Star Trek: Phoenix

by Dewdrops on the Grass

Season 3 Episode 2: "You Can't Go Home Again" Part 2

“What do you mean, dying?” I asked, my face a mask of worry.

“It is… difficult to explain,” Celestia answered in a haggard tone. “Luna and I... we're not just connected to the Sun and Moon. The link between us is intertwined at our very cores. So when something is wrong, we know. And the Sun is definitely not working like it should. I feel it every morning when I raise it. The Sun grows a little colder each day, the day just a little bit shorter. At first it was imperceptible to all but myself and Luna. But not anymore. I burn up most of my magical reserves every day just trying to maintain its normal appearance, and we're still nowhere close to figuring out why.”

Doctor May pulled out her medical tricorder and scanned Celestia. “My god,” she murmured as she read the results. “Her magical core. I recognize the basic design of course, but past that... it's like looking at something entirely different than either you or Twilight.” May tapped at the controls and the tricorder made some odd warbles, as if it was just as confused by what it was seeing as May. ”Her core is in this constant, almost hyper state of flux. There's a constant draw on it too, sucking the energy out as fast as it regenerates.” She tapped a few controls and raised the tricorder towards the ceiling. “Whatever it is, it definitely seems to be solar related. And it’s affecting nearly all of her biological functions too, not just her appearance.”

Those words cut right through me, terrifying in their implications. “Princess, maybe we should get you to the Phoenix, let the Doctor put some of the more advanced tools in our sickbay to use.”

“No!” Celestia declared as she stood up from the floor. She bowed her head, her horn lighting up brilliant yellow and flaring to the point of near blinding us. Once it passed, she looked young and healthy again. A burst of blue light quickly followed and when I turned, Luna looked equally as perfect once again. “No, that won’t be necessary, Sunset. Neither I nor Luna wish to burden your overworked medical staff.”

Doctor May frowned, and went to perform a few scans of Luna before closing her tricorder. “Begging your pardon, Princesses, but the Commander’s concern is very warranted. I’d like to run a few more detailed scans on board regardless. You're right. There is definitely something wrong, and it's clearly taking a toll on both of you. I…” May paused and took a deep breath. “Look. I know how this must look. Alien doctor wants to run fancy tests on the rulers of a nation. But I promise you, I would be failing myself and my duty if I didn't do anything I could to help.”

“I am sorry, but I must agree with my sister: no,” Luna said archly. She extended her wings. “We will continue to handle this our way; in truth we had hoped to avoid your discovery of this issue altogether.”

“What?” Twilight said, standing up from her chair, a grimace of pain the only sign of the strain the effort must’ve caused. “But, Princess, why would you hide this? I mean, you saved the Phoenix and me along with it.The least we could do is look into this for you.”

Celestia and Luna shared a look before Luna went over and wrapped a wing around her shoulder. “Twilight Sparkle, we appreciate your concern, truly. But we didn’t rescue the Phoenix just to foist Equestrian problems upon the crew. I’m sure between myself, my sister, and the Elements, we will figure out a way to deal with the situation without needing to involve outside help.”

I drew myself up and glowered at Celestia. “Princess, remind me: you said these wings come with a crown, yes?”

“I-I did say that, yes, why—”

“Then if there's a crown on my head, that means we're equals. And if we're equals, that means I get a real say in the fate of our nation's rulers too. Wouldn't you agree?”

It was Celestia’s turn to frown. “Sunset, where are you going with this?”

“Whether you meant for us to help you out or not, we’re here. And we have ways of helping far beyond anything you can imagine, especially if we’re talking about a sun. How much do you even know about what a sun really is?” I raised a hoof. “Don’t answer that. My point is, we’re here, we can help, and we’re going to. Equus is my home, and right now, I’m in command of the most advanced scientific and medical facility on the planet. Which means it’s my decision.”

Celestia let out a long suffering sigh, her smile returning to place. “Sometimes, Sunset, I think I missed our arguments most of all. You always did have a way with words.” She raised her head ever so slightly. “That said, I will be willing to allow you to help and examine us further tomorrow. Tonight, Equus welcomes back its missing daughters, and you have brought honored guests. We can begin to solve this issue tomorrow. Tonight, I insist we celebrate!”

I smiled right back. “Agreed, Princess.”

“Mmmhmm!” Twilight seconded.

“Here here!” cheered Rodriguez, with the rest of my crew joining him after a moment.

Celestia quivered with a small laugh. “Well, in any event, my apologies for disrupting the dinner.”

“That’s quite alright, Princess,” I said as I helped Celestia back to her chair. “As for tomorrow, I'd like you and Luna to meet us aboard the Phoenix in the morning. And please bring along everyone that was involved with bringing the ship here.”

“Ooooh, yay, I get to bring Dissy along!” Ditzy cried in jubilation, clapping her hooves together.

“Ugh, I wish you wouldn’t call him that,” Limestone groaned, planting a forehoof on her face. “You make him sound like a pet.”

“She means Discord, right?” I asked Luna, who nodded. I turned to Ditzy. “How the heck did you ever make friends with Discord?”

“Loooong story,” Starlight answered for Ditzy. “Short version: Princess Celestia felt he could be of real use to Equestria, so she had Ditzy work her skills on him.”

“It took a long while, but I made him into a good friend,” Ditzy said. “He comes by to visit all the time, and he’s really nice. And funny!”

“He’s chaotic in every sense of the word,” Limestone grumbled, “...but yeah, he can be pretty funny. Especially after you get a couple of ciders in him.”

Trixie sighed. “Please don’t remind Trixie of that. The last time you took Discord drinking the entirety of Ponyville turned into an upside down bowl of pea soup that rained onto a ground made of saltine crackers.”

“Oh, is that why I kept smelling peas for weeks afterwards?” Luna interjected, prompting most of the Elements to laugh.

That burst of levity helped to pass the time for the rest of the dinner, but I could see the lingering tension behind everyone's smiles. Especially Twilight's. Celestia's pronouncement left a deep pit of worry in my gut, and not just for her and Luna's health. If she was right, if the sun truly was dying... Equus itself could die along with it.

The very thought made my heart want to shatter. I refused to accept that as a possibility. No, there had to be something else to this.

That thought followed me through to the return trip to the Phoenix and all the way to my quarters, where I spent a furtive night sleeping and flashing back to my time on the Amargosa observatory, seeing Soren cackle as he fired a trilithium torpedo into Equus’s sun just to watch Equus burn, while I was helpless, unable to do more than scream.

I was still screaming in horror when the dream suddenly shifted. Now I was eleven again, having just fallen through the mirror to Earth. I was surrounded by security officers, but now they tried to shoot me on sight instead of scan me. I ran like hell, frantically dodging the red-hot energy bolts that sizzled past me, singing my coat dozens of times.

Then I was back in Main Engineering on the Enterprise-D, withering under the intense radiation of a warp core nearing its death throes. I was there all over again, trapped inside a bubble of my own magic, ripping myself to shreds to try and buy my crewmates every second I could.

Only to finally be back on that accursed Dominion ship, with Yukarin's smarmy face looming over me, taunting me. I could feel the kicks, the punches, the abuse of his Jem'Hadar minions all over again, beating me to within an inch of my life. Yukarin nattered on about Dominion superiority while his subordinates struck me and and again and again till my whole existence was nothing but the agony of torture.

And then I was back on Amargosa, only this time Soren aimed his disruptor weapon right at Twilight, who shrieked my name right before the green particles blasted into her back and disintegrated her into a pile of ash.

I collapsed before that pile, seeing her half melted combadge atop it, and wailed in sorrow. I did nothing even as Soren pressed his weapon to my forehead, his finger lining up to squeeze the trigger.

Until Princess Luna abruptly appeared and bucked Soren in the face, knocking him out cold.

“Hail, Sunset Shimmer. I apologize for what must feel like an intrusion of sorts. But I sensed your troubled dreams early on this night and decided to stay close in case things worsened.” Luna looked around Soren’s still half-cloaked lab. “Such unusual dreams you are having. I must admit I do not quite understand it all.”

“Princess Luna?” I gasped in relief. “Oh thank goodness. I... I guess part of me knows this is all a dream, but I'm glad you're here. I'm sorry you had to see all of that. Especially from him.” I turned and kicked Soren in the side a few times for good measure. “A lot of this is related to the events that triggered my ascension.”

“I see… and that included someone destroying stars? Holding you hostage?” Luna shook her head in disbelief. “The society you came from is so beyond us, it is inconceivable at times.”

“Yeah. Long story short – this guy here was trying to blow up stars in order to alter the course of a weird energy ribbon, all so he could go back to an alternate dimension he called the Nexus. We stopped him, but in the process our ship was severely damaged. As you saw, I sacrificed myself to buy the crew time to escape.”

Luna eyed me. “And in doing so, you ascended.”

I nodded and quickly filled her in on my two years of isolation on Viridian III. “And after all of that, it's the Dominion who show up to answer my hail, and as you saw, did nothing but torture me for information.”

She stepped over to me and wrapped me in a tight embrace. “While I cannot say I understand everything you are talking about, I comprehend enough to know that you went through some truly traumatic events, and I am sorry you had to suffer such things.”

I leaned into the hug, grateful for it. “Life throws a lot of things like that our way, but you know, I wouldn’t trade my life for any other. Maybe when I was a kid.”

She blinked balefully down at me. “Truly, the magic of an ascension is even more boundless than I ever thought, if it can turn a goat into an alicorn.”

I stared blankly at her for a moment before I remembered goats were among the many sapients on Equus. “Oh, sorry, I meant foal, yes.” I decided against trying to explain the variances between Earth and Equus language in this regard. That might be another nightmare altogether.

“It is a truly fascinating world you and your sister have come from," Luna replied. She leaned in and spoke in a softer tone. "But that is for another time. Rest peacefully now, Sunset Shimmer. I will stand guard for the rest of the evening.”

The world slipped away from me before I could reply, and true to her word, I slept peacefully through the rest of that night.

Soon after awakening, I fetched a quick breakfast from Ten-Forward, where I checked in with Flanagan. I told him how glad I was to see the improvised galleys were still humming along so well, since the replicators were still quite limited. After a brief check in with sickbay on the Captain, whose condition had not changed, I then headed to Engineering for the meeting. As I boarded the turbolift, my badge beeped. “Shimmer here.”

“Commander,” came Wattson’s voice, “Several ponies we don’t recognize are waiting at the airlock for the meeting, along with… something else. Some kind of bizarre creature standing on two legs, made of a mish-mash of parts.”

“That would be Discord,” I grunted. I was not looking forward to this meeting, no matter what the Elements had said at dinner. Everything I remembered from history said Discord was not to be trusted. That he was a charlatan at best, capable of mayhem and destruction in equal measure. “Deck 24. I’ll handle it, Wattson. Shimmer out.”

Briefly I considered contacting security, but after a moment I decided I’d settle on my temporary first officer. “Shimmer to Zhidar. Please meet me at the docking port to the surface.”

“On my way.”

As I arrived at the airlock, I took several deep breaths in preparation, and used a calming technique. It took just long enough for the turbolift to discharge Zhidar.

“Something wrong?” he asked me, his brow furrowed in concern.

“We’re about to bring about some more Equestrians, including one who’s potentially dangerous. I wanted you here just in case.”

He grinned, baring his teeth a moment. “A wise choice.”

Feeling more confident with Zhidar by my side, I opened up the airlock. As I expected, Discord stood there, arms crossed over his chest, tapping his foot impatiently, but it was the pony next to him that caught my attention.

The blue cloak strung with stars and bells, the matching hat with images of stars and moons, and the glorious beard laden with curls. “Starswirl the Bearded…” I whispered.

He grunted to me and approached, holding out a hoof. “Yes I am Starswirl the Bearded. You are Commander Sunset Shimmer, I presume.” He glanced up at Zhidar, thoroughly unimpressed. “And this is?”

“Uh, yes, yes, sir, forgive me, this is Zhidar, my temporary first officer,” I said as I shook his hoof and then Zhidar in turn, an embarrassed smile crossing my muzzle. “It’s hard to believe I’m actually meeting you, when I read about you in history books.”

“Hmmph. Then you should have no trouble recognizing and identifying the rest of the Pillars?”

I looked over the group, each one of them instantly recognizable “Mage Meadowbrook with her mask, Mistmane…” I pointed to the female pegasus wearing a veil. “Somnambula, Flash Magnus, Rockhoof.”

“Ah should think ya could suss me out of a crowd, lassie,” Rockhoof said as he banged his shovel against his shoulders.

“Well done,” Starswirl said, nodding approvingly. “You know your history. Very good.”

“Oh yes, it’s so good that Shimmer reads as many books as Glimmer does, but really now, must you keep us waiting, Commander?” said Discord.

My heart dropped out of my chest. I took several steps backward, stumbling against the bulkhead. “...Q?” I murmured. “Is… that you, Q?”

“It cannot be,” Zhidar gasped in turn. “He does not look anything like Q.”

Everyone exchanged looks of confusion. “What is a Q?” murmured Mistmane.

“It’s a line for waiting in as far as I know,” Meadowbrook said with a shrug.

Discord meanwhile uncrossed his arms and walked towards me, his face twisted in amusement. “Oh, this is more like it. Someone who remembers the fear I used to strike in the hearts of ponies!”

“Discord…” Starswirl said, his tone warning. “Come now.”

Rolling his eyes, Discord extended one of his mismatched paws out and helped me back to my hooves. “There. Better?” he grumbled at Starswirl.

“Hmph.”

“No, seriously, is that you, Q?” I pressed, my surprise flashing to anger. “Because if that’s you, then you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

“Madam,” Discord said with all the sarcasm he could muster, “I do not know for the life of me what this Q you’re talking about is.”

“You… you don’t?” I glanced up at the ceiling. “Computer, run voice comparison analysis for Discord against historical records for Q.”

“Working.” While the Pillars looked around for the source of the mysterious voice, I waited patiently, and after a moment the computer stated, “Comparison complete. Voice similarity ninety-six percent.”

“Huh.” I glared up at Discord. “Tell me. What’s Captain Picard’s favorite drink?”

“What?”

“Commander Riker, what did you do for him?” I continued.

Discord’s face took on an edge of actual worry. “Who?”

I took a step towards him. “How do you feel about Guinan?”

“Guinan? Is that a type of food or something?”

“That’s enough, Sunset.”

Princess Celestia stepped into view on the gangplank, giving me the same stern look she always wore when I stepped over a line. “I’m not sure what a Q is, but whatever it is, Discord isn’t it. He’s as part of Equus as much as the rest of us are.”

Zhidar, having watched this whole affair, stepped forward before I could loose a retort. “I share your misgivings, but the princess has a point. If this, whatever Discord is, wanted to hurt us, by now he's clearly had plenty of opportunity to do so. However, as XO I will be keeping a constant monitor on him, just in case.”

“That works for me.”

“Oh, to always be suspected everywhere I go…” Discord moped, prompting Celestia to pat him on the shoulder with a wing.

“I am not sure I can fully blame her. It sounds like this Q was some sort of menace.”

“You don’t know the half of it, Princess. But we don’t really have time to go into it.”

I turned back to the other Equestrians. Even as I looked I saw the Elements of Harmony, Twilight, Preta, and Luna were all coming. “Alright, everyone, follow me. We’re headed to Deck twelve, section two.” Briefly I educated them on how to use a turbolift, as there were far too many of us for one ride.

“I think I could make something like this for Canterlot Castle, maybe,” Starlight said as she exited the turbolift. “Or at least something that responds to vocal commands. Maybe integrate it into the fast travel circles…”

“This way,” I grumbled, directing everyone till we’d neared a huge set of double doors that led to Holodeck Three. “Shimmer to Wattson. Is the Holodeck up and running for the meeting?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m inside now with the rest of the senior staff.”

“Great. Everyone, if you please, head down to those sets of double doors there and enter. You’ll find a meeting room there.” I took a step back to fall in line next to Discord. “Discord, may I speak with you a second?”

“That depends,” he said, though he remained back even as the set of double doors wheezed open to allow the others entry. He placed a paw on his chest. “Are you planning to hurl more ridiculous questions and insipid accusations at my innocent personage?”

It took a supreme amount of will not to roll my eyes. “No, I want to apologize. Your voice caught me off-guard. Q… like the Princess said, he’s at best a menace that plays havoc with Starfleet crews whenever it suits him. At his worst he’s introduced us to mortal enemies that we are still fighting off to this day. Hearing what sounded like his voice come out of your mouth, well…”

Discord started impassively at me for a moment, a single eyebrow raised. “Well. It sounds like this Q and I might be best of friends, if we were to meet.” A long, reluctant noise poured forth from his lips. “Oooooh, very well, apology accepted. I’m sure Ditzy would be unhappy with me if I didn’t accept it.”

“Thank you,” I said, and I meant it. Now, we—”

A wordless screech of pure rage so loud and high pitched I instantly clamped my ears to my skull rocketed through the corridor. “What the hell?”

Discord’s face drew up in confusion, then snapped into a grin. “Well, I’d know that screech anywhere. Why didn’t you tell me there were Sirens here? I’d have brought my swimming trunks.”

“The Sirens… oh shit, Starswirl!”

I rushed into the holodeck. The twin doors opened with their groaning hiss, revealing a large meeting room set up with a table surrounded by a couple dozen or so chairs, most of them suited to the equine form, the rest already filled by the senior staff, and each chair had a terminal input keyset before it, with a central display hovering over the table, currently showing a rotating Starfleet chevron.

For a brief moment I was reminded of something else, perhaps a stage in the round. But whatever it was escaped me because there was another scream of rage that rippled through the Holodeck with enough force to briefly short out the holodeck projectors, revealing a glimpse of the yellow grid beneath it all.

“Oooh, this should be good,” Discord murmured, gleefully rubbing his paws together.

I spotted the Sirens standing at the far end of the table, hands raised and simmering with power. Adagio's eyes glowed with more menace than I had ever seen from her. “You!” She stalked forward, her sisters trailing close behind and humming a ghostly melody, further amplifying their magic. For the sheer rage in their eyes, you'd think a Vorta had just waltzed in the door.

“Me!” Starswirl thundered back, his own horn glowing with power. Zhidar and Rodriguez gave each other a confused look before quickly backing away from the table, while Rockhoof and Flash Magnus took positions to either side of Starswirl. What worried me most was that I couldn't immediately tell whether they were intending to hold Starswirl back, or join the impending fight.

“You think I will fall for these disguises, you witches? Reveal your true forms, Sirens!”

“Disguises?” Aria snapped. “Thanks to you, this form is all we have now! Our true forms are gone because you destroyed them!”

Starswirl scoffed at that. “Perhaps then I did not do a good enough job, for here you stand regardless.” He lowered his horn. “Take whatever form you want. You still will face justice once again.”

“You dare to speak to us of justice.” Adagio spat the word out. “The only justice here would be killing you where you stand!”

I glanced at Celestia and Luna, but they made no move to intervene. “To borrow a bit from your words last night," Celestia said as she leaned over my way, “the ship is your castle in a way, so you're in charge.”

I could only groan in response. All these years later and still she can get one up on me when she needs to. “Fair point.” Channeling some magic into my voice, I stomped a hoof onto the deck plating as hard as I could. “That’s enough!”

Mercifully, the whole room froze in place, as if someone had called time out on the entire world.

“Shimmer, this pompous gelding is Starswirl the Bearded,” Adagio hissed as she pointed a glowing finger at him. “You know what he did to us! You know what we’ve suffered because of him!”

“I know, Adagio. I hear you, believe me. But I also know that he, along with every other creature who just walked in here, just saved all our lives."

"As for you—" I wheeled around and turned all my attention to Starswirl. "There's no denying the debt we owe to you for saving us. But you also have a lot to answer for when it comes to the Sirens."

"For what I did?" he snapped back. "What about what they did? Or did these three tell you they entered those small villages on glowing rainbows, asking only for a cup of water?"

"I know what they did, Starswirl," I replied. "They told me everything. The good, the bad, and yes, the ugly too. I can't condone what they did, and they know that too. But they were starving. They wanted food, not power." I shifted in place and pointed a wing back towards Adagio. "Did their actions merit punishment? Sure. But banishing them through a mirror when you damned well had no idea what would happen to them on the other side was completely unnecessary!"

Starswirl sneered back at me. “Foolish words of a foolish child. You did not see what they did to that village. There was no harmony, no pony spirit, only anger and hatred and jealousy!”

Adagio let out another shriek. “Which we only created because we were dying otherwise! Would you have condemned us to death simply for the nature of our existence?”

Then, to my surprise, Aria and Sonata backed down, letting their magic fade out. “Come on, Adagio,” Aria said, placing a hand on her arm. “He’s not worth it. Let go.”

“Yeah. He’s not like those Dominion jerks. He thought he was defending ponies,” Sonata added. She looked at me and smiled. “Which you know, I totally get. He was trying to do what he thought was the right thing."

Adagio took a shuddering breath, and the glow died from her eyes and hand, which she lowered a moment later. “Fine. You’re both right.” She then pointed at Starswirl again. “But don’t even expect me to like you.”

I watched the Sirens for a moment before turning back to Starswirl. "Whatever they may once have been, the Sirens are not your enemy now, and haven’t been for a long, long time. What's more, they're a part of this ship's crew, and as the commanding officer, their safety is my responsibility. If you can't handle that, I'm sure Mr. Zhidar will be glad to escort you back to the gangway."

Starswirl watched this, his mouth agape, bouncing between the three of them like he was watching a springball match, before he faced me. “...it seems I owe you an apology, Commander,” he said. “Perhaps you were not as foolish as I believed.”

I bit off the snark that I wanted to retaliate with, opting for diplomacy. “The Sirens have been aboard the ship for the past six months, and in that time they’ve helped us on numerous occasions. I wouldn’t call them angels, but they’re certainly not demons.”

“Who wants to be an angel anyway?” Adagio said, her trademark smirk returning to her face.

“Certainly not me,” Discord answered, leaning back in an incongruous lounge chair, applauding. “Bravo, bravo, excellent! Well played, all of you.”

“Dissy!” Ditzy said, grabbing his side. “Stop egging things on. You know that’s not good.”

“...sorry, Ditzy, dear,” he said, bowing his head. “But it was such good chaos.”

“Mmhmm, and we’ve talked about you enjoying Chaos without having to add to it, right?”

“Oh but that’s so much less fun….”

I took a second while they were chatting to lean over Wattson. “Next time, please warn me before I send two sets of formerly mortal enemies to meet with each other.”

Wattson cringed. “Sorry, ma’am.”

I cleared my throat, and used my magic to enhance the volume of my voice just a little bit, to make it easier to hear in the simulated meeting room. “If I could have everyone’s attention, please, so we can get this started. Thank you. Now, I called this meeting for two purposes. First, to learn precisely how you brought the Phoenix here, in the hope that we can use the same method to get back to Federation space. Second, and arguably of even greater importance, is determining what is happening to Equus's Sun, and how it's impacting the princesses. The more we can learn here today, the better my crew can assist you all. With that, I yield the floor to Princess Celestia.”

I sat down and Celestia stood, her gaze passing over everyone before settling on me. “Thank you, Sunset. And thank you all for coming.” She took a deep breath. “To start, I can quickly address the first order of business. We can of course explain how we pulled your ship here, but I am sad to say that the process cannot be reversed to send you back. We will need to find another way.”

“But from what we could tell we passed through some kind of subspace passage or wormhole, right?” Wattson interjected.

“Pog is certain of that from sensor readings.”

“In a sense, yes,” Twilight said, her voice still hoarse. “But it was more complicated than that.”

“In essence,” said Starswirl, standing beside Celestia, “we utilized a variation of a summoning ritual. These rituals require far more magical energy than most normal spells, which means they're only used in specific cases. Transporting precious or time sensitive cargo, moving VIPs in a hurry, and the like. The rituals theoretically have no upper limit to what they can move, provided enough power is supplied to them. So we adapted the underlying spells on the fly and, well, here you are.”

Pog stared blankly. “Pog still doesn’t understand. That explanation meant nothing to him.”

“Not to offend, but I’m afraid it didn’t make much sense to me either,” Blackford interjected.

Starlight coughed for attention. “Listen, you’re engineers, right?”

“Pog is an engineer, yes,” Pog answered. He jabbed a thumb at Blackford. “He’s a scientist.”

“Close enough. Let me draw it out for you.” Magic filled her horn as she briefly concentrated, and a chalkboard of all things appeared at the head of the table.

“You know,” I muttered under my breath as Starlight withdrew from her chair to use the board. “The whole point of setting this meeting in the holodeck was to use the computer displays for stuff like this.”

“Now, we… oh feathers, I forgot the chalk,” groaned Starlight.

Trixie, beaming, bounced out of her chair. “Allow moi to help you, Starlight.” Doffing her hat, she grunted as she waved a hoof at it, straining as much as possible for a moment before she reached inside and brought out a piece of chalk. “Here you go!”

Starlight took the chalk and chuckled as she waited for Trixie to sit back down. “Thanks, Trix.” She took the chalk to the board and began to draw. “First thing we did was, Starswirl and I drew the ritual circle. We then gathered as many diamond and sapphire mana gems as we could, utilizing them as matrix foci.” As she spoke, Starlight quickly drew gem-like shapes at various points around the circle, then added dotted lines connecting them all in overlapping patterns.

I nodded in understanding. “Then, I presume, someone used the magical signature of the Phoenix itself as the target for the ritual.”

“Correct,” Luna said. “Once we located you, and with the circle acting as the anchor point, we summoned your ship back to the anchor, essentially. We quite literally combined all of our magics and channeled every bit we could into the ritual.”

“Even little old me,” Discord cooed. “And it was quite exhausting. Why, I had to spend a couple of hours in Sugarcube Corner just to recover!”

“Sugarcube Corner?” asked Preta.

“It’s a bakery in Ponyville,” Starlight answered with a wave of her wing. “Limestone’s sister Pinkie lives and works there. She’s nuts.”

“For pony's sake, Starlight,” Limestone grumbled, slapping a hoof on the edge of the table. “Pinkie's not nuts. She's just... unique.”

Starlight sighed and rolled her eyes a bit. “Yeah yeah, I know. But pulling whole cakes out of your mane is more than just a bit unique, Limestone. Besides, you call her nuts all the time.”

“I'm her sister, so I'm allowed to call her names. It's a sibling thing.” She eyed me directly. “You and Twilight are sisters, right? So you get what I'm sayin'.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Twilight trying to look slightly less embarrassed than I was at the moment. “Haha, well... I suppose we've called each other names here and there, yeah.”

“Anyway,” Starlight continued, seeming to brush off the topic entirely, "My point is, Pinkie's inarguably a bit... chaotic. So naturally, being around her is kind of comforting for Discord here. He loves chaos like she loves cupcakes.”

Most of the Starfleet officers exchanged dubious looks at that, and I couldn’t blame them. Even I found it hard to believe completely.

“If I may continue the explanation,” Celestia said, prompting everyone to go quiet again. “Once we began the summoning ritual, we next had to determine a landing site. Twilight Sparkle warned us about both the size and the nature of your ship, so I had the royal guard prepare a number of stabilizing spells, as well as a landing platform. Once we got the ship through the magical aether and into our reality, setting you down was comparatively easy.”

“You mean subspace,” Wattson corrected.

“I beg your pardon?”

“It’s what we call the aether,” I answered for Wattson. “To us, subspace is a series of alternate domains in the fabric of space, akin to an endless series of honeycombs. It’s what we use to travel faster than light."

"Which explains how you were able to bring us here so quickly," Wattson said, stroking her chin with thumb and forefinger. "You tunneled through so many lower subspace domains you ripped us across space almost like a wormhole, but without leaving anything in our wake we could use to go back." She leaned back in her chair and let out a quiet whistle. “I gotta say, that’s damn impressive. Untangling that would keep even the Vulcan Science Academy busy for a century.”

"Though impressive, it also means that if we want to return to Federation space we'll have to go the slow way," Zhidar pronounced.

"But we are not even knowing where we are in the galaxy," Rodriguez said, holding his hands up in a plaintive gesture.

"We are still working on repairs," Pog responded, with a piggish snort. "But Pog thinks we can have short and long range sensors up before the day is out. Tomorrow morning, worst case."

"Good," I said. I set my forehooves on the table. "So let's get to the next bit of business. Princesses?"

Luna and Celestia exchanged a forlorn look, and slowly Celestia clapped her hoof for attention. "I first began to notice it when Luna returned to us a few years ago. At first I thought it was a lingering effect of our battle."

"Battle?" Zhidar asked, sitting up straighter.

Luna stood to answer. "It is a long story. To summarize: one thousand years ago, I attempted to usurp my sister by inviting in the Nightmare, a terrible entity of dark magic. It quickly overpowered me and tried to use me to not just overthrow my sister, but kill her outright. Instead, Celestia used the Elements of Harmony to defeat me and seal me away."

"Soon after the battle, I received a vision of sorts from the Elements themselves. It said my sister would return after one thousand years," Celestia added. "I could not know what would happen upon Luna's return, but I did know it would be my one chance to save her. So as the time drew near, I had events set in motion that would lead to Starlight and Trixie gathering the friends they needed, taking up the Elements, and freeing Luna."

“It helped that you warned us ahead of time,” Starlight said with a chuckle. “I’m not sure we would’ve succeeded otherwise.”

Celestia smiled slightly. “In truth, I did so because I knew if I didn’t, you wouldn’t have taken to new friendships, and instead simply stayed with Trixie. And as lovely as you two are together, you alone would not have been enough.”

“You’ll have to tell us about that in more detail sometime,” I said in an attempt to keep us on track. “But you said that you and Luna fought.”

“Yes,” Celestia said, her smile vanishing. “For those of you unfamiliar, the Summer Sun Celebration is a yearly celebration of the longest day of the year, the summer solstice. It also celebrates my reign, or did, until Luna’s return. Now of course, it celebrates us both. During the event, ponies typically stay up all night in preparation to watch the Sun rise. However, as I expected, when Luna returned, her first act was to attack me in Canterlot.”

“On the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape,” Twilight whispered, which I only heard thanks to my pony hearing.

“More than just an old pony's tale, as it turned out,” Luna quipped, favoring Twilight with a slight smile. “Still, I recall it being easier than I expected it would be,” Luna added. She stepped closer to her sister and extended a wing. “In hindsight, I should have seen what you were really doing; lowering your guard to lure me into a false sense of security. Always the manipulator.”

“I am ultimately more of a caretaker than a warrior, and always have been, sister,” Celestia chided mildly. “Sometimes that means ensuring my ponies follow the right path.”

“In any event,” Luna continued, focusing on me. “We fought, drawing upon our respective celestial bodies. But as the Moon lay resplendent in the sky while the Sun was below the horizon – or at least, that’s what I thought at the time – I proved more powerful. I subdued her and sealed her within the Sun, much as she had sealed me in the moon.”

“With respect, your highness,” said Blackford, a puzzled look on his face, “I of course recognize this is an entirely different world from our own. Still, I'm finding it difficult to believe what you're describing to us. Stars are gigantic, incredibly dense fusion reactors, churning out energy at pressures and temperatures that are completely inhospitable to any lifeform we know of. I'm not suggesting you're lying of course, but if the situation was reversed, surely you'd find this a bit impossible?”

Celestia looked at Blackford as if he had just offered her a piece of mud pie. I had seen that bemused 'oh you sweet summer foal' look more times than I care to count when I was younger. “No offense taken, Mr. Blackford. You are quite correct. Equus is an entirely different world from your own. But that should make you all the more curious, especially as a scientist. Who's to say anything here works like you presume it should, hmm?”

Blackford bristled, opening his mouth to retort, but I coughed for attention. “I empathize with you here, Lieutenant. Much of what I heard when I first arrived on Earth sounded pretty impossible too. But try to keep an open mind, alright?”

He sat back in his chair, frowning ever so slightly. “Aye, ma’am.”

Luna’s eyes flashed briefly with bemusement. “Going only on what I have learned from Twilight so far, I dare say there is much about our world you might think impossible,” Luna added.

Somnambula chuckled at that, briefly drawing the group's attention. "Look at this way. Two of your colleagues are talking ponies, and you just landed on a planet full of creatures just like them. A sun and moon that can double as a magical prison isn't such a big leap after that."

Even Luna couldn't help but crack a smile at that. The peel of laughter that rolled around the table helped lighten the mood just a bit, which was good.

“Anyway," Luna continued, "With Celestia defeated and imprisoned, I made my way to Ponyville, which she had chosen as the site for that year's Summer Sun Celebration. It was a small town. Barely bigger than a village in some respects, and much more, erm, po-dunk, than Canterlot. It seemed an odd place to hold such a festival, but if it was good enough for Celestia it was good enough for me to herald the coming of eternal night.” She chuckled to herself. “Truly, my arrogance was only exceeded by my hubris.”

“And the rest, as they say, is history, Starlight found the Elements, and they used them together to return you to normal, somehow,” I finished for her.

“You just skipped the best parts of the story, but yeah that’s more or less right,” Starlight answered.”But if you’d like we can fill you in later.”

“So when did you first notice the issues with the Sun, your highness?” asked Wattson.

Hmm..." Celestia frowned momentarily. “Ah, yes. It was about a week later, I believe. You see, in the process of exorcising the Nightmare from Luna, the Elements had stripped away nearly all of her powers. Even her natural unicorn magic was reduced to nearly nothing. So I continued handling the Sun and Moon as usual while she recuperated both her physical and magical strength.

“I didn't quite realize just how much an alicorn could ingest until I helped watch over Luna back then. I've never seen a pony eat that much food!”

“Good grief did she eat,” Starlight snorted.

Sugarcoat adjusted her glasses. “At times she practically ate a pony’s weight in food.”

“At least she wasn’t eating any actual ponies!” Ditzy said, giggling to herself.

Luna heaved a long-suffering sigh. “I do not understand where that notion came from or why it became associated with Nightmare Moon, but I never have and never will gobble a pony's backside. Or any other part of them for that matter.”

That elicited vaguely confused looks from everyone in the room – except for the Equus residents of course, who giggled like foals for a second.

Celestia coughed politely. “Later that day, Luna informed me that she felt well enough to try raising the moon on her own again. She met me on the balcony at the appointed time, just as I was preparing to lower the Sun. But the moment she looked at me she gasped in fright, begging me to look in a mirror. That's when I saw the first wrinkles.”

“The next morning, it was unusually cold for summer,” Starlight added. “I remember having to put on a scarf before I left the house.”

“Fortunately, I was able to regain control over the Sun and return the temperature to normal,” Celestia said. “At first we thought it was a random anomaly related to Luna's return and the re-division of our respective powers. But since then it's happened on several more occasions, each one worse than the one before it.”

“Has there been any pattern to it?” Blackford inquired, sitting forward.

Celestia gave a regal nod. “Yes. Always after some form of battle that I or Luna have participated in, such as when we attempted to take on Queen Chrysalis during the Changeling invasion.”

Every single one of my crew sat up straighter, a few gasping in shock or surprise. “Did you say Changelings?” Zhidar barked as both he and Maia fumbled at their waist, as if trying to grab for a phaser they weren’t currently wearing.

I winced. Of all the things to share a similar name with ones from our universe, it just had to be them. “Calm down, everypo— er, everyone. The name may be the same but these Changelings are far different than the ones we all know. I promise this has nothing to do with the Founders.”

The various assembled ponies all gave us blank looks. “I do not understand,” said Starswirl, who’d been pensively silent. “What other Changelings could there be? And who are these Founders?”

“It’s a long story,” Twilight said, turning to Celestia. "You remember I said the Phoenix was in danger? That it had been attacked by forces from the Dominion? The Federation is fighting a war with them as we speak. They're led by the Founders, an alien race of shapeshifters who can assume nearly any form. They're commonly called Changelings.”

“How curious,” said Mistmane, her aged face wrinkling even more than usual. “That sounds quite similar to the equine-related species who can change shapes in an instant, and who feed on the love of other creatures. We also call them Changelings.”

“Feeds on love?” May blurted. “How in all things holy—”

“It’s a magical effect, Doctor,” I interrupted. “But the point is, while they can shift forms, they don’t have to revert to a gelatinous state like Founders do every sixteen hours. Also, they aren’t bent on the total destruction of every other race on the planet. At least I’m pretty sure they aren’t… my memory is a bit rusty.”

Rockhoof nickered, shaking his head. “You remember correctly, young lass,” he said. “Though the Changelings do not feed on love anymore, not since the second invasion attempt.”

I blinked in confusion. “Second attempt? They didn't learn their lesson the first time?”

“It happened just after the Pillars returned,” Starlight answered with a sigh. “My old friend Sunburst wanted to reclaim some lost glory, so he worked with a unicorn named Tempest to bring them back to the real world. Unfortunately, in doing so he also brought back an ancient evil called the Pony of Shadows, whom the Pillars had sealed away along with themselves many moons ago. While Trixie and I were busy cleaning up Sunburst's mess, Queen Chrysalis, then the leader of the Changelings, took advantage of the situation. Her drones successfully replaced most of Equestria's senior leadership, including the other four Element bearers.”

“My god,” I replied. Just thinking about a successful Changeling invasion – either here or on Earth – sent a chill down my spine.

“Fortunately, word of the near coup reached us as we were on the way back to Canterlot. Ironically, we found out from a friendly Changeling named Thorax. Thanks to his help, we tracked the location of Chrysalis's central hive and eventually defeat her.”

“The wretched Queen escaped,” Starswirl growled, his beard whipping about. “But at least her spawn were able to reverse the curse upon their kind. By sharing love instead of trying to siphon it, they transformed.” His horn ignited, and an illusory series of images playing back for us that showed a series of Changelings transforming from the black, imposing forms I was used to seeing to brightly colored bug-like creatures. If nothing else, they at least looked a lot more friendly.

“Now they're rainbow bugs?” May griped, rolling her eyes. “Beggin' your pardon, but this sounds utterly absurd.”

Starswirl’s eyes narrowed to slits as he raised his chin. “You doubt my word?”

“No, I doubt the scientific plausibility of a species that feeds on emotions being able to transform by sharing the very same emotions they were taking by force the day before.”

Danielle raised her hand a bit to draw May's attention. "Doctor, if I may." She tapped a few keys on her terminal, and the central display shifted to showcase several different beings in sequence. “I too am mystified by these creatures' sudden change in behavior, but there is some precedent for the basic concept. The Enterprise NCC-1701 under Captain Kirk encountered several such entities, including the Beta XII-A entity and the Redjac. There is also the Drella, which also feed on love.”

“I’m not doubting that it’s possible to feed on emotions,” May countered. She gestured to the Sirens. “I’ve certainly scanned these three enough times to know it’s plausible.”

“Hey hey, let's all slow down for a sec,” Blackford interjected, slowly setting his palms down on the table. He looked over at May. “Believe me, Doc, I get ya. Bad guys frozen in time, suspiciously similar Changelings that become rainbow bugs. It's a lot. But remember what the tan one over there whose name I'm forgetting said,” Blackford continued, gesturing towards Somnambula with his thumb. “Planet of talking horses.”

May seemed to process that for a second before taking a deep breath and pinching the bridge of her nose. “No, you're right. Sorry. Just... ach, fine. Colorful bugs it is. What's next?”

I decided to not risk prolonging the topic and just move on. “Princess, if I'm understanding Starlight properly, you didn't fight Chrysalis at all during her second invasion attempt?”

“That’s correct. The second time, she overpowered me while I was reading reports in my study,” Celestia admitted, her features twisted with embarrassment. “It turned out that my trusted head maid, who would never be questioned by any guard regardless of her location in the castle, was personally replaced by Chrysalis herself.”

“Hmph. A good reason to subject everyone to testing, if your foe could replace any trusted pony with ease,” Zhidar opined.

“Indeed, which we have done. As Starswirl said, Chrysalis has not been seen since, and the vast majority of her former drones have embraced the return to their true, original natures. But I most definitely have a score to settle with her, should she ever dare return. Anyway,” Celestia shifted in her chair and ruffled her wings a bit. “Other than that, there have been a few more minor altercations with various malevolent forces here and there over the years. The effects they had on myself and Luna were much less pronounced, but still present.”

“So I understand why it would affect you, but why would Princess Luna be affected as well?” Twilight asked. “She is connected to the Moon, not the Sun.”

Celestia and Luna exchanged looks. “There is something you should see, both of you,” she said, nodding to me. “It is something we can only show to the two of you.”

“And I take it that it's pertinent to this discussion,” I asked, just to make sure.

“It is,” Celestia said. “However, there are other related topics we should discuss first; you and Twilight can follow us back to the castle once the meeting is over.”

“Agreed,” I said.

The meeting continued for another few hours as we discussed various topics, ranging from detailing other attacks on Equestria that the Elements dealt with in one way or another, to further matters regarding the ways in which the failing Sun had manifested itself. At one point we took a short break, allowing us to bedazzle our pony guests with the ability to summon real food to the holodeck… as well as demonstrate that it was a holodeck by briefly turning off the simulation. The wonder in their eyes, especially the Princesses, brought warmth to my heart.

Though I couldn’t help chuckling when Princess Luna tried to order Prench Roast, only for the computer to tell her that beverage was not available. The look of irritation on her face was almost too good, as was her excitement when I showed her raktajino instead. “Truly, this is a wondrous beverage!”

But eventually, the meeting ended, and once it did, Twilight and I followed Celestia and Luna out the door. “So, where are we headed?”

“Canterlot Castle,” Celestia said, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “Specifically the caverns underneath it.”

“Really?” Twilight answered. “I've always wanted to see what's down there, to be honest.”

“Not much to see,” I replied. “And I've looked everywhere down there.”

“Are you sure about that?” Celestia looked at me, chuckled, and kept walking.

“I—” I started to reply and just sighed in defeat. Twilight stepped over and took her turn ruffling my mane now.

“You kinda trotted into that one, sis.”

I couldn't help but laugh at myself for a moment. "Yeah, don't remind me.”

As we entered the transporter room, a thought occurred to me and I stepped over to pop open one of the equipment cubbies that lay tucked away behind wall panels. I pulled out two communicators and handed them over to Luna and Celestia. “These are just like my own combadge; you can tap them to communicate with us. As you've both seen, they work both on and off the ship, even in Canterlot.” I quickly showed them how to operate the combadges, and they nodded their understanding. “Of course I am happy to speak with either of you, but please try to keep it to critical or time sensitive messages only.”

“Of course, Sunset,” Celestia said as she attached it to her peytral.

We found out that Celestia and Luna barely fit on the transporter pads. As it was, the itching sensation I’d experienced before felt closer to burning before we were rematerialized in the castle foyer.

Luna shook off the aftereffects, grimacing. “I believe I prefer standard teleportation to your ship’s device, Sunset.”

“Sorry about that, Princess,” I replied with a sheepish grin. “It’s usually a much smoother ride. It’s on the list for my engineers to figure out, but as you can imagine, it’s a very long list right now.”

“If you say so.”

Celestia’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “This way, everyone,” she said, leading us towards the west wing of the castle, stopping just short of the long spiral staircase that led up to Luna's personal chambers and offices. From there, we ducked into one of the maintenance passages, then through an otherwise unmarked door that led down into what appeared to be a dimly lit storage room.

“This is an emergency food storage room, in the event of a sudden famine,” Celestia explained as we stepped gingerly around stacks of crates filled with grains, seeds, and other dry goods.

“I didn’t think a famine was possible in Equestria, with earth pony farming and all,” Twilight commented. She walked slower than the rest of us, still seeming to favor her right side a bit.

“Given what has been happening with the Sun, I thought it prudent to begin creating emergency stores, just in case,” Celestia explained. “Before then, this room was usually empty.” She stopped along the far wall, which looked the same as any other, apart from bearing an additional torch sconce and a few bricks that upon closer inspection seemed a bit more worn than the others.

“I'm guessing you didn't bring us down here to show us grain storage," I said. “So, what secrets did I miss during my previous exploits down here?”

“You'll see,” Celestia replied before eyeing us both. “Consider this your first lesson in alicorn magic school.”

She lit her horn, gathering a small ball of magic at its tip. Then she leaned forward and tapped the torch to her left, then a series of four different bricks, before moving to the torch on her right. Then, with a flick of her horn, she slid a crate over from the near corner, stopping it directly beneath the first torch she had tapped.

As soon as the box stopped, the flame coming from the two torches briefly changed colors, flashing from their usual warm red-orange to a bright blue for just a second. I heard a loud hiss, and suddenly the wall in front of us slid open like it was a holodeck door.

“Wow…” I heard Twilight mutter behind me.

Before us was a familiar looking hallway. “This looks just like the corridor that led me to the mirror,” I said as I scanned the metallic walls with my tricorder.

“Yes, we believe it to have been created by the same entities that made the mirror,” Luna said. The lighting turned bluish as we followed the gentle slope of the corridor deeper into the mountain.

I grunted as my tricorder readings proved mostly fruitless. “Well, whoever made it, I sure as heck can't tell you what they used to build it. It's using some kind of duranium-tritanium alloy as a base, but there's at least two other materials in here that the tricorder doesn't recognize at all.”

“Maybe the ship’s database has more information,” Twilight suggested as she gently took the tricorder from me to scan one of the light sources. “Hmm. It doesn’t recognize the type of power system either. I can see there's power flowing to it, but the circuit design I'm picking up is completely non-standard. It makes an EPS grid look simple by comparison.”

“I am not surprised your device fails to recognize it,” Luna said, a chuckle in her voice. “These devices are ancient beyond measure. Perhaps even divine.”

“Divine?” Twilight and I said in surprised unison. “But, Princess… what makes you say that?”

“You are about to find out,” Celestia said as we reached another doorway. This one hissed open for us as we approached.

The room lit up as we stepped inside, and both Twilight and I froze in our tracks.

“Oh my word.”

"What... what is this?" Twilight whispered beside me.

The room before us was spherical in shape. Where the corridors had been lined with muted, almost cold-looking metal, this chamber felt intimate. Inviting. Like it was meant for something, or someone, important. A polished, dark stone floor reflected the warm light of the many sconces and torchieres spread around the space. Smooth metal panels, these colored in a gentle off-white that reminded me of porcelain, covered the walls and the ceiling.

Attached to each wall panel was an opaque sheet of glass, colored in a brilliant cobalt blue. Thin light strips in the walls backlit all of them, revealing an intricate set of patterns etched into each one. In many ways they reminded me of rune circles, only infinitely more complex.

I tried scanning the room, but the tricorder only told me the space was approximately twenty meters in diameter before it began spitting back 'unknown' readings for literally everything. I slapped it closed and tried to take it all in instead.

“Sunset, look.”

Twilight's voice drew my attention to the center of the room, where a large pedestal rose up from the floor. The base was made of similar stone to the floor, albeit more roughly hewn. A circular slab of what I could only guess was some kind of marble lay atop it, bathed in the light of a recessed light fixed directly above it in the center of the ceiling. The pedestal itself was surrounded by an array of very comfortable looking cushions and chairs, as well as some blankets.

“Where are we?” I finally asked.

“The Communion Chamber,” Celestia said, her voice taking on an air of reverence. “It is a place where Luna and I can directly commune with the Sun and Moon in ways few ponies know is possible.”

“What?” I said, my face a twisted mess of doubt and confusion. “What are you talking about?”

In response, both Celestia and Luna approached the pedestal and laid their hooves upon it, bowing their heads. “Oh Sun, giver of life, your chosen one calls to thee," Celestia chanted. "Arise and hear the needs of your children, Equus.”

“Night, protector of the stars, guardian of dreams, your loyal retainer beseeches thee. Show thyself and grant unto me your blessed counsel,” Luna intoned.

For a brief moment, nothing seemed to happen, and I began to wonder if Celestia and Luna had gone mad in the years since I left.

And then all the other lights dimmed as the recessed lighting above the altar glowed brightly. As a rune briefly appeared on the pedestal and then vanished, they appeared.

A pair of alicorns, each at least double the size of the princesses, shimmered into existence as if they were a ship dropping her cloak. And there was absolutely no question what each of them represented.

To the right stood what I could only describe as an alicorn of fire. Endless shades of orange and yellow covered her body, slowly churning much like the surface of Sol. Her mane and tail closely resembled Celestia's in shape, only made of roiling, pulsating flames instead of glistening rainbows. She turned to survey the room and I could feel the wave of intense heat wash over me.

Next to her stood her opposite in every imaginable way. Everything about this second alicorn spoke of the cold darkness of the night. This one bore a muted blue-gray coat, with gigantic wings of a slightly darker shade. Streaks of white flowed through her steel gray mane and tail, reminding me of the lunar surface itself. Like her fiery counterpart, she too looked at us with glowing eyes of pure white.

Both of them took a single step forward, bathing the room in twin blasts of almost scorching heat and freezing cold at once.

“I am the Day.”

“I am the Night.”

A slight pause, then they both spoke as one. “Speak, chosen avatars. What is thy need?”

"What is this?" I whispered, stepping back a few paces.

"This can't be real," Twilight whispered next to me. "They can't possibly be the Sun and Moon, right?"

"I... no, there's got to be something else," I muttered as I fumbled for my tricorder.

I heard Twilight gasp suddenly, causing me to look up, and what I saw took my breath away as well.

In all the years I spent under her tutelage, I had never seen Celestia bow to any creature. Yet there she and Luna were, forelegs bent and heads bowed in reverence. And if literal royalty saw these two otherworldly creatures as their superiors... could it really be true?

“We thank you for gracing us with your presence, and we welcome your counsel with open minds and hearts.” Celestia spoke with the kind of respectful tone usually afforded to her from others.

The fiery alicorn nodded her head, taking on a gentle glow for a moment. “Rise, my child, and speak.” At that, Celestia and Luna stood in turn.

"As you are aware, the... difficulties we have experienced with the Sun and Moon have continued despite all our efforts to understand and correct it. Recent events have caused these issues, and their effects on me and my sister, to increase in severity."

"My sister speaks the truth," Luna added, her gaze trained up at the Night alicorn. "We grow increasingly worried that we are reaching the limits of our ability to negate these effects through sheer magic alone."

“Of this we are aware,” Day said, its voice carrying the faintest of echoes. “The Sun is dying.”

“We feel the same,” Celestia replied with a slightly frustrated tone. “That brings us to the other reason why we called to you now. We bring before you two new alicorns; both children of Equus thought lost long ago, but now returned. We believe they can help us.”

“New alicorns?”

“Ponies continue to Ascend. This is worrisome,” said Night.

“They were a great distance away, and Ascended through the need of great magic,” Luna replied. “In returning to us, they have brought not only their unique magic, but the knowledge and experience of countless other worlds far beyond the stars. We are hopeful that in them we may find a cure.”

“This is impossible,” Twilight whispered. “Are they holograms?”

“If they are, they're a type of hologram far beyond us,” I said as I looked down at my tricorder, which was still showing me absolutely nothing useful in the way of data. On a whim, I switched it over to the narrowest scanning band possible and pointed it directly at them. The first scan had barely begun when both alicorns seemed to startle, and they quickly turned to stare straight at us.

For a split second I thought I saw Day's ghostly eyes blink in surprise. “Advanced technology detected.”

“Confirmed. There is a starship on the planet,” added Night, whose eyes also focused on me.

“Scanning... Confirmed. The starship is not of Equus origin. Chance of alien presence on Equus: Ninety-eight percent.”

“It should be destroyed. It is a threat to this world’s safety. Safety cannot be compromised.”

Celestia and Luna stared at each other, clear shock all over their faces.

“Wait!” I called out, slapping the tricorder closed and setting it aside. “My name is Commander Sunset Shimmer of the Federation starship Phoenix. We are not an enemy of Equus!”

“Irrelevant,” said the Night alicorn as she flared her wings. “Equus must be preserved. The knowledge of its existence must not reach the wider galaxy.”

I shook my head. “It’s too late. It’s been too late for twenty years. This is my sister, Twilight Sparkle. Both she and I were ensnared by a mirror device located beneath the castle, and transported to the Federation capitol world of Earth. We grew up there, raised by a local family. We joined their spacefaring organization, Starfleet, with the goal of one day finding our way back to Equus. The wider galaxy may not know where this planet is, but they absolutely know that Equestrians exist.”

“Day and Night looked at each other, then back at us. “Repeat previous statement,” Day said, its voice suddenly taking on a much sharper tone. "How did you escape Equus?”

“The mirror,” I repeated. “Big, metallic, kind of oval shaped. I found it beneath the castle and as soon as I touched it, it sucked me in.”

"And what about this one?" The Night followed, training its gaze toward Twilight.

“Me?” Twilight replied. “I, erm, well, I had a magic surge while trying to perform a spell. The surge teleported me beneath the castle and through the mirror before I even knew what was happening.”

“The gateway,” Day said, its eyes narrowing. “Initiate log scan.”

“Scanning,” Night said. Her eyes seemed to lose focus, as if she was staring at everything and nothing. As I watched her, I couldn’t help but begin to wonder if we weren’t talking to sophisticated computers, not spiritual beings. “Logs show it has been activated twice. Once forty years ago, the other twenty.” Night paused and cocked her head to the side. “Fault detected: black hole interference. Time dilation effects detected.”

“That’s right,” I said. “My travel to Earth took twenty relative years. Twilight’s journey through the mirror, however, was not affected in this manner.”

“Extreme malfunctions in gateway detected prior to activation. Time dilation should not have been possible,” Day said.

“Critical fault detected. Confirmed, gateway destroyed,” said Night as she stomped a hoof. “Fatal error: Gateway cannot be rebuilt. Emergency evacuation plan no longer possible.” She scowled down at me. “Reverting to original conclusion. Starship must be destroyed.”

“Please, you mustn’t!” I said, spreading my forehooves plaintively. “We’re here to help. The Federation is a peaceful society. We have no desire for war or conquest of any kind!”

“Unlikely. Those who knew of this world once sought to destroy it. Directive to protect Equus from further harm is clear.”

Luna spoke up, having spent the last few minutes stunned into silence at the scene playing out around her and Celestia. “She does not lie, I assure you. These two, and the other crew of their ship, have been nothing but peaceful toward us. Truly, they mean us no harm.”

“We will see,” Day answered. Day and Night lit their horns at once and cast a beam of golden light that passed over both of us in turn, leaving a bizarre tingling sensation in its wake.

The Night shook her head. “You are tainted. Corrupted. This one was infected with the Nightmare virus.” She pointed her wing to Twilight.

“Nightmare virus?” Twilight whispered. She then stood up straight. “Yes, I did encounter the Nightmare. But with the help of the princesses, I defeated it! I’m free of its influence!”

Night cocked her head again. “Scanning... “confirmed. No trace of Nightmare virus remnants detected in mind.”

The two alicorns powered down their horns and we both sighed in relief.

“Query,” Day said, looking down at me again. “You are of Equus, yet you represent this Federation. What does the Federation want with Equus?”

“The Federation would want to befriend us, not harm us. If we chose to join them, they'd welcome us as allies and partners. If not, they'd respect our wishes, but even then they'd offer to come to our defense against any who would seek to harm us,” I answered.

“Like my sister said before, two Federation citizens raised us into the adults we are today. But all the while, they honored and cherished everything that makes us unique as ponies. We joined Starfleet so we could find home. And we did! Eventually. And now that we’re here, all we want to do is help.”

Day and Night looked at each other. Their mouths opened, but all I heard was an electronic whirring noise, like two Bynars talking to each other. Eventually, after what felt like a solid ten minutes, the Day alicorn faced me again. “We will allow you to assist. However, this access point is insufficient. It was designed only for the avatars. You must locate a suitable mainframe.”

Any doubt I had left about the true nature of these creatures before us had vanished at this point. “Okay… can you tell us where one of these mainframes is?”

“Mainframe is loc—. Error. Mainframe is loc-loc-loc-loc-loc—” All of a sudden the Day alicorn’s form sparked, shuddered, and vanished, followed soon after by the Night.

All lights went out in the room, leaving us in darkness save for a small amount of blue light leaking from the corridor.

“Pardon my Prench,” Celestia said as her horn lit up, giving us enough light to see by. “but would somepony please tell me what in Tartarus just happened? I've never seen them behave like that at all.”

“I do not understand what we witnessed,” Luna added. “It was as if they ceased to be the Day and Night and became something else entirely.”

“They were some kind of AI, I think,” I answered as we followed Celestia back to the corridor.

“AI?” Celestia said over her shoulder.

“Short for artificial intelligence. Think extremely sophisticated robots, though in truth it's far more complex than even that. Either way, this raises a lot of questions.” I tapped my badge. “Shimmer to Phoenix.” After a moment of no response, I tried again. “Shimmer to Phoenix!”

“We must be too deep inside; the signal’s being blocked,” Twilight pointed out.

“Alright, let’s get out of here then. I’m returning to the ship once we do,” I declared, heading for the exit.

“Sunset, can I come with you?” Twilight asked as she stumbled, requiring Luna to assist her in continuing to walk. “I… need to stay here a bit longer to get past the worst of the recovery process, and I'd like to have a few things with me here.”

“Of course,” I said, ruffling her hair slightly with my magic. “Like you even have to ask.”

“...Sunset, they referred to the mirror as a gateway,” Twilight pointed out. “You don’t think…”

I blinked, then as the realization hit me, I started moving at double time.

Soon enough we’d exited back into the castle, allowing us to contact the Phoenix once more. Twilight transported back to the ship, while Luna returned to her study, claiming she needed time to think.

Before I could do anything else, however, Celestia stopped me, grave concern written all over her face. “Sunset, you and Twilight clearly have a better grasp of this than Luna or I do. What is going on? And what did Twilight mean about a gateway?”

I paused to consider my answer. “I don’t understand as much as you might think, Princess. I have a hunch, but I need more information. I don’t suppose there’s a chance you’ll allow me to examine the wreckage of the mirror?”

“Of course, this way.” Celestia led me to the old access corridor to the mirror chamber. “We originally had this sealed to all but myself, but, well…” She used a quick burst of magic to undo said seal. “Good luck.”

Stepping back into this corridor brought back fresh waves of nostalgia, even as I moved at a brisk canter. I remembered the confusion I’d felt the first time coming through here; a stupid foal hellbent on an equally stupid plan. Yet now my growing unease was for an entirely different set of reasons. And as I set hoof inside the mirror chamber, I took in a sharp breath.

No wonder Celestia couldn't reconstruct the mirror – it lay broken into dozens of pieces. Shards of glass and chunks of twisted metal littered the room, forcing me to step gingerly to avoid cutting myself. Shakily, I brought out my tricorder to start scanning. At first, like with the corridors before, and the Chamber, the results were inconclusive.

And then I passed it over the mechanisms of the mirror itself.

My tricorder went crazy immediately. Every audible alert sounded at once as the display lit up like a Hearthswarming Tree. "What the hell, you piece of junk?

I looked down at the display, expecting to see some cascade of error messages, but all it showed was a single terrifying word.

Iconian.

“Oh my god…”

I sank back onto my rump like a ragdoll. Short of the Borg, detecting Iconian technology of any kind was about the worst possible result of any scan. What little the Federation knew of this ancient and long-lost race was more than enough to scare even the boldest Klingons. All we knew with any certainty was that their gateways gave them the power to traverse space and time on a whim, and they possessed terrifying mental and physical powers. Still unconfirmed legends told of their devastating wars for control of entire galaxies.

To find one of their gateways here of all places... to realize that both myself and Twilight had fallen victim not to some odd Equestrian artifact but a ghastly relic of a race so terrifying they make the Borg seem quaint...

It scared me more than anything else ever had.

I quickly took as many scans as I could, filling the tricorder's memory bank completely. I galloped all the way back up to the main level of the castle, slapping my combadge the moment I popped back into the main foyer. “Shimmer to Phoenix.”

“Phoenix here, Commander,” came Wattson's voice. “I was just about to call you again. We got short range sensors back about thirty minutes ago, and... you're going to want to see this for yourself, ma'm.”

“Understood. Beam me directly to Engineering.”

“Acknowledged.”

The transporter beam hurt even more than last time but I didn’t care. As I rematerialized in Engineering I saw Pog, Blackford, and Twilight waiting for me alongside Wattson. “Blackford,” I said, handing the tricorder over. “Get these readings analyzed immediately. I caught Twilight's gaze for a moment and we shared a look that screamed 'it's true isn't it'.

“Wait a minute,” I said as a sudden thought occurred to me. “Are the locals still on the ship?”

“Yes, they’re mingling in Ten-Forward, at least some of them,” Blackford answered. “Zhidar and Rodriguez are keeping an eye on them.”

“Good. Other than the princesses, what I’m about to share does not leave this ship, understood?” I took a deep breath and looked at the others. “I was able to scan the mirror device that originally transported myself and Twilight to Earth. It’s not a mirror at all. It's an Iconian gateway.”

Gasps went all around. “Iconian? Holy shit,” Blackford breathed.

“What’s an Iconian gateway doing here?” Pog wondered.

“I hate to pile on the bad news, but that might be related to our own scans too,” Wattson said.

“That bad?” I replied.

“Probably, yes. That's why I called the others here too.” Wattson paused and looked at me, her face a mask of worry. “Sunset, I want to be crystal clear that I ran these scans every way I know how. Dozens of times. I showed the results to Twilight and had her run the scans again herself, just to be sure.”

Now even Wattson was beginning to worry me. “I trust you, Wattson. What've you got?”

“How much do you know about this solar system? Specifically its makeup.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Wow. Been a long time since anyone asked me that. Well, Equus is the center of the system of course, with Sun and Moon orbiting it. There's five smaller planets in the system too, called, um... oh! Right. Aprion, Sleipnir, Epona, Tulpar, and Tikbalang. Maybe not in that order, but it's those five for sure.”

She blinked in confusion. “Those all sound like names from Earth mythology, if I’m not mistaken.”

I rolled my eyes and chuckled, having gone over this so many times with T’Lona and Amina back in my first year on Earth. “It’s a translation thing, like how there are cities in Equestria named Manehattan and Vanhoover; the actual names are completely different in Ponish.”

“Right…” Wattson continued. “And what do you know about the night sky? The constellations?”

“Err, well… actually, I don’t remember all that much anymore.” I stared briefly at the ceiling as I tried to remember. “I vaguely remember Twilight and I explaining them to our parents, and being surprised when we realized how many of them were named similarly to constellations seen from Earth.”

Wattson nodded. “Right. So... please forgive me, Sunset, but I have to tell you that everything you just said is wrong. All of it.”

I recoiled as if she had slapped me across the muzzle. “Excuse you, Lieutenant?” My simmering tension and worry flashed into near anger in an instant. “You want to repeat that again?”

“Believe me, I wish I didn't have to say this at all." She hurriedly tapped a few buttons on the Master Systems Display and brought up a floating diagram of a star system. "This is the Equus system according to the information you and Twilight provided. Right?”

To most anyone else, the star system floating before us was all but impossible. Theoretical at best. But to me it looked right as rain. Equus stood proudly in the center of the system, with first the Moon and then the Sun orbiting it. I ticked off the remaining planets in my head as I skimmed the diagram: Rocky, lifeless Arion; Sleipnir and its acidic, pressure cooker atmosphere; and far past it lay Epona with its massive set of rings, Tulpar and its many moons, and finally Tikbalang.

“Yep,” I said, “That's exactly it.”

“Twilight said the same thing,” Wattson replied with a defeated sigh. “But that's not what our sensors show. At all.”

She tapped the console and the display changed. Equus was still there, but nearly everything else was gone. No Sun, no Moon, no planets. Even the constellations were gone.

“Wha—” I gasped.

Wattson tapped a few more keys and the display zoomed in on Equus, adding more layers of data as it went. Now I could see a huge network of satellites orbiting the planet, most of them no more than a dozen meters in size. They orbited in seemingly random trajectories, but together I could see the makings of a network of sorts surrounding Equus. It vaguely reminded me of a planetary shield grid. And amongst all of that zipped two massive satellites, each closer in size to Earth Spacedock. These two were clearly set in geosynchronous but opposing orbits.

“...Wattson, what the hell am I looking at?” I demanded. “This can't possibly be right. If there really were that many satellites in the sky above Equus, I'm pretty sure somepony would have seen them by now. We have telescopes too, you know.”

“But that's just it, Sunset,” Wattson replied. “You've been looking at them this whole time, you just never realized it.”

I didn't even try to stop a very unladylike snort at that. “Never realized what, Amelia?”

“That this entire system is a fabrication. None of it is true. It's been entirely made up.” She winced as she pushed more buttons on the console. “According to our sensors, Equus isn't even in a star system. It's a rogue planet, one that's sitting smack in the middle of a massive class nine nebula.

“This system of satellites,” she pointed to the network of objects orbiting the planet, “appears to be a gigantic holographic imaging system, displaying false images of stars, planets, constellations… the daytime sky… if these weren’t in place it would be pitch black outside except for where the light of one of these larger satellites reaches the planet.”

“But that’s impossible!” I yelled. “That doesn’t make any sense!”

She winced again. “And that’s not all. We also detected numerous power sources all over the planet. They’re all underground; some by only a few dozen meters, others by hundreds, but they’re scattered everywhere. Sensors can't determine exactly what each of them are, but they do show signs of what looks like some kind of data network tying them together." Wattson rested her palms on the display and looked at me. “Bottom line, Sunset, Equus isn't what you, or Twilight, or any other local, thinks it is.”

For the second time that day, I found myself knocked back on my rump in shock. I just sat there, frozen, for a few minutes, unable to do much more than stare ahead. My pony essence rebelled at the heresy it had just heard, but somewhere deep inside, the pieces had no choice but to fit together.

And I started laughing. I laughed, then I cried, then I laughed some more while tears ran down my cheeks. “Oh wow,” I choked between a mixture of sobs and laughter. “No wonder Princess Celestia can move the sun. No wonder Luna can redecorate the night sky on a whim. It’s all holograms!”

My choked laughter continued to echo louder and louder as everyone watched until finally I found myself abruptly grabbed by Twilight. “Sunset, can we talk?” she hissed, pointing a hoof at Wattson’s office.

“Yeah, sure, why not,” I said, still giggling. “Maybe next you'll tell me that Princess Celestia actually hates tea—”

The instant the office doors slid closed, her hoof landed right on my muzzle, hushing me. “Computer! Activate privacy mode!”

“Privacy mode activated.”

She scowled at me. “Okay, Sunset, you need to calm down, right now.”

“Calm? I’m calm, Twilight,” I replied, my laughter strained. “I’m totally calm. Completely, utterly centered. No emotions here. Just pure Vulcan-level calm!”

“Sunset!” Twilight raised a hoof like she was ready to slap me, then seemed to think better of it and stomped it on the floor instead. “Look, I’m freaking out just as much as you are, okay, but you need to get a grip!”

My laughter died away, leaving only the tears. “Twilight… Twilight, do you even hear yourself right now? We just found out that everything we thought we knew about our home planet is a lie.” I held my forehooves up, with barely a few centimeters between. “How are you not just a little bit totally cracked right now like I am!”

“Yeah, me too!” Twilight shouted, throwing her hooves up. “Are you kidding? This is nuts! It’s ridiculous! Even heretical to some corners of pony society!” And then her face brightened. “But it’s also cool!”

All emotion drained from my face, leaving me giving Twilight a completely flat look. “...what.”

“Think about it,” she continued, “nothing about how we thought things worked made sense anyway. It didn’t fit with everything we’ve learned about physics and science since we ended up on Earth. And this has to mean something. A huge something. Our world was made artificially, Sunset. Someone built this. But who? And why? Was it ponies who did this? Or did they work with others? Why bury all of this technology in the first place? Is this even our real home planet now? Or did we come here from somewhere else?” Twilight looked me in the eye and smiled. “We don't know any of these things, sis. But we can find out.”

The more she spoke, the more centered I felt. I grabbed hold of her voice, her statements, and used them with Mother’s techniques to reground myself. After a moment I managed to stand up and regain my composure.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right… you’re right. We should’ve known we weren’t going to find a place like what we thought it was. But… what do we tell the Princesses?”

“Right now?” Twilight rubbed a hoof on her chin. “I don’t know… but I think they’ll take it well, if we tell them slowly and lay out the facts and evidence, rather than just dumping it on them all at once. But they do need to know.”

“They do,” I agreed. “But… we can only tell them. And whoever else they say it’s okay to speak with. How they tell the general public, and how much, is up to them. If we try to do it, we'll either be laughed out of the room or incite global panic.”

“Definitely,” Twilight said. She wrapped her forelegs around me and pulled me in. “You okay now? Feeling a little less like a crazy pony?”

“Yeah.” I hugged her back, letting out a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Twi. I needed that.”

She laughed, a much happier sound than my own crazed laughter had been. “Yeah… I’m still freaking out a little myself, but I’ll deal. Let’s get back out there.”

“Right.” I stepped outside the office. “Sorry about that. I needed a moment.”

Wattson raised an eyebrow. “Sunset, you sure you’re okay?”

“No, not entirely. But we don’t have time for me to completely come to grips with things,” I said. “This does explain why there were two AIs.”

“AI?” Pog asked, giving us a stern look. “What AI? Pog doesn’t trust AI.”

“The Princesses showed us to some kind of holographic imaging chamber,” I answered. “Which was probably one of the power sources you detected. They claimed they could communicate with the Sun and Moon, and they were able to summon two giant alicorns that looked just like you might imagine the Sun and Moon would look if they were ponies.”

“They must be representing the two major satellites,” Blackford suggested. He pointed to one. “This satellite here contains a massive fusion reactor, and appears to be directing heat energy down toward the planet.”

“The Sun,” I whispered. “The Sun is dying.”

“Then the other one must be the Moon,” Twilight said, looking at the sensor readings. “But what is it for exactly?”

“We detected a lot of complex computer systems inside of both satellites, Energy patterns suggest they are sending and receiving data from the surface, most likely via the mainframes that Twilight said the alicorn holograms mentioned. So perhaps in the Moon's case, they're tasked with environmental controls.”

I shook my head. “Ponies manage the weather, or at least they do in Equestria. Maybe these… satellites help, but I know for a fact that weatherponies do real work.”

“With magical assistance, maybe,” Wattson allowed. She brought up the sensor readings. “The nebula all around us, like most nebulas, is made up of primarily hydrogen and helium, along with traces of other gasses like argon. There appear to be a few smaller satellites roaming the nebula and acting like mobile Bussard Collectors, collecting hydrogen from the nebula and taking it back to the solar satellite.”

“So then it’s not a question of fuel,” I said, eyeing Wattson. “Does the computer recognize the technology present? Is it Iconian?”

“No, it isn’t,” she said, shaking her head. “Err, well, there’s a few signals that might be Iconian, but the rest, the computer doesn’t recognize.”

“We’ll need to analyze the data, maybe send some shuttles out to do further sweeps of the planet,” I replied. “How long till we have long-range sensors?”

“We’re hoping to have those online within the next twenty minutes or so,” Wattson said. “But there’s a lot of interference due to the nebula. It might be difficult to determine our exact location.”

“What about the satellites? Will it be possible to board them?”

She shook her head. “Not likely, at least right now. They’re shielded, and strongly. We’ve only been able to detect the reactor and computer systems because they contain so much power. I can’t even be sure there’s a habitable area on either satellite.”

“We’ll keep trying.”

“Erm, Celestia to Shimmer? Hello?”

Wattson’s face broke into a huge grin as she heard that. “You gave the Princess a combadge?”

“I thought it was prudent,” I answered as I tapped my badge. “Shimmer here. Is everything alright, Princess?”

“Sunset, I thought you should know that we’ve been working on something for you and your crew, specifically the losses that you’ve suffered. At your convenience, would you and Twilight be willing to join me?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Can do. We'll be on our way as soon as we can.”

“It’s… beautiful,” I whispered.

“How did they build this so fast?” Sunset mumbled as we both stared in abject shock.

Spread out before us was a series of small gardens, each laid out in the shape of the Starfleet chevron. Colorful roses and orchids, set in an alternating pattern, formed a natural border to each one. Small bunches of lilies and chrysanthemums dotted the interior space in neat rows.

Rows that were filled with small gravestones.

And there were many. Far, far too many.

Sunset and I quietly stepped forward to get a closer look at them. A small Starfleet chevron was etched into the top of the gravestone, followed by name with rank, then date of birth and death. To my complete surprise, not only were the dates written out in the Earth calendar style, but all of the text was done in Federation Standard and not Ponish.

Finally, in the center of each garden stood a modest but slightly larger gravestone – one for each of the senior officers who had perished.

“How did you get the information you needed for this?” I added, staring at Celestia.

She smiled softly, but it was a sad smile. “In truth, Luna first brought up the idea after hearing you describe the many friends and colleagues you lost. I recall Ms. Wattson remarking that your ship has some facilities meant for... storing the deceased, but Luna and I felt we should try our best to do something more fitting for them. As for how we pulled it all together so quickly,” she continued, “magic always helps. And maybe some assistance from an officer who prefers to remain anonymous.”

“Still… this is incredible, Princess,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief.

Sunset breathed heavily, her eyes wet with moisture. “This is an incredibly kind gift. I…. we’ll have to arrange for a ceremony—”

“Already done,” Celestia said as she slipped a PADD of all things out from behind her peytral and hoofed it over to Sunset. “This plan came from the same anonymous officer.”

She scanned it over and over, and sighed. “This has Rodriguez written all over it,” she murmured. “He formats almost all of his reports just like this.” She cracked a bit of a smile for just a second. "Oh? There's a wake planned too?”

“That suggestion came from a local Ponyville resident, Pinkie Pie, Limestone’s sister,” Celestia answered. “She’s been planning on throwing some form of welcome party for the ‘alien visitors’, but given the tragedy involved in your arrival, I asked her for this instead.”

“Pinkie Pie, huh?” Sunset scanned the PADD some more, then pocketed it. “I’ll get everything organized, Princess, and inform the crew. We can hold the actual ceremony tomorrow, if that’s alright with you.”

“Of course.” Celestia nodded to us both. “If any last minute changes are needed, please contact me and I'll see to it personally. Twilight, are you prepared to return to Canterlot with me?”

“Yes, Princess,” I answered, holding up the small bag of belongings I’d gathered. Carrying it was proving stressful, and I was tiring rapidly. “Sunset, I’ll see you later?”

Sunset gave me a brief hug. “Sure thing.”

Celestia and I stepped over to one of Starlight’s magical circles and teleported to Canterlot. By the time I arrived back at my room, I was utterly exhausted. Mercifully, Luna gave me the evening off to relax and I promptly showered and collapsed into bed.

Much of the next morning was spent practicing some of the mental and physical exercises Luna had given me. Part of me felt like I was back in magic kindergarten, and I had to remind myself to keep up a steady but reasonable pace with the exercises. Repetition and building stamina were the keys to success here, as Luna often reminded me, and with my magic still in an unruly and unpredictable state, pushing too hard too fast could prove extremely dangerous to both of us.

“The magic of the Night is inherently defensive in nature,” she’d say. “It seeks to eliminate aggressors wherever it travels. By its very nature it does so through sheer brute force, and as such requires restraint and patience if one is to ever control it, much less master it.”

Fortunately, many of the mental exercises were much easier to handle, as they were very similar to Vulcan exercises T'Lona had taught to me and Sunset. While I had fallen out of practice with those, it nevertheless gave me enough experience to find mastering Luna’s techniques easier than they would have been otherwise.

At least the exercises were beginning to show some tangible progress. My stamina and physical strength were noticeably improving, and my magical aura was beginning to shift back to its normal pinkish hue.

As it was, I barely used my magic at all, and only to simply hover an object closer to me, like a book or my toothbrush. I had pressed Luna on this a few times already, but she'd only cryptically say it was due to a potentially lethal aspect of my new magic.

Testing it on a piece of lettuce saw said leaf wither and die almost immediately. “Ugh, again?!” I scraped away the remnants into a garbage can.

A knock came at the door. “Enter,” I said.

Luna pushed the door open. “Good morning, Twilight Sparkle. I trust that you are doing better?”

“Yes, Princess Luna,” I replied as I stretched out my wings, giving them a few experimental flaps. The muscles were still far too sore to risk even attempting a basic flight, but at least the stretching helped relieve some of the tension.

“Good. May I?” I nodded, and Luna cast a simple diagnostic spell on me, sweeping her magic past me multiple times. Feeling magic sweep through my body tingled in a way a tricorder scan never could, and it still gave me the jitters despite once being used to such things. “Your health is improving dramatically. How are you adjusting to your dietary changes?”

“Still a little strange,” I admitted, “but probably not nearly as it would’ve been had I not lived among omnivores and carnivores for the past sixteen years.” I gave her a plaintive look as hope soared in my breast. “So... what do you think? Can we visit my family soon?”

“Not yet,” Luna said with a shake of her head, dousing my hopes like a forcefield cutting off oxygen to a fire. “As unicorns they would be especially vulnerable to the changes in your magic, and I know your family members well enough to know they would not be able to resist linking their magic with yours. Your family seems to treat such a thing as casual as most would a hug.”

“Oh. Right. I… forgot they did that,” I muttered, looking away as shame wriggled in to replace the hope. “They know I’m here though, right?”

“Indeed. Prince Shining Armor is especially insistent on seeing his little sister, and I have received several stern letters from Twilight Velvet and Night Light.” Luna wrapped a wing around Twilight’s shoulder. “You will be able to see them soon. A week at most, if your recuperation continues apace of course.”

“A week?” I grunted, suppressing the urge to roll my eyes.

Luna flashed me a rare sympathetic smile. “At least it is not a thousand years?”

Despite my mood I couldn't help laughing a bit at that. Luna frequently joked when she was with me personally, I’d noticed, but remained so stodgy and serious around almost everyone else. As if she still wasn’t comfortable in her own skin.

Good god did I know the feeling.

“True enough.”

Luna let go and stood back. “I hate to switch to this of all topics, but I wanted to let you know that the burial service has been set for late this afternoon. I fully expected you to want to attend, which is why I canceled our usual lessons yesterday evening.”

“Thank you,” I replied. "I really needed some extra sleep."

“Indeed you did. Now, there is a wake planned immediately after the ceremony as well. I'd say your attendance is highly encouraged, though given your health, please feel free to retreat when you feel the need to.” That smile briefly returned to her face before it flickered out again. “Per your request, there will be a private airship waiting for you in Ponyville’s Aerodrome. You and Miss Preta will have free reign anywhere within one hundred miles of Mount Canter.”

I mentally translated that to kilometers, after a moment of struggling to remember how long an Equestrian mile was. “Understood. Thank you, Princess.”

She gave me a regal nod. “Please, call me Luna. And thank you, Twilight Sparkle, for returning yourself and your sister to us. You may very well be our salvation.” She pivoted on her heels. “Now, come. Breakfast awaits. They have prepared us rashers of bacon and fried mackerel.”

I spent the rest of the morning resting, repeating the prescribed exercises, and reading a charming Equestrian science-fiction novel about “incredible rockets that fly to the moon!” The science was hopelessly backward, but I didn’t care. It was wonderful to hold books in my hooves again, to smell the musty scent of paper and bindings, to hear the page turn as I read, and to close it with a satisfying thump when I finished. That was one thing even the holodeck could never fully replicate.

Just after lunch, Princess Luna knocked on my door. “Twilight Sparkle, I’ve brought someone to see you. Her name is Rarity Belle, the owner of Canterlot Chic Boutique. She is here to help adjust your… I believe Sunset called it a dress uniform?”

“Oh?” I stood up out of my chair. “I’m ready for her.”

Luna nodded, and opened the door again. Immediately my jaw dropped at the sight of the pony who entered. Immaculate white coat with fetlocks perfectly trimmed, slender frame filled out in just the right places, and a spectacularly coiffed mane of deep royal purple arranged in delicate curls on either side of her head. The trio of blue diamonds on her flank drew my attention to her tail, just as expertly maintained as her mane.

Rarity stepped forward and held a hoof out to bump. “Delighted to meet you, darling,” she said, her voice elegant and refined, flowing like a rich red wine right through my ears and into my heart. “I must say, those are some beautiful wings you have. I've never seen wings with such different coloration before. The contrast with your coat is divine!”

“Aaah, aah, right,” I stammered as I bumped my hoof to hers in the pony version of a handshake. “I-it’s nice to meet you too. I’m Twilight. Sparkle! Twilight Sparkle.” A stupid grin stretched across my face.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luna slap a hoof to her brow at my behavior. “Miss Belle, do not forget my warning to avoid using your magic directly on her, lest you accidentally activate hers.”

“Not to worry, your highness, I am well aware,” Rarity said as she floated several long pieces of measuring tape and a sewing kit out of her saddlebags. “I wouldn’t dream of harming Equestria’s newest Princess.”

My blush intensified till it felt like my cheeks were twin fusion reactors on overload. “I-I’m not a Princess!” I blurted. “I haven’t… haven’t decided if I want that yet, anymore than Sunset has.”

“Nevertheless, you are under Princess Luna's care, and I am of course here at her request. So the royal treatment you shall receive,” Rarity said as she brought her measuring tape over. “Now, stand still. This should take just a few moments while I get your measurements.”

Luna excused herself as Rarity got to work, noting she'd return after a scheduled meeting with Celestia. Initially I kept still and quiet, not wanting to disturb Rarity's work. But the silence quickly became unbearable, and I rifled through my brain for something to break the proverbial ice with. “So, um, Rarity,” I said, watching the unicorn hum to herself as she stretched her measuring tape one way around me, then another, while scribbling numbers down on a small pad of paper. “I, um, haven't been to Canterlot in quite a while, actually. What's changed around here in, oh, say the last sixteen years or so?”

If my sudden revelation that I'd been away for nearly two decades surprised her at all, she didn't show it. She smiled demurely, briefly flashing a set of teeth that looked as pearly white as her coat. Was there any part of this mare that didn't shine? “Oh I wish I could tell you, but I’m afraid I actually live in Ponyville. Have all my life.”

“Really?” I raised an eyebrow. “But your Canterlot accent…”

“Is an affectation, darling,” she replied. My heart skipped a beat at the use of the word darling. “I’m afraid I grew up sounding a bit more… Whinnyweagan.” Briefly she let the accent drop, and the sudden change elicited a snort from me. “Oh, but I don’t think Canterlot ponies will be wantin’ to buy a dress from somepony who speaks like this, dontcha know?”

The snort transformed into laughter, and judging from the smile on her face, that had been her intent. “Fair enough,” I admitted.

She set her measuring tape down and went over to fetch my dress uniform, which had been laid atop a ponyquin. “I must say, when I heard that not one but two ponies missing for decades had returned, and as alicorns no less, I was quite shocked. Even more when I saw that… that ship.” She held a hoof to her chest. “It is simply astonishing. And it truly flies through space?”

“Err… yes?” I blinked. “Wait, how did you know all that?”

“Oh, it’s all over the radio news, darling. By now there isn’t a pony on the continent that doesn’t know a ship from the stars has crash landed, bringing with it hundreds of aliens. News travels a bit slower once one leaves Equestria, but give it another week or so and even Yakyakistan will know you're here.” She looked back up at me from her sewing. “You didn’t know?”

“I don’t have a radio in here to listen to,” I said flatly.

Rarity tittered, her laughter like chiming bells. “I suppose you don’t.” She returned to her sewing. “My, this material is unlike anything else I’ve ever worked with. It breathes like cotton but flows like silk, and… well, I don’t suppose it would be possible for me to obtain a few sample pieces to work with? Just thinking about the range of outfits I could make with this has me excited already.”

I shrugged. “You’d have to ask Sunset, since it’s a material from our ship’s replicator. That means it might be protected by the Prime Directive” I blinked. “Speaking of that, I wonder why she didn’t just replicate me a new dress uniform.”

“I was told something about power constraints? I didn’t quite understand what they meant by that though.” She searched through her bag till she found some form of fabric. “I’ll use this… it’s the closest I have to the same material, and the right color… you’re not allergic to any synthetics, are you darling?”

A chuckle slipped from my lips. “No.”

“Wonderful. You can relax now, Twilight. I'll let you know when I have something ready for you to try on.” After futzing with the material for a minute and arranging more tools, she took a seat nearby and began working. Almost immediately she began humming again, and I found myself relaxing a bit just listening to the soft melody.

“Twilight,” she said after a few minutes of relative silence, “may I ask a personal question?”

"Please."

“Pardon my forwardness, but I'm curious as to your hesitancy to accept the title of Princess. If it were me, I'd leap at the chance.”

I sniffed, immediately regretting opening myself to questions at all. “Let’s just say my experience of becoming an alicorn wasn’t exactly pleasant. Besides, I’m a Starfleet officer. Not only would doing so be a conflict of interest, it'd pretty clearly violate the Prime Directive.”

“Surely this Starfleet would understand your predicament,” she countered as her needles swished back and forth through the fabric in several places at once. “It's not as if you crashed your ship here on purpose just to break rules. Besides, can they really take away all of your rights and privileges as an Equestrian citizen?”

“Well, technically, no, but…”

“But?” she pressed.

A sudden flash of anger ran through me. Who did she think she was, asking me this crap, when I hadn’t even begun to figure it out for myself? I drew upon the mental exercises Luna had taught me, using them to restore calm before I finally said, “I’d rather not go into it right now, please.”

She drew herself up. “Of course. My apologies. Forget I asked.”

The rest of her work passed in silence, some of it comfortable, some decidedly not as I caught her casting glances my way every so often, traces of a blush on her cheeks. It was a little awkward, doubly so since I already had a girlfriend and had completely forgotten anything I ever read about ponies' verbal and physical cues related to romantic attraction. I could be inadvertently signaling myself as available by the curve of my tail and I would have no clue.

Thankfully, she seemed to finish a few minutes later, gently floating the uniform in front of her. “Ah, there we go,” she said, carefully eyeing the uniform on all sides. “Of course it'd be ideal if I had more of the same material from your old uniform, but I do think this worked out quite nicely. If you would try it on, I can make any final adjustments.”

I gently retrieved it with my hooves and slipped it on, only using my magic at the last moment to nudge it into place. I stepped in front of the tall mirror that had been brought in just for this and turned in place. “Oh wow…” I sighed.

It really did fit better than any uniform I had worn, formal or not. The seams were placed in just the right spots to prevent itching or rubbing, the colors were spot-on... even the wing slits were perfectly shaped, allowing me full range of motion without any pinching near the joint. This mare would give Garak a run for his bits for sure.

“It's perfect. Thank you, Rarity.”

“Of course, of course, think nothing of it.” She gave me a delicate look, her smile turning into one of sympathy. “I sincerely hope the ceremony goes well. Or, at least as well as such things can go, I suppose. Please convey my condolences to your sister, and to the rest of your ship's crew.”

I nodded in acknowledgement. “Thank you, Rarity.”

She bowed briefly to me. “You’re quite welcome. Oh, one more thing. I do have a boutique in Ponyville, Carousel Boutique. You are always welcome to visit, whether you need more clothing or just wish to chat.” She flashed that pristine smile once more. “I hope to see you again sometime.”

I smiled at her in return. “I'll keep that in mind. Thank you again, Rarity. It was lovely to meet you.”

Rarity collected her gear in a field of magic and took her leave with a final “ta-ta!”. A few minutes later, Luna returned.

“I trust things went well?”

“Yes, very,” I replied, turning a bit to show off the new uniform. “Fits better than a glove.”

Luna smiled, but gave me a questioning look. “What is a glove?”

Just then the clock on the far wall gonged, signaling the top of the hour. “We should probably get going.”

"Indeed," Luna said, turning for the door. "Let us be off.”

She led me to the fast travel circle, as Starlight called it, teleporting us to the one just outside the ship.

If not for the solemnity of the occasion, I would have been awe struck at the assembled crowd. What appeared to be the entirety of the remaining crew had gathered in front of a small stage that had been setup near the bottom of the gangplank. The crew split into two sets of rows, with a central aisle between them. They must have cleared every lounge onboard the ship of chairs to make it work, but they did it.

Just behind them was a far larger crowd of ponies than I ever would have expected to see, especially for something like this. If the entire crew was outside, so too was the town of Ponyville, nearly all of them dressed in whatever formal wear they had available to them. Seeing that about brought a tear to my eye anyway. These ponies barely know me or Sunset, much less the hundreds of bipedal creatures that just crashed here. Yet here they were paying their respects as if they had lost some of their own.

Sunset stood behind a simple podium set at the center of the stage, with the rest of the senior officers arrayed behind her. Luna parted ways with me then, taking up a position between the assembled crew and locals. I continued down the aisle to the stage, sharing a brief, fragile smile with Sunset as I passed her and took my place.

"Crew of the U.S.S. Phoenix, attention!" Sunset's voice seemed to echo over the silent crowd.

A crewman in the front row blew a single note into a whistle as Sunset turned to face the ship. I followed her gaze to the top of the gangplank, where a line of ponies began carrying out one coffin after another.

“Thank you all for coming.” Sunset took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, then let it out.

“This... this is a moment that everyone in Starfleet, from Ensigns to Admirals, prays they never have to experience. Losing a comrade in arms is never easy. Knowing that someone we served alongside for days, months, sometimes years, won't be there tomorrow, is hard. Doubly so when that person gave their lives to save yours.” Sunset looked over the assembled crew.

“To the survivors of the Algerie, the Baltimore, the Helena, and the Brynhild, we share your pain, we join you in your grief, and we honor the sacrifice that too many of your own made in the Phoenix's defense. It is because of their heroism, plus the herculean efforts of many of the ponies gathered here with us, that we were able to survive at all. To say we owe all of you an immense debt is an understatement, and I know I speak for us all when I say thank you for offering us shelter from the storm.”

"Now, as my fellow ponies help us to lay our people to rest, let us honor them now, as I read out their names. We will salute each casket as it passes in front of the stage.”

She lit her horn, sending out a flare, which signaled an assembled band of ponies I hadn’t noticed at first, led by Songbird Serenade. They played Starfleet’s traditional funeral song, looping it complete with a haunting harmony from Songbird herself, a wordless melody that interwove with it to bring tears to my eyes.

“Crewman T’than. Crewman Stonn. Crewman Jace Watanabe.”

Each name was accompanied by a coffin lowered gently into their appropriate grave site.

“Crewman Sergei Sokolov. Crewman Shrelan sh'Aras, Crewman Grace McCarthy.”

I found my eyes drifting to watch my fellow officers, officers reacting to the seemingly endless list of names. With each name read I'd spot a few more faces tense up, hear a few more quiet gasps, see a few more tears shed. Some even gripped the hands of the people around them.

“Ensign Mariano Mendoza, Ensign Joseph Acres, Ensign Saul Walter.”

As the names went on and on, rising in rank every so often, I began to wince as I recognized more and more of them. Fellow science officers that I worked alongside with Cadeneza, or engineers that I saw frequently in Ten-Forward chatting around the table. Even security officers I sparred with from time to time. I glanced around at the rest of the senior staff, and spotted just about all of them reacting to the occasional name as the ceremony went on.

Finally, Sunset reached the last few names, and she stumbled briefly before saying the next one. “L-Lieutenant Christopher Hill.”

I heard Wattson’s soft, almost imperceptible sob only thanks to pony hearing, and I gently wrapped a wing around her waist. She set a hand on my neck in turn, her fingers interlacing into the exposed part of my coat.

Hill’s body was laid in the first of the special tombs. I braced myself, for I knew there were still more painful names to come.

“Counselor Inanna Eresh.”

I heard a much louder sob this time, and I looked to the opposite end of the stage, where Doctor May was holding poor Belle as tightly as she could. I felt Preta place a paw on my back now, and I slowly leaned into her. I hadn’t been as close to Inanna as I had Belle, but she still helped me through so much... when I lost Sunset, when Sunset returned, and so many tough days in between. She was even the one who gave me the kick in the flank I needed to stop being such an idiot when it came to my anger at Sunset.

Damn it, losing her hurt.

“Lieutenant Commander Ajay Ishihara.”

Looking over at Maia, I saw her stoic face twitch more than a few times, her hands squeezing till her knuckles turned white and her nails drew a bit of blood. Zhidar, to my shock, looked almost ashamed… possibly because he felt guilty over Ishihara saving his life from the Jem’Hadar. Not that he’d ever tell anyone, of course.

“Lieutenant Commander Drake Williams.”

As the final coffin was laid into the tomb, a flash of fury crossed Zhidar’s face, and only Rodriguez’s snap reflex in grabbing his arm stopped him from moving out of formation with the rest of us into doing something stupid.

By the time the music faded, there wasn't a dry eye left in the crowd, including the gathered ponies. Sunset bowed her head and led us all in a moment of silence. As she did so, another crewmember quietly stepped into view just off to the side of the stage and rang a bell six times – one for each of our ships and their crews.

Finally, Sunset raised her head and looked over the crowd once more, taking a moment to wipe away fresh tears. “May our fallen friends rest in the peace they fought to defend in life. We owe them our lives, and we will carry their memory forward.”

She attempted a smile, but it was shaky and barely remaining in place. “For those who are willing to attend, the local community of Ponyville is holding a wake for our fallen comrades in their town hall, to celebrate their lives, and allow us to commiserate. If you wish to attend, please form a queue to the transportation circle. The rest of you, dismissed.”

While a number of officers turned right around to head back up the gangplank, the majority followed Sunset through the fast transportation circle, where they were split into groups of ten, which was the maximum group the fast transportation circles could handle.. It took a little while, but eventually the group rendezvoused just outside Ponyville proper. A trio of Royal Guard were there to escort us, and provided instructions on how to walk back to the ship for those wishing to do so..

Ponyville. I’d visited the town once, when we stopped there to sample a then new local bakery on the way back from a family trip to Baltimare. I couldn’t remember much from that, but walking through the streets brought plenty of it back to me.

The place looked like it had hardly changed. Cobblestone and dirt streets. Mostly wood and stone homes, nearly all still topped with thatched roofs. Streets and alleys meandered through town, weaving past tidy blocks of homes that were organized just enough to not be a mess, but not so much as to render it a sterile, boring place. Other than the gas powered street lamps, the only signs of advanced technology were the small electrical wires reaching up from the ground to some of the homes, and the sizable radio tower perched atop a hill just north of the town square.

Town Hall itself wasn’t much different, more like a large indoor auditorium with a few stages of various sizes, plus some balconies, the latter presumably for the mayor or other visiting officials to speak from. Despite the short notice the interior was set up quite well, with plenty of seating, dozens of tables large and small, and copious amounts of food. Unfortunately for my slightly growling stomach, nearly all of it was a type of dessert, with a few of them looking more like impossible structures of sugar and frosting than actual food. At least there was soft jazzy music playing over the radios scattered about, and a full bar setup in the far corner. If ever a day deserved a drink or two, it was definitely this one.

I mingled, talking with Zhidar and Rodriguez about Williams, chatted with Maia a bit about Ishihara and comforted Wattson when it came to Hill. I would’ve done the same for Belle when it came to Inanna, but Sunset informed me that Belle and Doctor May had retreated back to the ship soon after they arrived.

But after those initial talks, I found myself wandering off to a corner, even as many of the crew began to cheer up a little. It was that very cheeriness that wore on me, irritated me. I understood that being cheery was the point, to celebrate good memories of those we lost rather than just being sad over them being dead, but it still hurt a little to see how many smiles there were.

I’d been so close to joining that list. I could picture Sunset reading out my name and bursting into tears. “Lieutenant Twilight Sparkle,” she’d say, and then have to be led off because I’d died without even properly saying goodbye.

“Hey there! Whatcha doin’?”

The sudden voice made me leap nearly half a meter in the air as I whirled about, my wings spreading in a defensive posture as I reflexively sunk into my close combat stance. This only made the pony who spoke snort with laughter.

She was a plump mare, and if there was a single word that could be used to describe her, it was pink. Pink hair with so many curls everywhere it was like a forest or a maze, and a similarly curly tail coming off a pudgy flank bearing sets of balloons of yellow and blue. Even her coat was a lighter shade of pink, with the only non-pink thing about her being her eyes, which sparkled like sapphires.

Her hoof shot out, ready to meet mine. “My name is Pinkie Pie. You must be Twilight Sparkle, huh? I’ve heard about you! My friend Rarity told me she even fixed your uniform thingie.”

She spoke a kilometer a second, and I could barely keep up with her. Still, I managed to give her a hoofbump. “Nice to meet you, though I wish the circumstances were a bit better of course. Can I help you with something?”

“Nope! I’m good,” Pinkie said with a grin. “You’re the one who looks like she could use a bit of help."

“Why's that?" I replied.

“Because a pony drinking alone is a pony with something on their mind and the middle of my tail twitched as I was walking over which means you're sad too.”

Between the presumption in her comment and the complete lack of pauses in between her thoughts, my head was spinning. “W-What does your tail have to do with any of this? And with due respect, I'm not seeing how this is your business.”

She shrugged. “I’m just trying to make sure the party is fun for everyone despite the occasion. I’ve never met so many aliens before, and they all seemed like they needed a good cheering up to help fill in that hole in their heart.”

“Hole? What hole?”

Pinkie giggled again and pressed her hoof to my chest. “Right here. Like with you. You’re one of the ponies that was gone from Equus for so long, right? I’ll bet you really missed home.”

“You got that right,” I grunted. The alcohol swimming through my system loosened my tongue, and at the moment I was in no mood to mince my words entirely. “Lost my family, lost my home, lost everything.”

“Yup!” Pinkie nodded sagely. “But I’ll bet you made a new family, right? You and Sunset, you two are total sisters. I can see it, you’re just like me with Limestone, or Marble, or Maud! Super close, super special, super awesome!”

“Super something alright,” I said, feeling a little woozy. I took another slug of liquor, hoping it would help. It didn’t.

Pinkie touched my chest again, gently. “But that hole never went away, huh? You kept trying to fill it up with stuff like Sunset, and your ship job, and so on. It’s different, but still there.”

“...what the hell are you getting at?”

Her smile grew. “Aww, don’t be grumpy, silly filly. I’m just trying to help. You know, sometimes, finding our way through life is like trying to find the right cupcake. See?” She pointed to a nearby table laden with cupcakes of various flavors, and indicated each one for a few seconds as she spoke. “This one might lead you down a path of making lots of friends, while this one could see you going on adventures, and this one sees you holding lots of parties! But each one is different, and they’re all good. The problem is figuring out which one you really want.”

She reached over and scooped one up. “Like, do I really want red velvet, or do I think the cream cheese frosting just sounds better than, say, double chocolate fudge?” She scooped up a second one, then scarfed both down at once, followed by picking up a third. “Or there’s buttercream and vanilla, or cherry and raspberry, and blueberry and pineapple and all sorts! How do you choose?”

My head ached as I tried to grasp what she was getting at. “I don’t know, I guess you just try them?”

“Exactly!” Pinkie said, clapping her forehooves together. “The life you've been living up till now is like that first cupcake. Now that you're back on Equus, you have a second cupcake to try out. So give it a shot! Don’t be mopey in the corner and ignore everyone. You’re obviously still missing something from your life, something you’re deeply craving. Maybe it's life out there, but maybe it's life here instead. Only one way to find out though! Just saying.”

I had to shake my head to try and get everything straight, but the more she said, the more it began to click in my brain… and my heart. I found myself looking at her again, this time like a scientist. “Who are you?”

“Like I said, I’m Pinkie Pie! I’m just a baker here in Ponyville. Nothing too special.” She giggled at the top of her lungs. “But it means I get to organize all kinds of parties, and I’ve got plenty of friends. I’m happy with my life, because it’s the one I chose.” She winked. “I’ll tell you the story sometime.”

And just as suddenly as she’d shown up in my face, she pronked away, vanishing into the crowd so quick it almost felt for a moment like she hadn’t been there at all.

Mulling it over, I wasn't sure what surprised me more – the wisdom of this Pinkie Pie's words, or the fact that she was related to Limestone. Still, she had a point. A damn good point.

I set my drink down, grabbed a sobriety medication from one of the medical officers who had attended, and went to find Preta. After a few quiet goodbyes, we were outside and on the way to Ponyville's Aerodrome.

“Where are we going?” Preta asked.

“You'll see soon. We're almost there.” A few minutes later we caught sight of the Aerodrome, where the private airship that Luna had promised awaited us.

Oddly, unlike the airships I was used to from my childhood, and what we’d programmed into the holodeck, this one looked far more sleek, with a gondola made out of metal, and a lifting balloon full of helium aligned with a magical crystal engine of some kind I didn’t recognize. It must’ve been another bit of progress enabled by Starlight, like the radios.

Fortunately, the flight controls were nearly identical to the ships I remembered, and soon enough Preta and I were off the ground and slowly gliding through the night sky toward Mount Canter. “Okay, this was a good surprise," Preta said as she snuggled up next to me on the airship's bridge and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “So, where to, Captain?”

I smiled and leaned into her a bit in return. “Somewhere quiet, I think.”

We flew in silence for quite a while, until we located a bluff a decent distance above the city with enough room to safely land. I was just about to curse myself for not remembering that even with pegasi weather control, the air would be chillier up here, when Preta emerged from the passenger cabin with a handful of cushions, and an array of scarves and blankets. Clearly, Luna knew me better than I had anticipated.

“Thank goodness we’re away from all of that,” Preta said as we sat down on the grass and snuggled under a large blanket. “The ceremony and wake were absolutely necessary, but…”

“But it was a little much,” I agreed.

“I'm glad Princess Luna made this airship available for you. Well, us, I should say,” Preta added.

“She knew I'd need it. And that I'd want you with me.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes, leaning on each other while the sun slipped below the horizon, painting the sky in brilliant colors. “I'm glad we did it though. We all needed a time to collectively mourn and pay our final respects. If nothing else, giving them a proper burial is far more than I thought we'd be able to do given the circumstances.”

“Mmhmm,” Preta nodded. “The princesses really were kind to do that for us.” She sat up a bit and held a hand to her chest. “I care about those we lost, and I’ll miss them all dearly… especially Hill and Williams… but it was too much for me in the end.”

“I know the feeling,” I said, giving her what I meant as a supportive look.

She must’ve taken it in a different way because she sighed and mewled just a bit. “I guess it's just my Caitian nature. Caitians aren’t huge on mourning ceremonies and parties and all that. We feel sorrow, we lay them to rest, then we move on.” She bowed her head. “It probably sounds insensitive.”

I moved over to hug her, bracing against the cold. “No, no, it doesn’t. That’s just the culture you came from. You’re good in my book.”

Another mewl escaped her lips as she nuzzled into me. “Thanks.”

We sat in silence for a little while, watching the stars begin to twinkle against the darkening sky.

“Your home planet is beautiful, Twilight,” Preta said as she rested her head against mine. “I kept wondering if the holodeck simulations you made were exaggerated, but…”

“Nope. If anything, I didn’t remember well enough how beautiful it really is,” I replied in turn as I stretched a wing out to embrace her. “Though… Preta, while I was at the party, some pony I’ve never met came over to me and gave me a mini-lecture about holes in hearts and cupcakes.”

“Oh?” Preta arched an eyebrow. “I thought I saw you talking to an extremely pink pony, but I didn't want to intrude. I thought maybe it was someone you knew from your childhood or something. So, what was that all about?”

I bit my lip. “I don’t know how she could tell, or why, but she seemed to notice how… torn I’ve been lately. You know me. I’ve wanted to find home since forever. It’s why I joined Starfleet. It’s what I’ve dedicated my life to for the past sixteen years. Now I finally make it here, and this place has never felt so foreign to me. Everything is different from what I remember, and it leaves me feeling lost, like a guest in my own home. I feel like... like I need to make some kind of choice.”

“So what’re you going to do?” she asked me.

I took a deep breath, and let it out. “I don't know, Preta. I... I need to find out which world I belong in again. And to do that, I think I need to stay here, on Equus. At least for a while.”

Her grip on me tightened. “How long is a while?”

“I don’t know… a few months? Maybe a year?”

She turned to face me, her expression a mask of hurt. “But even the longest estimates on repairs say we’ll be leaving in less than a month. We’ve got to get back to the Federation if we’re going to have any chance to help here.”

“I know.”

She swallowed. “You… you’re not coming with us, are you?”

I turned away. “...probably not.”

She let go of me, and curled her limbs around herself, rocking back and forth. A few soft sobs escaped her lips, and I wanted badly to hug her again, to tell her it would be okay.

And just as I started to reach out to do just that, she practically tackled me with her renewed hug.

“Then I’m staying too.”