gifted Unicorns through their open scholarship program.” “Oooh, that’s the same program I applied for, sis,” Twilight said with a chuckle. “Why did we never talk about that?” Sunset shrugged. “It never seemed important how I got there. What mattered was, Princess Celestia picked me to be her personal student within the first few weeks. I showed great potential, she said.” Her expression twisted into a cold frown, almost a sneer. “And then she dangled power in front of me like a carrot for three years until she showed me the mirror, and all the while she…” Adagio, feeling a rare bit of sympathy for the pony, came forward and patted her on the shoulder. “You wanted her to be like a mother to you, and you never got it.” “...no, I didn’t,” Sunset admitted. She let out a long-suffering sigh and smiled. “But that’s all in the past, and I have actual parents in T’Lona and Amina now.” “I hope they’re doing okay,” Twilight said as she approached Sunset and nuzzled against her side. “We hardly hear from anyone, stuck in this nebula.” “They’re probably fine,” Aria said, waving her hand dismissively. “So, sounds like your Equestria is a lot different from the one we remember.” “Yeah, we remember it being a small alliance of different pony tribes,” Sonata said gaily. She rubbed her chin then pointed to Canterlot, Manehattan, and Cloudsdale. “These three. They used to be Unicornia, Pegasopolis, and Earth. But after they defeated Discord, Celestia and Luna united the three tribes under a new flag, with the two of them sharing rule as Princesses.” “Luna?” Twilight echoed. “Who’s Luna?” Sunset shook her head. “Twilight, we’ve talked about this. She’s Celestia’s sister, remember? Used to be around, turned into Nightmare Moon, blocked out the sun, was banished?” “Oh, right, right,” Twilight murmured, flushing with what Adagio presumed was embarrassment. “I never learned about any of that before I came here. I always thought of Nightmare Moon as a big myth for Nightmare Night.” “That’s how Celestia wanted most ponies to remember things,” Sunset heaved a sigh as she plopped her rear down on a decent sized rock. “She wanted them to treat Nightmare Moon as a myth so that when she did eventually return, no one would associate Luna with the idea of Nightmare Moon at all.” Sunset let out a bitter laugh. “She told me that in confidence too. She was always afraid somepony would find out about her super secret plans to use the Elements of Harmony to save Luna. You know, I used to wonder if the only reason why she took me as a student, why she ran the school at all, was to find someone to do the job for her.” Adagio, Aria, and Sonata all hissed at once. “The Elements,” Adagio growled. “Those wretched things gave Starswirl and his “pillars” the ability to banish us through the mirror.” “We were terrified,” Sonata admitted as she joined them around the globe. “We were hungry, starving almost, and here we were suddenly in some woods we’d never seen, some kind of weird funky alien place.” “And the first time we met the locals they almost killed us,” Adagio said as she too took a seat around the globe. “Fortunately in the process they also fed us pretty decently.” “It didn’t help that we were in these bizarre alien bodies,” Aria grumbled. “Okay, see, that’s what I still don’t understand,” Sunset said as she looked at them. “Why did you transform, and Twilight and I didn’t?” “Probably the Elements,” Twilight concluded, rubbing her chin. “From what you’ve told me, Sunset, the Elements of Harmony were meant to bring about some kind of, well, harmony to any dangerous situation. When used on people it could help purify them of evil, or lock them away like Tirek if they were too dangerous, or, if the intent was to banish…” “It could make them appear similar to the people in the place they’re banished to, to let them potentially get along,” Sunset said with a nod. “Good thinking, Twilight. It explains why we didn’t change form; we never interacted with the Elements.” “Assuming we’re right,” Twilight interjected. “Well, yeah. But I think it’s a safe assumption, given what we know.” “Well whatever the case,” Adagio said, “it left us floundering. And we certainly didn’t learn any sort of harmonious lesson from it.” “All we learned was to distrust people like Starswirl,” Aria added, rolling her eyes. “And that we dearly missed being in our old siren bodies.” “Ooooh. What I wouldn't give to be able to swim one more time in my old body,” Sonata said with a moan. “I don’t even remember what it feels like anymore,” Aria admitted. She looked out into the ocean. “Swimming as a humanoid just isn’t the same though.” Sunset and Twilight flashed them all sympathetic looks. “Err, well… you said you wanted help with this program, right?” Twilight prodded with a small smile. “Anything we can do to make this feel more like home?” Adagio appreciated what Twilight was trying to do, and nodded, smiling back. “Yes, there is. We’ve done the best we could to make it like what we remember, but some of the details seem off, and well, none of us know the Holodeck as well as you two do.” “Well then,” Sunset said, “Let’s see what we can do. Computer, arch!” She stepped over to the arch that appeared and brought up the program schematics. “Okay, let’s… make the weather a bit better while we work on this.” She tapped a few keys, and the gray skies changed almost immediately into a bright, sunny day. “Hmph,” Aria harrumphed, folding her arms. “The rain was better.” “I know, and we'll get it back in a second. But this'll make it easier to see the changes we make,” Sunset replied. “What do we need to fix?” “Weeeeell,” Sonata said as she traipsed over to join Sunset at the console. “The beach sand is too fine. It should be coarser.” “Okay.” The panel bleeped under Sunset’s touch. “What else?” “Too many large rocks, not spread out enough,” Aria called out. “And the beach should be at least ten percent wider,” Adagio added. “And with more area for the seafoam to spread out on.” Sunset made the appropriate changes, and all three Sirens smiled as the beach morphed in front of their eyes. “Okay, anything else?” The three Sirens exchanged looks for a moment, then Sonata said, “There… should be other Sirens. A few swimming in the sea, one or two lounging on a rock. And a couple nests in the tidepools, with Siren eggs.” “What kept you from putting those in before?” Twilight wondered as Sunset’s magic rapidly danced over the keys. “...it just didn’t feel right,” Adagio said with a sigh. “But…” Sunset nodded, her magic paused over hitting the final button. “I’m about to place them, if it’s okay. But if you change your mind, they’re gone in a flash.” Adagio bit her lip, then nodded. “Go ahead.” Beep. All around them, Sirens of all colors and sizes appeared, precisely in the places they’d indicated, and a few more besides. A couple of smaller ones immediately slithered over to Aria and Adagio, peering at them curiously. “You’re a funny looking Siren,” said one, her voice coming across as adolescent, maybe late teenagehood. “And you’re about to get your snout kicked in if you insult me again,” Aria growled back, jumping up from her rock to make herself look larger. The holographic Siren glared at her a moment before breaking into laughter, and after another moment Aria joined her. “I like you,” the hologram pronounced. “Wanna come swim?” “...sure,” Aria said. She glanced at Sonata. “Hey, dumbass. Come swim with us.” “Okay!” Adagio watched the two head directly for the sea and hop in without any compunctions. She felt a warmth fill her heart, a warmth she hadn’t quite felt in a long time. “I’m a little surprised, you know,” Sunset said as she stepped up next to Adagio. “Every time I think I’ve figured you three out, you surprise me again.” “Why? Because we’re not constantly wallowing in misery and woe?” A smirk crossed Adagio’s face. “Because we know how to smile and have fun from time to time?” Sunset shook her head. “No. Because you keep letting us see more about you. I figured you’d always keep cards like these close to your chest, but here they are, spread out on the table for all to see.” Adagio turned and, to her own surprise as much as Sunset’s, squatted down to look Sunset in the eye. “I’ll admit, when we first met you, we didn’t trust you at all. But ever since… you’ve shown us friendship, Sunset. And… we’ve long since mellowed out of most of our negativity. We may not ever trust all ponies, but at this point, I'd say we trust you two.” “Wow,” Sunset said with a huge grin. “I feel touched, Adagio.” Adagio gave her another look, then threw her arms around Sunset in a quick hug. “Thank you. For everything.” Then she released the hug. “But if you ever tell anyone what I just did, I’ll gut you and use your hide as a hat.” Sunset burst out laughing. “Your secret’s safe with me, Adagio.” She let out a small sigh as she looked over the beach scene. “Why don’t Twilight and I get out of here, leave you three to it. From the looks of things, you could go for some sisterly bonding time, so to speak.” “More than you know,” Adagio replied. Sunset nodded, then suddenly perked up. “Speaking of which…” she turned around and yelled back towards the beach. “Hey, Twilight! How about a trip to Two-Forward; just you and me.” “Kay!” Twilight called, and after rejoining Sunset, she gave the Sirens a brief goodbye nod, and the two left the Holodeck. Right afterwards, before the exit could vanish again, the console by the arch beeped. Adagio, curious, approached it, and saw there was an incoming message, which she answered. “Ah, Miss Dazzle,” said Riker, his smiling face appearing on screen. “Just the person I was looking for. Would now be a good time to work out what we discussed earlier?” Adagio nodded. “Of course.” “Hey, Adagio!” Aria yelled from the water. “You coming or not?” “One second, Commander.” She put the line on mute and took a few steps away. “Just a second, alright?!” Before unmuting the line, she looked at the screen, where Riker was busying himself with a PADD in his hand. “You're lucky this is catch and release season, Commander.” We had just left the holodeck when my communicator beeped. “Liang to Shimmer.” "Shimmer here, sir.” “Is Sparkle with you?” Frowning, I answered, “Yes sir, she is, why?” “Ah, perfect. I need you both to report to Two-Forward, on the double.” We gave each other an equally confused look. "We were actually on our way there now, sir. May I ask what this is about?" “You’ll find out when you get there. Now make it snappy, please. Liang out.” In our hurry to get to Two-Forward we made one of the classic blunders – hopping on a turbolift going the wrong way, assuming you can just turn it around at the next stop when the current occupants got off and be on your way. What a rookie mistake that was. By the time the two techs from the Baltimore thought to speak up and ask for directions to the Engineering Labs, we were six decks and dozens of sections off in the wrong direction. And of course, once they got to the right spot, the turbolift stopped at least once on every deck as we tried to make our way back up. “Finally. Thank heavens that’s over,” Twilight muttered as I followed her off the lift. “One more stop and I think I’d have lost it.” “Same here,” I replied. I turned right and trotted around the corner, where Twilight had held up to wait for me. “On the other hoof, at least the door openings gave us a break for fresh air.” Twilight smiled and laughed a bit. Though our worst days were far behind us now, it never failed to warm my heart to see her smile. And there were plenty of reasons for us both to be smiling today. “Gosh I know. I mean, the Baltimore team has been wonderful to work with. Perhaps even more so than any of the other ships here with us,” she answered. “But you’d think the only thing their replicators know how to make is garlic.” “Pfft!” I laughed along with her as we playfully bumped into each other. “Curse our pony noses, I guess.” “Yeah. Not the best universe for overly sensitive noses. Heh, makes me wonder how Mother puts up with it day in and day out.” “Good point,” I chuckled. “And who would have thought equines would have anything at all in common with any species here, much less Vulcans.” Though her comment made me wish again that we could communicate back home. It had been months since we’d been able to even send a simple communique out of the nebula, much less a subspace video call. If not for the melee in Quark’s, I probably would have remembered to send a note before leaving the station. Too late for that now, I guess. I just hope Mother and Mom are doing ok. I slowed a bit to let Twilight take the lead while we squeezed past a maintenance team working on one of the wall-mounted panels, and a few gaggles of crewpersons hurrying back towards the turbolift. I stayed behind Twilight the rest of the way to our destination. Two-Forward wasn’t blessed with the same extra-wide and decorated doors as its cousin down on deck ten. If not for the nameplate on the wall next to the door, you could waltz right by it and never realize it was there. But the moment those non-descript doors close with their telltale swish, and all the quasi-controlled chaos outside is silenced, you’d be reminded again why most of the senior staff preferred to keep it that way. “Ah, there you two are,” Liang said as we stepped inside. Owing to its position near the top of the saucer section, Two-Forward wasn’t very big. Roughly the size of two officer’s quarters put together, really. When this was part of the Enterprise-D, it was most often used as a formal dining room for important groups or functions that were too large for the Captain’s private dining room. The room’s layout reflected that still, owing to it being one of the few parts of the old Enterprise-D interior that survived the transformation into Phoenix relatively unscathed. A small bar hugged the interior wall to my right, flanked on one side by a pair of single-unit replicators. Though similar in shape to its cousin on deck ten, this bar was dressed in warmer, richer materials. A deep, almost navy blue base, rather than the usual gray. The wooden foot rail was stained a much deeper color, and sported a thin line of polished brass running through the middle of it. The same design formed the top rail of the bar, adding an elegant contrast to the polished white marble bartop. The bar itself sat on an elevated platform, giving it a commanding view of the small cadre of tables that dotted the blue and gray carpeted area just below. A number of officers crowded the room; in addition to myself and Twilight, Danielle, Cadeneza, Wattson… even Maia were all gathering in a line behind the Captain and Williams, who both stood at a podium in front of a row of seats filled by senior officers from various departments, like Hill and Zhidar. The end result left the room feeling claustrophobic, making my wings twitch. “Now, Sparkle, Shimmer, if you would line up with the others, please,” Liang said, gesturing for us to join the lineup. “Yes, sir,” I said as we did just that. “Sir, what is this about?” Liang simply raised his eyebrows, and I took that as my cue to stay quiet. After a few more moments, he tapped his cane on the podium to get the room's attention. “Well, now that our last two have finally deigned to show up,” he quipped, “we can begin. Normally, you would have all been informed of this ahead of time, but given recent circumstances and the types of schedules we’ve all been working since this fleet formed, the surprise was unavoidable.” I took a deep breath as I realized where this was going now, and couldn’t help smiling. “Commander Williams, if you would please assist,” Liang said as he tapped a few keys on his PADD. Williams took a box out from behind himself and approached the first person in line, Maia. “Each of you have been performing brilliantly as of late, given the remarkable circumstances we find ourselves in. As such, it is my duty and privilege to be able to offer a promotion to each of you. Miss Kelia Maia, please step forward.” Maia did so, her face impassive as Williams popped open the case and pinned an empty golden circle onto her collar.“ For your outstanding performance as a security officer and in testing new tech, you are now officially Lieutenant Junior Grade. Congratulations.” Applause filled the room as Maia nodded and stepped back into the line. Preta was called next, and she too received a promotion to Lieutenant J.G. After her was Danielle, who moved up to full Lieutenant, while Wattson and Cadeneza both moved up to to Lieutenant Commander..Then, clearing his throat, he said, “Ensign Twilight Sparkle, please step forward.” I smiled proudly as I watched Twilight quietly step forward and present her collar – and I very nearly jumped out of my chair with joy when I saw Williams place not an empty circle, but a full gold pip on her neck! “In the line of duty, there are those who work, and those who excel. Twilight Sparkle has worked tirelessly and fearlessly, as one of the most important, most sensitive aspects of our current mission. She has excelled as an officer and as a person, and has exceeded expectations at every turn. As such, I am hereby promoting her to full Lieutenant. Congratulations, Lieutenant Sparkle.” She grinned like a loon as she retook her position in the line, the audience full of applause. Liang cleared his throat for silence. “Finally, last, but certainly not least, Lieutenant Commander Sunset Shimmer, please step forward.” It was my turn to grin like crazy as I took my position as requested, with Twilight watching on in glee. “As my first officer, Sunset Shimmer has been nothing short of extraordinary. She has fulfilled every one of her duties to the fullest, has stepped up many times for special assignments, and still finds a way to keep pace with her sister on every aspect of this research program. In doing all this and more, she has shown herself as worthy of duties that, arguably, are beyond the rank she had been assigned. In every way she has proven herself.” Williams stepped up and removed the empty gold circle on my collar, replacing it with another full circle, giving me three full pips. “I hereby promote Sunset Shimmer to the rank of Commander, with all the rights and responsibilities therein. Congratulations, Commander Shimmer.” The whole lounge filled with applause and words of congratulations. Liang watched this for a moment, then tapped his cane on his podium and smiled. “Well, thank you all kindly for sitting through the ceremony. Now, enough formalities. Let’s celebrate these officers and their promotions, shall we?” He held up his cane and pointed at the bar. “Ensign Flanagan, you’re up.” “Yes, sir!” Flanagan said. Everyone got back up and spread out into clusters of people talking to each other. After we each made the rounds congratulating the others and making small talk, one such cluster formed around Twilight and me. “It’s about damned time they gave you that third pip, Sunset,” Cadeneza said as she admired her own shiny new empty circle. “Well yeah,” I said with a laugh as I wrapped a wing around Twilight’s shoulder and pulled her in. “But I’m happier for this one. You got the same skipped promotion I did, Twi! I wasn’t sure that would happen.” “Well, it probably helped that my attitude improved over what it was before,” she chuckled back, giving me a side hug. “Oh yeah,” I said as I tousled her mane with my other wing. “You’d better believe it did. You’ve become the officer I always knew you could be.” “Yeah, I guess I am. Feels good too,” Twilight murmured, surprise in her eyes even as she smiled softly to herself. “Yup. Now come on, sis. Let’s go see Mr. Flanagan about that drink.” “Alright.” “Good evening, Commander, Lieutenant!” We turned and saw the bartender, the always affable Ensign Flanagan, waving us over. “Please, step on up!” We waved back as we made our way over. I waited for Twilight to lift herself up to one of the cushioned bar stools before taking the one next to her. “What can I get you two?” Flanagan asked, flashing us his usual pearly white smile. “You’re just in time, actually. I was about to announce last call.” “You were?” Twilight and I said as one. I half-spun around on the stool to look back at the clock mounted just above the entry door… and immediately groaned. “Aw jeez. 2000 hours already? Yikes, where did today go?” I turned back to Flanagan with an apologetic look. “Totally our fault for not checking the time, Flanagan. We just got distracted talking to everyone else. But please, don’t let us keep you. We were just going to get a synthale anyway, so we can use the replicator over there.” “No no, it’s no trouble at all, Commander,” he said, waving me off. “Besides, someone’s got to toast to your new promotions, right?” Twilight’s cheeks flushed once again as she messed with her collar. “Well, if you insist.” Flanagan chuckled as he returned a stack of clean glasses to the storage drawers below the bar. “I do insist. You don’t get promoted every day, and you two especially deserve this promotion. Besides, I won the bet.” “The bet?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “On when you two would get promoted and that the Lieutenant here would skip her J.G. just like her sister.” Flanagan grinned. “I just won me two full bars of latinum.” I whistled. “Wow. Did you hear that, Twilight? Two bars? For the both of us? Hmph!” I feigned some outrage of my own. “I'd have expected at least two bars each, you know.” I coughed and gave him a mock glare. “You realize, of course, gambling like that is prohibited by Starfleet regulations. I'm not sure if I should confiscate it straight away, or hold it over your head until you tell me who you made that bet with.” He flashed a sly, pearly-white grin. “Nice try, ma’am, but I’m not giving up my money that easily.” The three of us broke into shared laughter at that. “So,” Flanagan said, “Two synthales, right? I’m on it.” I leaned forward and adjusted my wings a bit to try and get a bit more comfortable while we waited. “So, how’s your day been otherwise, Flanagan?” “Oh you know the drill, work in the engineering labs, grab some lunch, then go back to the lab,” he replied. “Wattson’s not working you too hard down there, is she?” I winked. “No worse than usual, ma’m,” he laughed as he grabbed a pair of glasses and began filling them. “But it’s alright, really. Everyone’s trying to crack this problem. Quite literally trying to make magic happen, after all.” A few moments later he deftly slid a couple of coasters in front of us, followed quickly by two frosty mugs of synthale. “Heh. That we are, Ensign. Any luck today?” I asked. “Sadly, no.” I took a small sip from my mug while I watched him sweep a damp towel in front of us on his way to the opposite end of the bar. Not that it needed more cleaning; I could almost see my full reflection in the polished surface as it was. If Guinan were around even she’d be impressed with how tidy Flanagan keeps the place, to say nothing of the energy he brings to a job he unofficially hired himself for soon after joining the Phoenix. “But,” he continued, “it wasn’t all bad. We did raise the total strength of a standard containment field by five percent with only a miniscule increase in power consumption, thanks to the Shimmer Crystals.” “Small wins are still wins,” Twilight said between sips of her own drink. “Nice work!” “Absolutely,” I added. “And we need any win we can get right now. Please give my thanks to your team.” Flanagan put the towel down, stood tall, and gave us a nod. “Will do, m’am. Thank you both.” “Now, enough about me, let’s talk about you two - specifically those shiny new pips I see.” “Yeah, I wasn't expecting that today, seriously.” I glanced at Twilight, who seemed about as caught between ‘sheepish grin’ and ‘smug’ as I was. “But I have to admit, they do look good. Especially on Sparkle over here.” “That’s Lieutenant Sparkle to you,” Twilight replied, bumping me in the shoulder for good measure. I couldn’t remember the last time we had ribbed each other like this, but there was no way I was passing up the opportunity now. “Oh, well pardon me, Lieutenant.” I lifted a wing in a mock salute. “I’ll be sure to remember the chain of command next time.” I held the salute just long enough for all three of us to break down into a laughing fit. For an all-too brief moment, everything felt just a little bit lighter. Like it used to be, before this godforsaken war derailed literally everything we had ever hoped to do here. We finally calmed down a bit and caught our collective breath. “Really though,” I said, looking at Twilight directly, “Ranks aside, I’m so proud of you, sis. You worked your flank off and then some, and you earned that new pip a hundred times over. Congratulations.” “Here here!” Flanagan said. He had procured his own mug of synthehol as well, and raised it in the air. “If I may, a toast to you both, and to all of the day’s promotions. Congratulations.” “Cheers!” We clinked our glasses together and shared a round of handshakes - and an extra hug for my sister of course, despite her protests of being embarrassed. I had to almost order Flanagan to actually get some rest, but he eventually bade us a good night and headed out. The last hangers on from the ceremony cleared out shortly after that, leaving us with half-empty mugs and an entirely empty lounge. At my suggestion, Twilight and I grabbed our mugs and settled into the much more comfortable chairs near the floor-to-ceiling windows. We chatted some more about the Sirens and the many stories they shared with us earlier, what Mom and Mother might be up to back on Earth, and just whatever else came to mind, really. I even threw in a good word for Garak’s shop, and encouraged Twilight to pay him a visit if she ever passed through Deep Space Nine. After a while we kind of ran out of things to talk about, but I don’t think either of us minded. We just sat there, mugs empty but hearts full, staring out the windows at the glowing, pulsing nebula outside, the only sound the lowkey thrum of the ship’s engines. I don’t know about Twilight, but for me it was the closest I’d come to a moment of real peace since the last time I had joined Mother in her daily meditation routine. In fact, we were both so lost in the calm that neither of us heard the door open behind us. “See anything interesting out there?” I looked out the corner of my eye - and nearly had a heart attack. “C-Captain?!” I sprang out of my chair so fast I nearly knocked over the low-slung table with my back leg. Twilight flinched at my sudden motion, then she too leapt to her hooves when she spotted our very unexpected guest standing back near the bar. Some of our easily-spooked equine nature kicked in at that moment, because we both stood there staring straight ahead at Liang like new recruits on the first day of basic training. “G-Good evening, Captain,” I finally said, willing some calm into my voice. “Anything we can do for you, sir?” Twilight added. Liang looked at us both for a moment as if in thought, then tapped his cane on the floor. “Yes, there is. You can stand at ease and join me over here before both of you pull a muscle and I have to explain myself to the good Doctor May again.” Twilight and I all but deflated on the spot. “Phew,” I muttered, taking a moment to straighten my uniform and reset the table. After giving Twilight a second to sort herself too, we made our way over. “Apologies, Captain. As you could tell, we didn’t hear you come in. Just, erm, got lost in thought I guess.” He smiled and shook his head a bit, clearly bemused by the whole thing. “Oh, I figured as much. I suppose I could have announced myself the moment I walked in, but I didn’t want to ruin the moment.” “The moment, sir?” Twilight asked. “The two of you, of course. You’ve been through so much on this ship alone, to say nothing of the years prior. Watching you and your sister navigate that minefield was tough to do at times, and my parental instincts nearly pushed me to intervene more than once.” Liang gestured for us to sit. “But you found your way through to the other side - as individuals and, most importantly, as sisters. So I hope you’ll forgive this old man for feeling just a little bit like a proud parent for a second.” I couldn’t help but to reach out and drape a wing over Twilight’s back. I glanced at her and saw the same happy smile I had reflected back at me. “Good thing we’re alone in here, Captain,” I said, making sure to inject some sarcasm in my voice. “If Zhidar heard you say that, he’d accuse you of being a softie.” “Ha! Trust me, he may be perpetually grouchy, but he’s not as tough as he looks. But, that’s a story for another time, I think.” “Speaking of time, sir, did you need us for anything? We’re both off duty but—” Liang gently held up a hand to pause me. “No need to worry, Commander. In truth, I intended to return anyway, after I finished with some duties. I was hoping I’d still find you here, and here you are. I’d like to get your honest opinions about something. And, since I didn’t get a chance earlier…” he bent down out of view, only to pop up a second later with two glasses in hand. “I’d like to celebrate your promotions.” Twilight and I glanced at each other in mutual surprise. “Oh! That’s quite generous of you, sir. Thank you,” I said. “Although…Flanagan went off duty for the night, but if you tell me what you’d like I’ll grab it from the replicator.” Liang leaned back as if I had taken a swing at him. “The replicator? Commander, you wound me. Need I remind you where you and your compatriots found me?” I could tell he was feigning outrage, but still, I trotted right into that one. “No no, I remember, sir,” I finally said, waving my hoof for emphasis. “At The Beam and Mast. Your ba- er, I mean pub.” “Nice save there, Miss Shimmer,” he laughed. “I guess I’ll let it slide, this time.” Liang lightly rapped his knuckles on the bar. “Now, what’ll it be, you two? It need not be real alcohol of course, but I’ll thank you not to refuse entirely.” “Anything at all?” “Two things I never forget,” he replied. “The command codes, and my recipes.” “Alright then,” I muttered, puzzling over the choices for a moment. “Aldebaran Manhattan, with a twist.” Even after all this time, I still had to force myself to drop the ‘e’ when saying that city’s name. Old habits die hard. “Excellent choice,” Liang replied before turning to Twilight. “And for our newest Lieutenant?” “Hmm… I think I’ll keep it simple and say Arcanis Lager. The real stuff.” She looked at me with a confident smile. “One and done for me though. Gotta be up early tomorrow.” “Not a problem at all,” Liang said, spinning a metal strainer in his hand. “Comin’ right up.” The next few minutes gave us a look at James Liang the mixologist, and it was fascinating to see. Don’t get me wrong; Flanagan knows what he’s doing behind the bar too. But the Captain brought a level of flair to the process that was similar but also different. Perhaps a bit less showy, but completely lacking in wasted movements. Every pour, every stir, every shake was done with intent and exactly as many times as was needed. No more, no less. Even Twilight’s beer was poured perfectly, without so much as a drop of foam spilling over the top of the mug. Watching him work, I was reminded that when we paid a visit to his pub in Hong Kong, neither Cadeneza or I really got to see him in action. “Aand here we are, ladies. One Aldebaran Manhattan with a twist, and one Arcanis Lager. Frosty mug, of course.” Liang deftly placed both drinks down in front of us – again without spilling a drop. “Bravo, barkeep!” Twilight said, lightly clapping her front hooves together in applause. I joined in too, and the Captain took a playful bow in response. “You’re too kind, but thank you. Now!” He grabbed a second Manhattan that he had made for himself and raised it in front of us. “I am of course proud of any member of my crew earning a promotion, but as I said earlier, I am especially proud of what you two have accomplished. As they say in my native tongue… Gānbēi!” “Gānbēi!” we both replied, clinking our glasses together. I took a small sip off the top of my drink, considering how full the glass was. “Mhmm…” I hummed as wonderful tastes washed over my tongue. Aldebaran whiskey was normally quite strong, and could easily overpower anything else it might be mixed with. But this was incredibly well balanced – just enough sweet vermouth to round out the whiskey’s bite but still keep it lively. And a hint of bitters kept the vermouth from building up too much sweetness on the other side. “Perfection.” I watched Liang sip from his own drink and smile, seemingly quite satisfied as well. “Good to know I haven’t lost my touch.” We fell into casual conversation after that. Turns out the ‘honest opinions’ he mentioned had to do with the magical research – specifically the lack of big breakthroughs that seemed to be frustrating everyone by this point. We batted around some ideas of our own, plus some we’d picked up in conversations with our colleagues on the other ships. But in the end, even the Captain had to admit the prospects of the kind of game changing development that everyone was hoping for just might not be possible. At least not with the hardware available to us out here. Finally, a lull in the conversation left all three of us swirling the last dregs of our drinks in our glasses - and stifling a yawn in Twilight’s case. Seeing ‘2130’ on the clock near the door, I could understand why too. “With your permission, sir,” Twilight said between fighting back another yawn, “I think I should be off to bed.” “No worries, Miss Sparkle,” he replied. “Sleep well.” “Thank you, sir. And thanks too for the drink. See you tomorrow, sis?” “You bet.” I smiled and gave her a small wave. “Good night.” Twilight gave us another wave, then turned and headed for the door. I guess her yawn was infectious, because no sooner had I finished my drink than I half-stifled a yawn of my own. “Yikes. Excuse me.” I brushed a stray bit of mane out of the way and sighed. “I think I should do the same, to be honest, sir. With your permission.” Liang nodded and bid me good night. I took a moment to float our now empty glasses over to him so he didn’t have to reach over the bar, and made my way to the door. “Commander.” I stopped just as the door swished open in front of me and looked back. “Sir?” “If you’ll indulge me a few minutes more, I… do have one more thing I wish to discuss.” “Oh?” My ears perked up along with my eyebrow. I was tired as heck but this was quite unexpected. “Yes, of course.” I returned to my seat at the bar, where I was greeted with a pair of shot glasses, each filled with Aldebaran whiskey, and a suddenly pensive looking Captain. “What’s on your mind, sir?” He stared at me intently, like he was looking at me and past me at the same time. My sense of propriety told me I shouldn’t stare back, but just the same, I couldn’t look away either. What was he thinking? Clink I looked down and saw his comm badge sitting on the bar. My mouth went bone dry in an instant. “C-Captain?” “Miss Shimmer. I won’t order you to do this, but I… would appreciate it if you could remove your badge as well. Just for a minute.” “Er, um, okay.” I plucked my badge off with a hoof and placed it next to Liang’s. “Wh- What’s going on, sir? Has something happened with the war?” “No. Well, not this war, anyway. I took my badge off because…” There was that pensive look again, like he was hesitating to continue. “Because if we’re going to have this conversation, we need to do it as people. As friends.” I tried my best to keep a neutral face, despite my confusion. “Yes, of course, sir. I wouldn’t be a very good friend if you didn’t feel comfortable saying what’s on your mind around me, badge or not.” That charming smile returned to him for a split second. “Thank you. And for the moment, I’m just your friend James, alright? Now…” he paused and took a deep breath, like he was steeling himself. “Do you remember our visit to Drake Williams’ house to twist his arm about joining the crew?” “Um… yes,” I replied after a moment’s thought. “It was me, you, and… Zhidar I think? Yes! It was him, because I remember him and Drake getting rather pushy with each other for a minute. I was afraid one of them was going to throw a punch, to be honest.” “And it wouldn’t have been the first time those two got on each other’s nerves,” Liang replied. “Anything else, Sunset?” “Um…” Hearing the Captain call me by my first name only sounded almost wrong at this point, but I shook it off. I replayed the scene as best I could in my head. “Not really?” “Really? You don’t remember your captain throwing you under the proverbial shuttlecraft only a few hours after meeting him?” “Ohhh… you mean the thing with you and Drake?” I sat up straighter and looked at him directly. “Cap- er, James, if that’s what this is about, I told you then I wasn’t offended. I’m still not.” “It is about that, but not because of my temperament,” he replied, shaking his head a bit. “Sunset, it’s time I told you a story.” “2352. More than five years into the Federation-Cardassian war. We were a few months into what felt like the twentieth ceasefire that no one actually trusted further than they could throw the PADDs it was written on. Hell, the only thing more vague than the location of the border was the answers coming out of San Francisco, official or otherwise. As you’ll hopefully recall, I was captaining the Fletcher back then.” “Mhmm,” I nodded. “Ambassador class, right?” “Indeed. And by that point in the war, all the Ambassadors were showing their age. We could take a bit more of a pounding than the even older Excelsiors, but even on our best day we could barely keep up with the New Orleans, Nebulas, and all the other new designs Starfleet was churning out. Phoenix could run circles around Fletcher quite easily.” Liang cleared his throat before continuing. “Anyway. Like I said, a ceasefire was technically in place, but neither side was willing to fully stand down their fleets either. So like most of the fleet, Fletcher was patrolling supply routes, making stops at key outposts, planets, and settlements, and so on.” “Maintaining a show of force then, just in case,” I said. Liang nodded. “Precisely. After a maintenance stop, we were patrolling the Igo sector. Not a whole lot out there besides some plasma streamers, but its proximity to some remote mining colonies made it too important to ignore. The sweep was nearly complete when the distress call came in from the next sector over. Two civilian ships transporting refugees had struck gravitic mines.” My brow furrowed at that. “Gravitic mines? Those fields are usually well marked on civilian nav charts though. How’d they end up in there?” “That’s the rub,” he replied. “They didn’t. The mines came to them. You see, that sector, like many others, had been mined early on in the war. As you know, the mines are programmed to stay in their assigned pattern and location, unless something enters their detection range.” “Those mines had been out there for nearly six years by that point, and with the battle lines having long since moved away, they were just forgotten about. And over time, their internal systems begin to fail, allowing them to drift out of formation.” “Oh god…” I muttered, the picture already forming in my head. “The mines drifted into the civilian traffic lanes.” “Yes. And with their relatively low-resolution sensors, they wouldn’t have even detected the mines until they were nearly on top of them.” Liang breathed a heavy sigh. I could tell the memories were weighing on him even now. “We arrived just in time for me to watch the lead transport explode on the main viewer, with only a scant few escape pods fleeing the wreckage. But there was still one more ship left. Only reason it was still intact at all was because it was bringing up the rear of the formation and took evasive action at the last second.” “Of course, transporters weren’t available when we needed them. At least not fully. Radiation leaks in their engine room kept us from getting a clean transporter lock, so I led an away team to set up pattern enhancers.” “Over the objections of your First Officer, of course,” I replied with a sarcastic smile. “A good captain never ignores their First Officer,” Liang answered, the corner of his mouth showing a ghost of a smile for just a second. “But they also call their own shots from time to time.” “Heh. Fair enough I suppose.” “Beaming over there was like beaming into hell. My tricorder set off a radiation alert the second I turned it on. Fires burned everywhere. Helm controls were burned out, life support was barely functional, structural integrity was dropping like a rock. I knew we had minutes at most. A couple of people got to work on the pattern buffers while the rest of us fanned out to look for survivors. Sadly, we found more bodies than we did living people. We couldn’t even check the engineering deck, the radiation was so bad. We herded everyone to the bridge, where radiation wasn’t critical yet, and beamed them out in groups. Sensors recorded the ship exploding right before we warped out.” “How many did you find?” “Twenty-four, plus four from the first ship's escape pods, and unfortunately we lost one of the survivors that night to radiation sickness. So all told? Twenty-seven.” Liang looked down. “Out of over two hundred between the two ships.” “James…” I reached over the bar and laid a hoof on top of his hand. “I’m so sorry. You did what you could though, and that’s not nothing.” “I keep telling myself that, anyway,” he replied, patting my hoof in return before pulling back a bit. “But the real kick in the teeth came when I went down to the Fletcher’s cargo bay to speak with the survivors, try to find out what happened.” “I’m talking to a small gaggle of people when I feel something tugging on my jacket. I ignored it at first, thinking I was just imagining it. But it happened again so I turned around - and found myself looking down at a small child. A girl. Couldn’t have been more than five or six. She looks up at me, then throws herself around my leg and yells ‘Daddy! You’re here!’ I wanted to say something but was stunned into silence. “‘Daddy!’ she repeated again and again,” Liang continued. “I had no idea what to do, what to say. Thankfully, one of the adults I had been talking to stepped in to comfort the poor thing and distract her. But she was insistent even through her tears, telling anyone who would listen that her dad was right in front of her and her mother was coming right back.” “Poor girl must’ve been shell shocked,” I said. “I assumed as much too at the time,” Liang replied. “But she stuck in my mind the rest of the night. So finally I looked her up in the passenger manifest, along with her parents. Turns out I do kind of resemble her father. At least enough to convince a five year old, anyway.” “What happened to them? Her parents I mean?” Liang sighed again. “Father died in a Cadassian work camp about a year into the war after the colony he and his family lived on was overrun by the Cardis. Her mother… she was on the transport ship with her, evacuating again to safer territory further away from the disputed border zone.” I feared I knew the answer already but I had to ask. “Did she…?” “According to a few other survivors, the girl’s mother had gone with the ship’s lone medical person to try and evacuate people from the engineering deck.” My heart sank in my chest. “My god… so that poor girl was all alone. No home, no family, no friends even. Just… lost.” “Remind you of anyone, Sunset?” “Wh—” I froze in place. I looked at him, he looked at me, and somewhere in the back of my mind, everything clicked. Now I understood. “That’s… So when you told Williams that Twilight and I were the reason you signed on…” It took me a moment to even begin to process everything. “In all truth,” he replied, “the moment I heard your story, I was in. I was not about to let the damned Cardassians keep another lost soul from finding a home if I could help it.” I gave him a warm smile. “Funny thing is, I didn’t want to mention anything about it at the time. Didn’t think it was really relevant to the task at hand, especially with war seeming inevitable even then.” “Then you owe a debt to Miss Cadeneza, I’d say.” Liang replied. “She’s the one who brought it up, as I recall.” “Heh. I guess so,” I replied, not bothering to fight the slight blush in my cheeks at the mention of her name. “I owe her a lot, actually.” “By the way,” I added, “whatever happened to that little girl anyway?” “She turned out alright. Found a home on earth, made some friends, went to school, did all the things kids do, you know. She even joined Starfleet too; last I heard, she was stationed at a tactical research lab in China.” He looked at me with a sly grin. “And occasionally slinging drinks at some hole in the wall pub in Hong Kong.” “That’s cool— Wait a sec! That was her on the video call? She’s your daughter?” “Mhmm. We lost the Fletcher about six months later, and between the paperwork and my injuries, retirement was a blessing. I decided to look her up and she was with a foster home in Northern California. She was well cared for of course, but… adopting her just felt like the right thing, the only thing I could do to make up for all that the galaxy had taken from her. I could see the glint of a proud father in his eyes. “That’s amazing! I’d say you did right by her and then some, James.” He offered a small bow in reply. Liang smiled at that. He picked up his shot glass, still full of whiskey, and held it up. “Here’s to home then. In whatever form it may take.” I lifted my own glass up in a bit of magic. “I’ll drink to that.” We tapped our glasses together and downed their contents in one swig. “Whoo! That bite really kicks in without the vermouth there,” I squeaked out over the burn in my throat. We shared another laugh, and it felt like the entire room had become a bit lighter, and a cloud had lifted from the Captain’s back. “Sir?” I asked, reverting to form now that our badges were back on. “Thank you for sharing that with me. It means a lot.” “You’re most welcome, Commander. And Twilight as well, of course. Now it’s getting late for both of us I think, so sleep well.” “You too, sir. Good night.” I left Two-Forward feeling a newfound sense of clarity. The conversation with the Captain was unexpected, but incredibly enlightening for us both. There was still much work to do if Twilight and I were to ever solve the puzzle of how we got here and how we can get home – wherever that is. But a bunch of pieces clicked together today, and that made me happy. “Speaking of things clicking…” I said as I stepped into the turbolift. “Computer, locate Lieutenant Cadeneza.” “Lieutenant Cadeneza is in her quarters.” Perfect. “Deck 10 then.” A short ride later, I stepped up to Cadeneza’s door and rang. “Coming!” A few moments later, the door swished open, revealing a pajama-clad Cadeneza. “Hey, you.” “Heya.” Why were butterflies flitting about in my stomach? It’s Cadeneza for pony’s sake! I’ve seen her wear this academy tanktop and lounging shorts dozens of times by now. So why does she look so damn cute? “Can we talk?” “Like you need to ask,” she chuckled. “Come on in.” I followed her into the room and flopped onto the couch while she retreated to the bedroom to get something. I was honestly surprised to see her return not with snacks and a beer, but a steaming mug of tea. “Want one? It’s lavender-honey.” “Sure. Sounds good.” She returned a moment later with a second mug, both of which she placed onto the coffee table before sitting next to me. I lifted my mug up and took a careful sip. “Mhmm, good flavor. I never knew you were into tea though.” “I’m normally not,” Cadeneza replied. “Just a lot on my mind, thought it might help me relax a bit.” “Work?” “Nah.” She took a sip of tea. “Well, no more than most anyone else anyway. It’s more like… me. But also you. Kinda. Maybe?” “It’s us,” I answered. “Or rather, it’s trying to reconcile where we are with how we got here.” I peered at her over the rim of my mug. “And where we go next.” Cadeneza sipped her tea, seemingly chewing on her thoughts as much as the drink. “I-I’d be lying if I said I had any answers, Sunny. God, I wish I did too. But ever since that magic resonance thing woke you up a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been… erm…” “Scared.” I said. “Scared for me, for yourself, for all of us.” I waved my hooves around.for emphasis. “Believe me, I’m scared too. I can’t solve this magic puzzle, but I also know that we might not have these magic converters at all if not for your work, and I know neither I nor Twilight would have made it through all this without your presence.” The next words I spoke ran straight up from my heart and out of my mouth before I could even think about them. “I also know that when I was curled up on the floor in pain, you held me up and calmed me down. And when I forced myself to stumble out toward the lab, you ran to me and hugged me and told me to come back safe, and nothing has ever felt so good in my life.” Cadeneza let out a slight gasp. She rarely blushes for anything, but her cheeks were on fire now. Finally she put her mug down and drew me into her embrace. “It was… a spur of the moment thing, you know. I just kinda reacted, but it felt right.” I leaned up a bit to look her in the eye. “I-I want you to say that again, Jacqueline… to say more things just like that, to make me feel like that again. But I don’t know how to ask, much less return the favor.” “Well, Sunny, that makes two of us, because I don’t know either,” she whispered. My heart galloped in my chest the closer she came, until her brilliant purple eyes filled my vision, and her breath tickled the edge of my snout. “But if you’d like, we can work on figuring it out. Together.” “Yes,” I whispered in return, my eyes fluttering closed in anticipation of what was to come. “I’d like that very much.”