Star Trek: Phoenix

by Dewdrops on the Grass

Season 3 Episode 4: "Unexpected Results"

I watched the Phoenix closely on the sensors, monitoring their ascent until they left orbit. “That’s it,” I said, a tremble in my voice. “They’re gone.”

“Here's to a swift journey back for them, then,” said Pog, raising a tumblr of some brand of Tellarite ale local to his home province. “And a year on this planet for the rest of us.” Hearing him say that made a small part of me wish for some real ale instead of synthehol.

Preta, half slumped over the helm controls, gave a brief wave of a paw. “What he said.”

“Hear hear,” cheered Blackford. “It won't be easy for us or them, but we've made it through worse.”

I could tell he was trying to lighten the mood a bit, despite everyone's tired state, which only reaffirmed for me how glad I was that I chose Blackford as my second for the science team. Sunset's objected initially, but I pointed out, correctly, that she wasn’t going to need much in the way of an active science team on the ship beyond those who were involved in keeping the hydroponics and aquaponics going for their survival, so she let me take him. I had built up a friendly rapport with Blackford over the time we'd worked together too, which made him a natural fit for the role on a personal level too. The other members of the team, while eminently qualified, ranged from stoic to downright asinine in their personalities.

“Well, if you’ll be pardonin’ me, I need to be gettin’ back to my patients,” said May. She eyed me as she turned to leave. “Twilight, when you get a chance, you should speak with Belle. She could use a bit of company.”

I nodded. “Sure thing. I'll go as soon as I wrap things up here.”

“Pog will check on his engineers, make sure they’re not getting into trouble,” said Pog as he followed May off the bridge. Soon after, with just a nod, Blackford left too.

Which left just Preta and me alone in the control room. “Still sure you made the right decision to stay behind?” I asked her, wrapping a wing around her shoulder.

She looked at me with tired eyes. She’d been up since 0400 triple and quadruple checking every inch of the two shuttles Sunset left for us as well as the Calypso, ensuring there wasn't so much as a loose stem bolt to be found on any of them. She might have napped for thirty minutes somewhere in between that and piloting the Calypso into place, but she somehow smiled at me like it was the only thing she could focus on. “I wouldn't have it any other way, Twi. I love you.”

I smiled in turn, giving her a quick peck on the lips. “Love you too. The real work starts tomorrow, so go get some rest. I’m going to go see Belle for a little bit.”

“Alright,” she muttered, stumbling out of her chair and towards the door leading to our shared quarters aboard, which in reality was the combination of the two small staterooms ostensibly designed for diplomats or other VIPs. As mission commander, I’d be aboard the Calypso anytime it departed base, so putting my quarters onboard made sense logistically. And, I'll admit, maybe a little 'mission commander's prerogative too.

I made my way over to the rear of the Calypso’s bridge, where a ramp led down to the lower deck, and from there used the aft access hatch to enter the rest of the facility, which we had dubbed Equestria Base. Much of the base was prefab and slapped together in a hurry, even by the normally speedy standards of pony engineering. The primary building was a multistory affair, with an expansive sickbay for Doctor May, offices and labs for our equipment, and quarters for the rest of the team. The quarters were all set up like small studio apartments, complete with functional kitchens so we could keep replicator usage to a minimum. A small skybridge connected the third floor to a shorter structure that served as the landing pad for the Calypso.

As I made my way across that walkway I glanced up at the bundles of power and data cables that lined the ceiling, serving as a kind of umbilical cord to the ship. This let us augment the ground equipment with Calypso's own systems when docked, while also allowing us freedom of movement when needed..

Reaching the ground floor just outside Belle’s apartment, I pressed the door chime. “...come in,” came the call.

As I entered, I found Belle standing at the stove, fussing with a whistling tea kettle. “Oh. Twilight,” she said flatly, her voice barely holding any energy. “I made enough water for two. Would you like a cup?”

“Um, alright,” I said, standing awkwardly just inside the doorway.

She gestured to an armchair, one suited for a quadrupedal rather than humanoid form. “Go ahead, sit down.”

I hesitantly stepped inside, and after a moment I allowed myself to sink into the armchair. Like most of the furniture we’d acquired, it was surprisingly comfortable. “So, um…”

Belle chuckled as she brought over the two mugs of steaming tea. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. “Relax. You act like I’m about to shatter.”

“Err, well, I just… wanted to come see how you were doing.” I picked up the mug of tea in my magic and gave it a brief sip. “Darjeeling?”

“Dianhong, actually. Thought I’d try something different.” Belle flopped onto the sofa across from me, her body sinking into it like a half collapsed puppet. “Thanks for coming by, I suppose.”

I set my tea aside. “Belle, I know Sunset said so for the both of us earlier, but... I'm sorry about Inanna.”

Her mouth quirked up, briefly forming into a smile as she let out another little chuckle. The smile quivered, trembled, then imploded as her face fell into her hands, quiet sobs soon emerging. “Me too,” she whispered. “Me too.”

Frowning, I got up from the armchair and, design be damned, sat down on the sofa next to Belle and wrapped my forelegs around her. She immediately clutched at me like I was a life preserver, her hand moving automatically to stroke at my mane. Normally I hated being treated like some kind of cat or dog, but in this case, with someone as important to me as Belle, I made an exception.

“Oh Twilight,” she whimpered. “I still remember her scream… her terrible, horrible scream. I hear it in my nightmares. It never goes away, never…”

I nestled into her embrace and managed to use my magic to stroke her back in turn. “I’m so sorry, Belle,” I said. “I miss her too.”

“I know you do,” Belle replied, her voice shaking in time with her crying. “I hadn’t realized just how much I cared for her… more than I should have.”

I blinked. “Wait, you weren’t… were you?”

She laughed mirthlessly. “No, no, nothing like that. She was beautiful inside and out, yes, but far too young for someone like me. Plus it would’ve been a horrible breach of professionalism to even consider it. But she was one of my dearest friends. I trusted her completely, professionally and otherwise. We worked together better than I’d ever worked with anyone else; it’s why I brought her along. Damn it… if only I’d left her on Earth like I should have…”

“Then you would’ve likely been killed by the Jem’Hadar and we wouldn't be having this conversation,” I pointed out. “They showed no mercy… so many of our dead were found in their quarters. If we hadn’t repelled them they would’ve killed us all.”

“...does it surprise you to learn I wish I had died…?” Belle whispered.

I drew back from her, staring in astonishment, but there was no lie, no deception on her face. “Belle…”

She smiled through her tears. “Oh, I know what it is. Classic survivor’s guilt, coupled with some post traumatic stress disorder, all placed on a psyche that’s so used to helping others I was never properly, truly prepared for how I’d cope if I had to deal with that level of stress myself.”

Belle pulled out a handkerchief to blow her nose. “I may have fretted while I was on Earth about people mistaking me for being Romulan, for Starfleet security dropping by every few years with some new fresh-faced Lieutenant bent on earning their pips by interrogating the possible spy. But right now, I’d take that all back and then some. It was nothing next to… this.”

A pang of regret ripped at my heart, prompting me to hug her tightly again. “We never should’ve asked you to come aboard the Phoenix. It was a stupid move.”

“No, no it wasn’t,” she disagreed, shaking her head. “It got me out of my comfort zone, and in a way I needed that. I helped a remarkable number of people too.To avoid breaching doctor-patient confidentiality, let’s just say there were many crewmembers whom I saw on a regular basis, with substantial issues. A lesser counselor might’ve been overwhelmed by their needs, but not me. I can safely say they were much better off with me around. And there wasn’t just the one… There were dozens of others. Including you, I might remind you.”

A flush filled my cheeks with warmth. “Oh… right.”

She chuckled, and for once there seemed to be actual laughter in it, not just bitterness. “I don’t regret it, if that’s what you’re wondering. My only regret is that Inanna had to save my life the way she did… she didn’t, didn’t deserve it.” Her hand twitched.

“...is that really all you regret?” I asked after a moment of that movement catching my eyes.

She frowned, her lips pursing like she’d just bit into an especially sour apple when she’d been expecting it to be sweet. “If you’re asking, do I regret killing those Jem’Hadar?” Her frown deepened, anger lines forming across her face. “No. No I do not. I’d do it again, a thousand, a million times over, if it meant I could bring Inanna back.”

The intensity in her eyes as she spoke caught me by surprise. An ugly, bitter anger seemed to overtake her all at once. It melted away as fast as it appeared, but for a moment she looked as Romulan as every ignorant person who saw her smiling suspected she was. “I… can’t blame you, I suppose.”

She shook her head and picked up her tea mug, taking a long drink. “Please, Twilight, we both know you’re judging me for it, and you should. It’s not the least bit healthy.”

“Maybe not,” I countered as I drank my own tea. “But it’s understandable.”

“So it is.”

We sat in companionable silence for a while, sipping at our tea and just leaning on each other. Our mugs ran dry after a while, and after noting the darkening skies outside, Belle sat up and hugged me again. “Thank you for coming to see me. And… Thank you and Sunset both for letting me stay behind. Yours is truly a beautiful planet.”

“Of course,” I replied, hugging her back. “Needless to say this mission is going to have us all busier than ever, but... I'll try to come by whenever I can, alright?”

She smiled at me, and for once, it felt like a real smile. “I’d certainly hope so. Just don’t worry too much about me. I’ll find my way… eventually. I just need time.”

“Well, time is something we’ll have plenty of,” I said. I placed my mug in the kitchen sink, then nodded to her. “Have a good evening, Belle.”

“You too,” she said as she saw me to the door.

Of course, barely two seconds after it hissed shut, a smarmy voice spoke up. “Oh, ma’am, there you are.”

Ugh. Vohrn. The Barzan biologist and more than occasional thorn in my flank. When we were developing the original Sparkle sensor, he spent as much time working as he did acting the cocky smartass in the room, constantly needling myself and Cadeneza. That he was damn good at his job made his attitude doubly frustrating too.If not for Belle's counsel, I'd probably have bucked him through a wall by now.

I put on a neutral expression and turned around to face him. “Yes, Vohrn? What is it?”

He handed me a PADD. “I’ve been doing some preliminary scans with Ayhan. She said she picked up some interesting readings from a nearby mountain. With your permission, we’d like to take a shuttle over there tomorrow to get a closer look.”

I glanced down at the PADD, examining the readings. “I can tell you what that huge biosign is,” I muttered as I scrolled through. “That’s a full size dragon. The Elements did say we might find a dragon or two occupying various caves or mountains. If these energy readings are correct, that's likely a full-grown male too. We’ll have to secure his permission if we want to examine anything.”

Vohrn snorted, a smirk crossing his face. “Really? I thought we had the blessing of the Princesses to go where we wanted. What do we need to ask him for?”

“Because this full size dragon could melt a shuttlecraft with his fire breath before you could blink, Lieutenant,” I snapped, glaring up at him. His height irritated me, as he stood taller than most humanoids, almost as tall as Zhidar. “And despite living in Equestria, that dragon’s lair is sovereign dragon territory. It’s no different than a Vulcan embassy on Earth. We can’t just barge in.”

“If you say so, ma’am,” he said, still smirking. “Though to be honest I find your claim a little hard to believe.”

“Vohrn,” I groused, irritation slipping into my voice. “We’ll discuss it in the morning. For now, dismissed.”

“Aye,” he said, the laugh in his voice almost but not quite there, and it took an effort of will for me not to zap him with my horn.

As it was, my wings trembled at my sides, aching to spread in a threat gesture meant to intimidate. It wouldn’t have worked on him though. Not for the first time I was beginning to regret not picking one of the other biologists, one of the three we rescued from the other starships. But none of them were nearly as qualified as he, so I held my nose and picked him.

I’d ground him down eventually.

Returning to my quarters aboard the Calypso, I quietly sat at the small dining table and read the report, doing my best not to wake up Preta. Aside from the biosign, Ayhan had noted some peculiar energy readings. Her analysis concluded they were almost certainly not the result of any latent volcanism, but artificial, and reminiscent of similar readings taken from the satellites.

Definitely worth checking out, then. 

I set the report aside and changed into my bed clothes before settling on the bed next to Preta. “Hmm?” she groaned as she stirred awake.

“Sorry,” I whispered as I got under the covers. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Preta stretched out her limbs in her usual cat-like fashion, complete with overly wide yawn, before shifting over to wrap her arms around me. “I don’t mind. I was barely asleep anyway.”

I shuffled till I was comfortably ensconced in her embrace. “I’m taking the science team to Canterlot tomorrow, since we found something of interest. We’ll probably be taking a shuttle when we get back.”

“I’ll be ready,” Preta mumbled into my mane. Her lips brushed the base of my neck, making me shiver just a little.

“Good.” I shut my eyes. “Love you.”

I didn’t hear her whispered response before sleep claimed me. I worried that without Princess Luna around, my nightmares might intensify, but either I didn’t suffer one or it faded from my mind as soon as I woke, because the next thing I knew I was slapping my alarm and dragging myself out of bed to get ready.

“Good morning, everyone,” I said to my assembled scientists, who sat around the rather finely polished oval table situated in the center of the Calypso’s main conference room. Vohrn and Blackford were seated on the right side of the table, while the third member of the team, Ayhan, took one of the two chairs to the left. Ideally, I would’ve added two or three more people to the team, but three was all Sunset could spare me. That left more subjects uncovered than I think any of us would like, but between Vohrn's mastery of biology, Blackford's skills in xenotechnology, and Ayhan's multiple doctorates in vulcanology and mineralogy, we were far from helpless either.

“I hope everyone was able to get some good rest last night,” I said as I settled into the one remaining seat at the table. “Let's get started.”

“Ma’am, have you examined the readings I took of the mountain?” Ayhan asked. Her dark features masked any sign of aging, despite her being almost as old as Mother. I knew little about her, other than that she didn’t bother signing up for Starfleet till she was almost seventy, and she was a rare mustang, an officer who worked her way up from being enlisted. Why she did that when she could’ve easily qualified for the Academy, no one knew, because she sure wasn’t telling anyone.

“I have. I intend for us to check it out, but first we will need to go to Canterlot, to consult their archives about the history of the mountain, and, more importantly, to negotiate access.”

“I see. The dragon residing there is unlikely to let us in?”

“Depends.” I tapped a few keys to bring up a scanned photograph of the dragon in question. “This dragon was previously confronted by the Elements of Harmony due to, and I quote, him producing enough smoke to blot out the atmosphere around Canterlot and the surrounding villages. Due to snoring.”

“...that’s ridiculous,” Vohrn said with a dismissive snort. “How is that even possible?”

“Atmospheric conditions,” Ayhan suggested. “The mountain is taller than even Mount Canter, and is clearly an ancient cinder cone volcano that has since gone extinct. This would give the dragon adequate access to wind currents, allowing his exhaust to spread over a wider area.”

“Hang on,” Blackford objected, raising a hand. “I thought that the local pegasi controlled the weather around here. Couldn’t they just remove the smoke?”

“They could, try, sure. But the dragon's snoring would replace the smoke just as fast as they could clear it,” I replied. “That's why Princess Celestia sent the Elements up there, to convince him to stop. They succeeded, and little has been heard from him since.”

“Very well. When do we proceed?” Ayhan asked.

I stood from my chair, prompting the others to stand. “If everyone is ready, I'd like to depart immediately. Assuming we can successfully negotiate access, Lieutenant R’el will have a shuttlecraft prepped and ready.”

We left the Calypso and filed out of the building, heading directly for the nearby transportation circle. Starlight had taught me the spell to activate it, a surprisingly simple incantation that didn't sound or feel too different than something you'd use to switch on a mana battery at home. Which probably explained why they had quickly grown in popularity. According to her these circles were becoming so commonplace they were beginning to overtake even trains and airships as the primary mode of personal travel around Equestria.

Once in Canterlot we wasted no time in securing an audience with the ambassador to the Dragon Lands, a frumpy, tired looking stallion whose face bore the scar marks of old burns. “Oh no, that’s not going to happen,” he said immediately upon being informed why we sought him out.

“For what reason?” Ayhan asked.

“For starters? That dragon is mean. H-have you ever spoken with an Elder Dragon before?” he shook his head, his eyes twitching as he spoke. “Starlight was lucky to get him to stop smoking up the place when she did. Typically an Elder Dragon like that would’ve just flambéed them and gone right back to whatever they were doing. This one in particular is ornery as all get out, especially after the Elements paid him a visit. Now he refuses to even give his name, and most dragons are too proud not to name themselves to everyone they speak to.”

“It’s vital that we gain access, though,” Blackford pressed. “You do understand why we’re here.”

“Yes, of course I do,” answered the ambassador with a tired sigh. He rubbed his head with his forehoof. “Princess Celestia informed all her ambassadors weeks ago, not long after your ship crash landed. But you’ll have a hard time convincing this dragon to care. Besides, I can’t just hand out permission to you. Remember, that cave is sovereign dragon territory as long as that dragon is loafing about in there. Do you understand what kind of message that would send to the Dragon Lord? It’d tell her we had no respect for her whatsoever.”

“Okay, okay, we get it,” I said, ruffling my wings in frustration. “Is there anything you can do?”

“I can try having a message sent ahead of you to the cave. But that’s it. No promises. Just try not to get yourselves burned to a crisp, alright? I have too much paperwork to deal with already.”

He left before I could say another word to him. “Well, it’s better than nothing,” I groused.

“Reminds me of some of the ambassadors I used to know at HQ in San Francisco,” Blackford quipped while I directed us to the Royal Canterlot archives on the opposite side of the castle.

Fortunately, the unicorn mare who greeted us there gave us a much friendlier reception. “Oh, that mountain is one of my favorite subjects,” she said. “It’s been host to a lot of dragons throughout the centuries.”

“Really?” Vohrn commented. “Why is that?”

“Oh, many reasons. It’s an ideal location for younger dragons who’re seeking a resting place to leave their hoard, and it has a unique feature not present anywhere else in Equestria that we’re aware of. The local supply of mana gems regrow, effectively giving any dragon who lives there an infinite food source.”

That made me pause. “Wait, really? I thought that wasn’t possible.”

“Not normally, no. Nopony knows why they regrow there, but they do. We’ve tried to experiment in the past to figure out what causes them to grow, but there’s been almost no success, except for a few grown in a lab. So like clockwork, everytime a dragon grows too large for the mountain to hold them and seeks out a new locale, some new dragon eventually comes to take their place.”

She led us over to a nearby drafting table where she pulled out a few historical maps of the area, pointing to them as she spoke. “This has resulted in a lot of conflict over the years. Villages and even some proper towns have popped up around the base of the mountain over the decades, all drawn in by the fertile soil and favorable weather in the mountain's shadow. Normally the villagers and the dragon manage to coexist, generally staying out of each other's way. But invariably, some hotheads would whip up a manufactured "crisis" and eventually send a mob up there to try and drive the dragon out. They'd fail, of course, and lose their village to a fiery end as a result. 

“The worst example of this unfortunate pattern occurred eight hundred years ago in the infamous Trog-Dor incident, during which the village of Dor was incinerated without warning.”

“Dor?” Blackford interjected, working his mouth for a moment. “Dor, huh? That sounds entirely different from any other town name I’ve heard since we arrived.”

“It uses an old dialect of Ponish, one of many lost to time, unfortunately,” the archivist replied.

“Still, destroying a village is pretty extreme even by dragon standards,” I said. “Did the villagers really have no warning?”

“None at all. The dragon in question went by the name Trog, and he was extremely territorial. He hated just about every non-dragon species, but ponies most of all. Why, I have no idea. But as soon as Dor got big enough to begin expanding their farms out to the base of the mountain, he swooped down and burned the entire town down. Three ponies perished in the attack, the only known deaths to come from these conflicts.”

“Wait, so there’ve been other villages destroyed,” Vohrn said, his eyes rolling in their sockets, “and no one ever died?”

“No,” said the historian with a shake of her head. “The mobs I mentioned trying to drive off the dragons? Those were far and away exceptions to the rule, believe me. Ponies tend to run from danger, not towards it. It's just in our nature. Oh, there have been injuries aplenty during conflicts with dragons, some quite serious, but rare was the day ponies were outright killed like that.”

“So, what exactly is the timeline we’re talking about here?” I asked. “How long do dragons stay before they leave, and how long before a new one arrives?”

“Oh it’s practically a generational thing,” she answered as she pulled out a book to consult briefly before nodding. “Yes, it's a twenty year cycle, give or take. A dragon shows up, spends twenty years on the mountain, then they leave, taking almost their entire horde with them. What’s left gets picked over by local diamond dog tribes and any ponies lucky enough to stumble across the remains. The mountain remains vacant for approximately a year, then a new drake moves in.”

“Curious,” Ayhan said, raising a singular eyebrow. “A regular cycle of new habitation implies that the gem regrowth coincides with the dragon’s arrival.”

I exchanged a brief look with my team. “When did the most recent dragon arrive?”

“Hmm… one moment.” The mare took her time searching for a few books before pulling a very thick tome off the shelf and flipping through to nearly the end.. “It appears he moved in ten years ago. So if he sticks to form he’ll be there for another ten years before he leaves.”

“Then that removes the possibility of waiting for him to leave,” Ayhan commented as she made a note on her PADD.

“Wait, you’re going up there?” she asked, her face a sudden mess of panic. “You really shouldn’t. This dragon is almost as territorial as Trog. The first thing he did when he arrived was torch all homes within ten miles of the mountain. I understand that the Blueblood family lost a country home that had been in their family for centuries due to that. The Elements were lucky to have survived their encounter, much less talk him down at the time. I doubt he will be friendly to you. Especially to you, miss Sparkle.”

I extended my wings. “Because of these?”

“Precisely. After the Trog/Dor incident, Princess Celestia herself confronted Trog and drove him out, but in the process left a lasting impression upon the Dragons that to this day results in many of them distrusting alicorns out of sheer spite. It is for this reason that Princess Celestia sent the Elements to confront our latest dragon instead of going herself.”

“Well, thank you for the advice and the information,” I said, giving her a respectful nod. “Unfortunately, we’re going to have to go up there regardless. There are some unusual energy readings coming from that cave, and we need to find out what they are.”

“Then take the utmost of care,” the archivist said. “And remember one thing: this dragon is vain, territorial, and has little empathy for others.”

As we left the archives and returned to the transportation circle, Blackford said, “How’re we going to get past this dragon, ma’am?”

“I’m not sure yet,” I answered. I activated the circle and returned us to the base. “But we’re just going to have to try to negotiate with him. Barging in there like we own the place will only get us turned into crispy hay fries.”

“Respectfully, Lieutenant,” Ayhan said, “but perhaps we should consider taking the Calypso instead of a shuttle.”

“The Calypso has no weapons,” Vohrn said. “The shuttles at least have phaser cannons.”

“Lieutenant!” I barked, turning on him. “I hope you’re not suggesting that we use lethal force.”

“Of course not,” he scoffed. “I’m just saying, maybe instead of asking we could just use the phasers to, I dunno, stun him so he can’t do anything while we’re investigating.”

“You presume we could stun him to begin with, an illogical notion,” Ayhan retorted. “It is highly unlikely that our shuttles will be able to produce enough energy in the phasers to properly stun him without risking serious injury or worse.”

Vohrn waved a hand. “Look, I can figure it out. Just get us close enough so I can do a bioscan, then we set the phasers accordingly, and boom, no need to talk to anyone.”

“And probably starting a war with the Dragon Lands in the process,” I said with a shake of my head. “Request denied. Besides, I have another idea.”

We returned to the base, where I had the others wait in one of the offices while I went to find Pog. “Question: is there a chance you could enhance a shuttle's shields enough to withstand dragonfire?”

“Hmm… Pog is uncertain. He doesn’t know how strong or hot this dragonfire gets.”

“Depending on how negotiations go with this dragon, we might find out for ourselves; assuming we make it back of course.”

He rubbed at his chin. “Pog isn't sure he wants to know either way. But, Pog thinks he might be able to re-tune them to be closer to metaphasic shielding.”

“Thus treating it like a star’s corona. Good idea. How long do you need?”

“Give Pog an hour,” he said with a grin.

We broke for lunch while we waited for Pog to work his magic. Before my ascension, I usually took light lunches at most, preferring heartier meals for breakfast and dinner, respectively. But with the new wings came an entirely new palate, and the appetite to go with it.

“Steak sandwich with cheese, and a garden salad.”

The replicator whirred to life and seconds later a delicious-looking sandwich and a crisp salad appeared before me. I still wasn't entirely used to eating meat, but the inviting aromas and delicious tastes went a long way toward easing my discomfort. That, and getting it from the replicator ensured my meat didn't have a face and a name before it appeared on my plate.

Preta was very happy about my new diet though, and I got the feeling that she would eventually introduce me to just about every legally edible meat known to the Federation and then some.

I stayed in my quarters while I ate, reviewing the information we had collected so far on both the energy readings and the apparently grumpy dragon that currently called it home. Just past the top of the hour I returned to the bay, arriving just before Pog.

“That’s as good as Pog can make it,” he informed me as he handed me a PADD with the updated shield configuration displayed. “How long they will hold, Pog cannot say.”

“It’s much appreciated, thank you, Mister Pog,” I said. I gestured to Ayhan and Vohrn, and we boarded the shuttlecraft, a type-six whose warp core had been drained of all antimatter to bolster the Phoenix’s stores, rendering it incapable of leaving the planet's atmosphere. But that’s all we needed it for, and it was roomier than the other two shuttlepods we had been left with.

We attracted a few curious pegasi who flew alongside the shuttlecraft, which always happened whenever we took one anywhere, but they veered off well before we reached the mountain.

“Ease it back, Lieutenant,” I ordered Preta as we neared the peak, with its massive gaping cave that stretched open like the maw of a giant, complete with jagged stalactites and stalagmites to act as teeth. “Nice and slow. We don’t want to startle him.”

“How are we going to get the dragon’s attention?” asked Vohrn, who for once sounded genuinely worried instead of cocky.

“Assuming our beleaguered ambassador did as he promised, he should know we’re coming, remember?”

Sure enough, as the shuttle’s nose neared the cave, our sensors all went off at once. “Massive biosign approaching, ma’am,” Ayhan said.

“Is there any sign of an energy buildup?”

“Not yet.”

Yet. The word tasted foul in my mouth, as I’m sure it did in everyone else’s. But that’s why I had Pog alter the shields.

“Keep those shields up,” I ordered, even as the dragon made his way into view.

His crimson scales shined iridescent in the morning light, the lighter burnt yellow of his belly contrasting rather beautifully. His head alone dwarfed our shuttle craft, each of his teeth the size of the average adult humanoid.

“So,” he spoke, his words powerful enough to be audible easily even through the shuttle’s hull. “Despite my desires, the alicorn and her alien compatriots have come to bother me in their metal carriage. Tell me, little morsels, why shouldn't I incinerate you on the spot?”

I nodded to Preta, who enabled the shuttle’s broadcast function. “If you know who we are, then you know why we’re here. Our messenger should’ve informed you.”

A growl rippled through the dragon’s throat. “I care not for the concerns of puny ponies. Was it not enough that I no longer pollute your skies with my exhaust? Why must you continue to intrude on my domain?”

“Those puny concerns, as you put them, are yours as well,” I retorted, refusing to show even the slightest bit of fear. Thank goodness for Starfleet discipline. Without it I might’ve been turned to a quivering mess at just that growl. “Did the messenger not explain?”

“I care not!” The dragon roared, and warning alarms blared all over the shuttle, with Ayhan and Vohrn both echoing warnings of spiking energy readings inside the dragon. “Your messenger was lucky to escape with her life. Flee now or you will not be so fortunate!”

I scowled. “Mute. Miss R’el,” I said, “arm phasers.”

“Uh, what?” Preta turned to stare wide-eyed at me. “Are you serious?”

“I thought you said lethal force was out of the question, ma’am,” Vohrn said, his usual sarcasm creeping back in.

Raising an eyebrow and ignoring Vohrn, I replied, “Deadly. Arm phasers. Set them to two thirds power, and aim for… here.” I pointed out a location on the dragon’s belly. “Fire only on my command.”

“...aye,” Preta said as she did as ordered. “Done.”

“Good. Unmute.” I returned my gaze to the dragon outside. “I will say this only once. The sun is dying. This is not just a pony concern. The strength of your kind is indeed legendary, but if the sun dies, your kind will perish just as surely as the rest of us.”

The dragon’s scowl only intensified. “You say this as if it is a certainty. But why should I listen to the mewlings of an alicorn?”

“Energy levels reaching critical!” Vohrn interrupted.

“I grow weary of this. Final warning: flee or perish!”

I straightened my spine, refusing to bow. “Fine. We’ll just head over to the Dragonlands right now and take it up with the Dragon Lord. I’m certain she would be shocked to hear that one of her subjects is refusing to help during a planetary crisis.”

Vohrn blinked as he stared at his console. “Energy levels are beginning to drop.”

The dragon, for the first time, showed a sign of hesitation as small bursts of flame puffed from his nose. “...surely not. Your puny hunk of tin would never reach her. I would ensure it.”

“Oh?” Having recalled that dragons, like Klingons, respond better to displays of bravado, I took a step forward till I was as visible as I could make myself from within the shuttle cockpit. “This ‘hunk of tin’ can breathe its own fire; more than enough to bring that cave down on your head.”

Plumes of smoke billowed into the air like so many fireworks as the dragon laughed in our faces. “Try it. And when you fail, I will enjoy breathing in your dust!”

“Energy levels back to critical!”

Even at this distance, my horn tingled from the immense amount of magic the dragon drew upon as he inhaled. We had scant seconds before those flames engulfed us. “Miss R’el, fire!”

As a massive fireball took shape in his wide-open jaws, the twin phaser beams lanced out and seared into his belly, directly on target.

Those flames sputtered and faltered as he began coughing and wheezing. “What… what did you do?!”

“Gave you an antacid, that's what. You'll be fine in a few minutes.,” I said, not wanting to be any more specific. “But now hopefully you will listen to what I am saying.”

The dragon made a half-hearted swipe at the shuttle, but Preta easily dodged it, showcasing that even in atmosphere the shuttle was far more than the flying brick it appeared to be. Another growl rippled from his throat, but this one stank of resignation. “Very well. It… is true that I have noticed some days are colder than they should be. At first I assumed your princesses were simply failing at their jobs, but... even I have begun to wonder if something else is at fault.”

“You're right. It is getting colder,” I said. “And it will continue to get colder, until the very air freezes and falls from the sky like walls of ice. Only you'll be dead long before that, as will everything else on Equus.”

He snorted, a gout of flame puffing from his nostrils. “Assuming I believe you, why must you intrude upon my cavern? What does this have to do with me?”

“It will take time to explain,” I answered. “May we enter and speak face to face?”

His scaled lips pulled back into a toothy sneer. Rotating his left paw, he gestured. “You may. Be quick. I may once again lose patience.”

“Thank you,” I said sincerely. “Land the shuttle, Lieutenant. Vorhn, Ayhan, you’re with me. R’el, stick with the shuttle. If that dragon so much as hints he’ll seriously try to attack us again, do whatever it takes to distract him while we retreat.”

“Aye ma’am,” Preta said as she directed the shuttle. Once landed, the other two disembarked, but Preta held me back for just a second. “Be safe,” she said.

I smiled and winked, then trotted off the shuttle.

The inside of the cavern dwarfed us all, and even the dragon seemed relatively normal sized by comparison. As I took it all in, I could only imagine how a Ferengi might react if they could see this. Heaps of treasure lay everywhere, each one seemingly dedicated to different types of items. Gold and silver coins, gems, pearls, and jewelry, paintings, sculptures, even objects d'art... all of them arranged in surprisingly organized rows besides.

“Fascinating,” Ayhan said as she brought out her tricorder and started to scan the nearest bits of treasure. “Many of these objects are far older than they appear.”

The dragon immediately leaned in and snorted, gouts of smoke puffing from his nostrils. “Do not touch my horde,” he warned, before baring his teeth. “Unless you wish for me to discover what you alien beings taste like.”

Ayhan immediately retreated from the object, though of course she showed no sign of fear on her face. “My apologies,” she said, giving the dragon a slight incline of her head.

“Hmmm…” He turned his attention to me, the spines on the back of his head rising. “Alicorn. Speak. Why are you here?”

“To be brief,” I said, after taking a moment to choose my words, “We have reason to believe there is advanced technology hidden in this cave, something potentially more advanced than our shuttlecraft. According to our research, the mana gems in this cavern regrow, correct?”

“Mmm, that they do,” he grunted. “They always have. It is the only place we dragons know of outside our homelands where this occurs.” He narrowed his eyes. “You believe you know why?”

“We suspect we know why,” I corrected. “But that’s why we’re here. We believe it’s connected to the issue with the sun, and we’d like your permission to investigate. We promise we will not touch your horde unless absolutely necessary, and only with you observing the entire time. We’ve no desire to steal your treasure.”

“...very well.” He settled down on his pile of gold and watched us. “But know this, alicorn. If you try to leave here with that which does not belong to you, your life will end in fire and pain.”

I tried not to roll my eyes at that. Whatever this dragon could do to me was no worse than what I’d done to myself in the process of earning these wings to begin with. “I understand.”

“Good. Now, be quick. I wish you gone from my sight as soon as possible.”

Pulling out my tricorder, I began to scan the area, prompting Vohrn and Ayhan to join me. “Try to filter out the treasure from your scans if you can,” I said as I began reconfiguring the tricorder to ignore the gold.

“Understood,” Ayhan said as she began to walk around the area, stepping past piles of coins. “Lieutenant,” she said after a moment, “it is perhaps too soon to be certain, however I feel it is reasonable to presume this cavern is artificial.”

“Well of course it’s artificial,” Vohrn said with open disdain as he wandered down one of the other aisles formed by the treasure. “This is an extinct volcano. All of this is metamorphic rock.”

“Indeed,” Ayhan confirmed. Not for the first time I was glad her Vulcan nature made it so that she took little to no offense from Vohrn’s nasty attitude. “Large quantities of basaltic andesite, feldspar, hornblende, and many others. A typical extinct cinder cone. It should not be possible for any cavern to be here, given the geologic composition of the mountain. Look at these readings.”

She showed me her reading. “Definitely appears to have been constructed.”

“This surprises me not, given your claims,” the dragon interjected. He pointed with one slender, razor-sharp talon. “The mana gems may be found over here.”

“Thank you,” I said, giving him a nod, even though I knew he only told us because he wanted to hurry us out of there. The rumble of irritation he gave me in return only confirmed that.

Nevertheless we walked in the direction he pointed, which sent us back, deeper into the cavern than Starlight had mentioned the Elements had gone. As we descended down a well-worn ramp of stone, we entered a second, smaller cavern.

And stopped, my jaw dropping.

To say that there were plentiful mana gems was like saying a continent was an island: technically true, but vastly understating the matter. Even the crystal caverns deep inside Mount Canter seemed almost dull compared to the sea of gems spread out before us. Gems of every shape and color imaginable were literally everywhere, jutting out of the floor, the walls, even the ceiling. Some of the gems were so potent they glowed, bathing the entire space in a glittering rainbow of color.

“It’s so full of rubies, sapphires, emeralds, a-and I don’t know what else,” Vohrn said, awe present in his words. “But the odd thing is, they're all cut and polished, like you just pulled them out of a jewelry case.”

Even Ayhan seemed wowed as she scanned the field, judging by the look on her usually stoic face. “Despite appearing like common gemstones, these contain an energy source.” She flipped on the Sparkle sensor attachment. “Confirmed, the energy source is magical in origin. They contain immense amounts of power.”

“Yeah they do,” I breathed. “More than I would’ve thought.” I glanced back and, as I’d expected, the dragon had followed us, so silently I hadn’t heard his claws tap against the stone. If he wanted us dead, we were dead. Still, since he was there… “May we have your permission to examine the gems more thoroughly?”

“Do what you must.” He snorted once more, the gout of flame larger, the scent of brimstone far more present inside the cavern. “You may take one to examine further, as you will no doubt be requesting.”

“That would be most appreciated, thank you,” I said, nodding respectfully. “Ayhan?”

She reached into her bag, opened up a sample case and withdrew a set of tongs. After a moment of scanning, she selected a sizable sapphire, one that glowed with an inner light. She set it inside the case, closed it, and placed the case back into her bag. “Sample obtained.”

“Lieutenant,” Vohrn said, holding up his tricorder. His trademark smirk formed on his face. “I think I found the source of the energy readings. See, look here.”

He squatted down and pointed to a section of the field of gemstones. I looked closer, then reached out with my magic. “It’s a switch,” I said, feeling it for a moment. The energy signature was definitely different from the surrounding gems. I turned back to the dragon. “Did you know there was a switch here?”

The dragon snorted, filling the air with a small cloud of black smoke. “Of course not. If I had, I would’ve attempted to use it long ago. I will not abide secrets in my cavern.” He glared at me, then gestured with a paw. “You may attempt to activate it, if you wish.”

The other two took a few steps back, and even the dragon appeared wary as my magic manipulated it. It was odd… though I could feel the switch with my magic, it didn’t respond like one created by pony magic. Fortunately, during my education on control, Luna taught me a little bit about other sorts of magic, enough for me to recognize it for what it was.

Draconic. This switch required draconic magic to activate. But why? How?

Mulling it over, my thoughts stumbled over something I had learned from Princess Luna during my convalescence. By their nature, alicorns possessed a limited ability to emulate non-pony magic, including draconic magic. I was by no means an expert, but I did know that much of the basics of casting it weren't entirely dissimilar to pony magic. So I decided to give it a try.

“I'm going to try something, though I'm unsure if it'll work. Stand back, everyone.”

I closed my eyes, and willed my horn to summon up dragonflame. As my mana swirled about me, the room heated up, and Vohrn let out a yelp of alarm.

“Uh, Lieutenant, are you trying to set yourself on fire?” he asked.

“Sort of,” I answered, willing myself to focus harder.

For the briefest of moments, there was a spark of purplish flames from my horn. But they faded as soon as they emerged, leaving me panting and sweating. “Damn it.”

The dragon laughed at my failure. “I’ll grant you this, young one. You have spirit. I like that. Now, my umbrage at a mere pony trying to cast dragon fire is for the moment outweighed by my need to know what has been hiding underneath my kind's scales all these years.”

He took a few steps towards us and leaned his head in. “Now let me show you how it's done.”

He leaned his head down and gently breathed a single burst of flame onto the switch itself.

Blackford arched an eyebrow. “Did it w—"

Click.

Immediately the cavern was filled with a great scraping sound, like nails on a giant stone chalkboard. I pinned my ears back as tightly as I could to try and block out some of the piercing noise while I watched a large section of the far wall roll back and out of view.

When the noise finally stopped, the opening in the wall had grown large enough to fit a small shuttlecraft inside. A single light flickered to life above the entrance, reminding me a bit of the porch light that would turn on every time we'd return to our home on Earth after sundown.

The dragon reared back and flared his wings, his spines coming up. “I had no knowledge of another chamber,” he said. “Nor has any dragon before me, that I am aware of.”

“It seems likely this chamber has rested undisturbed for several millennia,” Ayhan said as she brought her tricorder forward. “I am detecting stale air. The scent is… unpleasant.”

“Try revolting,” Blackford said, gagging as he waved his hand in front of his nose. “Uuugh.”

I waved a wing in front of my face to waft away the stench. “Give it a few minutes, the air will mix,” I said. I brought my own tricorder up and stepped forward. “Looks like there’s more energy readings up ahead.” I glanced back at the dragon. “No offense, but I do not think the passageway is big enough to accommodate you. But I hope you can trust us to proceed further.”

The dragon thankfully seemed far less bothered by our presence now that he’d seen this extra chamber. “So it seems. Your investigation did not waste my time after all.” His eyes narrowed. “You may proceed. Of course, I will want to know everything about whatever is inside.”

“We’ll let you know,” I said as I stepped into the stone aperture. 

My hoofs alighted onto metal not long after entering, a catwalk of some sort. As Ayhan and Vohrn followed close behind, more of those lights began to flicker in front of us, bathing the pathway in an interesting mix of blue, green, and a warm, slightly yellow white. As the path ahead illuminated, I immediately noticed that not only was the catwalk fairly lengthy, it was far wider than it needed to be for a humanoid or even a pony. So too was everything else around us – wall panels, light fixtures, what looked like more access hatches, everything. All of it was big. As in dragon big.

“Ayhan, why couldn’t we detect any of these before the door opened?” I asked as I continued to scan, letting my tricorder record the data for later analysis back at the base.

“There appears to be an energy dampening field in place around the door. I am no longer able to detect anything outside the chamber,” she answered as she continued to scan the room. “Also, the materials here are inconsistent with the readings taken by the Captain and yourself of the chamber the Princesses showed you earlier.”

“Inconsistent with the mirror chamber too,” Vohrn interjected, his voice shaking. “It’s… whoo…” He suddenly doubled over, holding his knees.

“Whoa, hey, you okay, Vohrn?” Blackford asked.

I was at his side in an instant. “Vohrn? What’s wrong?”

“Getting harder to breathe,” he gasped. He tapped at the sides of his face. “I think… my breather… it’s not…”

Ayhan brought her tricorder over. “The energy dampening field appears to have had a negative effect on his breathing device. It is struggling to produce the chemicals needed for his physiology.”

“Okay, let me take a look,” I said as I brought up my own tricorder, then used my magic to examine them further. “Hang tight, Lieutenant. I'm going to try something, but if it doesn't work we'll get you out of here pronto.” I set the tricorder down, fired up my horn, and called up a protective charm that Sunset and I had been tinkering with just before she left. 

Vohrn took a few sudden deep breaths, gasping for air as he managed to stand up straight, if leaning against me. “That’s… that’s much better,” he said after a moment of recovery breathing. “Wh-what did you do?”

“A charm of sorts, one that isolates the signal given off by your breathing apparatus from other nearby energy sources. It's not foolproof, but it should buy us enough time. Are you able to continue?"

He took a few more deep breaths, then nodded. “Yeah. yeah I think so.” He gave me a rare smile of appreciation. “Thanks.”

“Good. Take it easy. We’ll have Doctor May look you over when we return to base,” I said. “Let's get going.” I glanced at Ayhan. “Try to get as much data about that energy dampening field as you can. I’d like to see if we can program his breather so it’s properly shielded against such things in the future. What I did won’t hold for too long.”

“Aye, ma’am,” Ayhan said, doing as requested.

Meanwhile I turned my tricorder back to the wall panels. “You were both right, the materials are different. But there’s still some sort of advanced alloy here… similar to tritanium but with something else I can’t identify…” I swapped to the Sparkle sensor off a hunch, and grinned as it lit up like a Christmas tree. “Looks like mana gems have been melded into the panels. They’re working like a version of an EPS grid but without any wiring. It’s magitek, pure magitek.”

“That’s bizarre,” Vohrn said as he continued his own scans. “I’m also picking up a lot of traces of DNA.” He eyed me. “It looks pretty similar to our big friend outside.”

Bemused, I swapped my tricorder over to biosensing and scanned for myself. “Yeah, that’s dragon DNA alright. But this doesn’t make any sense. Dragons don’t have technology, especially not magitek. Other than their fire breath, the most magical thing they have is some ancient scepter that gets passed from one Dragon Lord to the next, but that's it.”

“Then what do you call all this?” asked Vohrn as he waved his hand around.

I continued down the catwalk scanning till I saw we were coming up to something at the end. It took me a moment to realize it was a computer terminal, just one sized for, presumably, a dragon. Like the rest of the chamber it didn’t quite resemble what I’d seen below Canterlot Castle, but it wasn’t entirely alien either.

I approached it in a hurry, and scanned it, only to sigh and scuff my hoof on the metal plating beneath me. “Damn. This looks completely broken,” I said as I looked over the dull and cracked screen and the heavily corroded input mechanisms. Suddenly my tricorder began a new series of beeps. “Wait. I'm picking up another reading, but it's faint.”

“Confirmed,” said Ayhan. “They begin just behind this terminal, and lead all the way out to the chamber beyond.”

I stared at the terminal. “And if the gems are still growing, this terminal is still alive. Which means there’s a power source somewhere inside it.”

“Should we try to open it up to see?” Vohrn asked.

“No,” I said immediately. “We don’t want to disrupt the formation of mana gems. We’re not here to destroy it, even unintentionally. But let me see if I can figure anything else out here.”

I studied the panel for quite a long while, trying to discern some meaning behind the symbols etched onto the various buttons and switches, most of which were so worn down there was barely anything left to read.

Not that I could understand any of it anyway. It was like no language I’d ever seen before, and far different from the script Sunset and I saw in that chamber with the two AIs. Nor did it resemble any form of Ponish I’d ever studied.

“Any ideas?” Blackford asked, peering over my shoulder while his tricorder scanned away.

“I wish,” I replied. "I can only guess this is some kind of ancient draconic language."

But since when did dragons have written language? Yes, there were many dragons who knew how to read and write, but they usually learned to do so in either Ponish or Griffonian. They didn’t have a separate writing language of their own.

Or at least, they didn’t anymore.

I took all the scans I could so I could reproduce the script for later analysis. The Universal Translator had no basis from which to come up with a translation yet so we’d need to analyze it properly to understand.

I was just about to leave the terminal when I spotted one button that I could read; in this case a bit of what would have been considered high Ponish in the old world. It took a few tries, but the UT was able to roughly translate it.

Memory.

Out of curiosity, I pressed it.

The screen lit up with a grainy, somewhat distorted image that was made all the worse by the cracks in the screen. All three of us raised our tricorders immediately to record it.

The image showed a green and purple dragon using the terminal, with two humanoids standing next to them. At least, they appeared to be humanoids, but they were shadowed out, with no clearly discernible features.

“Done,” said the dragon, in a clearly feminine voice. “The chamber is prepared.”

“Good,” said one of the humanoids, whose voice came out with an electronic warble that made it impossible to deduce anything about it. “You will now need to submit to the procedure.”

“...are you sure this is necessary?” asked the dragon. “I don’t see the harm in remembering, so long as I don’t teach my hatchlings.”

“It is a necessity to protect you and all of your kind. Unless you wish for the—” the sound buzzed suddenly, like a word erased. “—to find you and destroy you.”

“We regret the need, but it is the safest, surest way,” said the other humanoid, whose voice was equally garbled but at a slightly higher pitch. “They are relentless. If even a handful of them remain, they will not hesitate to kill every last one of your kind.”

The dragon sighed. “Then allow me to record a message… in the event one of my descendents finds this chamber.”

“Such a thing should not occur.”

The second humanoid shifted as if to look at the first. “But there would be no harm in leaving a message. The others have made similar requests.”

“It will need to be brief. Our time runs short.”

The dragon nodded, then looked directly at whatever was recording her image. “To whoever finds this chamber… I hope I am speaking to fellow dragons, and if not, well... I hope I am speaking to someone with peaceful intentions. If my words mean nothing to you, I only ask that you leave this place in peace, so others may one day find it as you have.

Whoever you are, know this: We dragons were once a species that—” The message briefly turned to static, then began skipping. “Our -- empire that spanned—. Whatever we may be now, we were once – I hope –- we can reclaim–”

She placed a paw on the screen. “One day, I hope you – step – home–”

The message abruptly broke up and the screen went black. “Damn it,” I snapped, swapping back to scanning mode, and breathing a sigh of relief that the mana gem growth function was still working. “Well, that was… something.”

“It appears we were fortunate the message played at all,” Ayhan said. “It appears the recording had been corrupted. It is no longer playable.”

“Good thing I thought to record it, huh?” Vohrn said with a chuckle.

I chose not to chastise him. “Take a few more readings, then let’s get out of here. I don’t want to overstay our welcome.”

So we did our best to hurry on, after playing the message we recorded for the dragon. It made even less sense to him than it did to us, funnily enough, but it did make the impression upon him about how important the cavern was, as well as the mana gems and their regrowth. As such, he promised to protect the gems and the mechanism for their growth, and even said he would contact the Dragon Lord to let her know about it.

Feeling like we had accomplished more than we set out to do, the four of us reboarded the shuttle.

“Alright, Miss R’el, return us to base,” I ordered as I flopped into a seat.

“Aye,” she said, glancing at me with relief clearly evident. She leaned in and more quietly added, “I’m glad you’re safe, Twilight. He kept looking at me like I was his dinner.”

“Oh trust me, he gave us a few of those looks too,” I murmured. “I’m not keen on being any dragon’s food, thank you. Even if they don’t need to eat things other than mana gems that often…”

“No point in risking it,” Preta finished for me. She peered at me, then sniffed, making a curious face. “You smell like sulfur.”

“Oh, I tried to use a bit of draconic magic to open up a chamber,” I said. “It almost set me on fire.”

“W-Wait, what? Since when can you use dragon magic?”

“I would’ve been fine... probably. I’ll explain later.” I shook my head, and in a louder voice, said. “Miss R’el, signal Equestria base. Let them know that we’ll need Doctor May to examine Vohrn when we return. His breathing device malfunctioned.”

“Aye, ma’am,” Preta said, tapping a control. “Equestria Base, this is shuttlecraft Sunbird. Lieutenant Vohrn will require medical attention for his breathing device on arrival.”

“This is Equestria Base,” answered one of Pog’s engineers. “Message acknowledged.”

“Thank you, Equestria Base. ETA, fifteen minutes. Sunbird out.” Preta switched off the comms, then leaned back in her chair. “So what exactly did you find?”

I spent the rest of the short trip informing her of our discoveries, till she had to concentrate on landing. As we disembarked, Doctor May met us with her medical tricorder in hand.

“So, what did you do?” she asked him, her accent unusually thick, even for her. Then I remembered that one of the med techs who stayed behind was also from Scotland. Knowing May, she might have us speaking a bit of Scottish before too long.

“It was some kind of dampening device,” Vohrn explained.

I left them to their work as I headed into the base, taking my tricorder and placing it into a reader to dump its memory into the computers. 

Ayhan did likewise, then opened up her sample case to bring out the mana gem. “This would appear to hold quite a bit of energy,” she said as she placed it into a geological scanner and programmed it for a full array of tests.

“It does. Be careful with some of your tests, Ayhan. Mana gems have been known to explode if their lattice structure is suddenly destabilized.”

“Understood. I will start the scans at a reduced intensity and work up from there,” she said as she turned on the scanner. “This would appear to contain more energy than the Phoenix was typically able to generate through conversion.”

“I’m not surprised,” I said. “That conversion was never exactly efficient, especially without a natural mana gem to regulate the conversion. Thank goodness we were able to obtain some for the Phoenix before the ship left. They're going to need every bit of energy they can get.”

And, I feared, more than a little bit of luck too.

Feeling the rhythmic thrum of the Phoenix's warp core reverberate through the deck plating brought me back to my first day aboard the Enterprise-D, to the moment I touched the warp core for the first time. It was like touching the beating heart of a living, breathing giant. The Sirens likened it a bit to a song, like the warp core was a ship's voice.

And after lying in silence for so long, it felt damn good to hear the Phoenix sing again.

I closed my eyes and focused on the cadence of the vibrations. Nice and steady; almost as smooth as it was just before the crash. She was singing alright, and very much in tune, all things considered. Though with such a reduced speed, Phoenix's song was more like a gentle hum at the moment.

But at least she was running, even if she was being fussed over by a pair of Equestrian volunteers, a hippogriff and an earth pony with a turtle for a cutie mark. The hippogriff yammered at least as fast as the ship was flying per second to her companion, who seemed to take it all in stride.

I turned to Wattson, who watched over the Equus crew members from just outside of her office like a proud mother hen. “They performing well?” I asked her.

“They are,” she said, her voice thrumming happily. “These two especially have taken to warp mechanics like they were born to it. Silverstream’s the hippogriff and Sand Bar is the pony. Get these two to the Academy and I'd bet you're looking at two future Chief Engineers right there.”

“I don’t know about that,” I replied. Watching them work out a problem during Silverstream’s endless barrage of chatter was entertaining, but in a real crisis I hoped she’d have the sense to shut her beak. “But they’re definitely serving us well.”

“Speaking of serving us well,” Wattson said as she gestured over to the new, now third generation magic converter. “These natural mana gems make a huge difference. At just ten percent this is already generating more magic than the previous converters could at forty percent.”

“That they do,” I replied. “It’s too bad we’re not able to use them to power the warp core in reverse, though.”

Wattson shook her head. “You and me both. I used any free time I had while on the surface to run as many experiments as I could, but none of the gems I tried had a lattice structure similar enough to dilithium to be effective.” She sighed and leaned against the wall. “We’re not inventing any newer, more efficient warp drives here. Not yet, anyway.”

I used a wing to pat her on the shoulder. “It’s alright, Amelia. You’re doing your best to keep us moving, and that’s what matters. We should focus on trying to use the magic to enhance other systems instead. Especially shields. I don’t want to crumple like a tin can the instant someone tries to step on us.”

Wattson nodded, giving me a soft smile. “I’ll try, Sunset.”

“That’s all I ask. Carry on.”

I left Engineering, and headed for the nearby turbolift. I heard hurried footsteps coming down the corridor and a moment later the Sirens squeezed onto the lift just before the doors shut.

“Sunset,” Adagio said with a polite smile. “Deck ten.”

“Adagio,” I greeted. “Bridge. So, still glad you decided to come along instead of staying on Equus?”

“Pfft, you needed us,” Sonata said insistently, giving me a silly grin.

“Like we wanted to hang around Starswirl the Bitchded anyway,” Aria groused.

As I tried not to snort at the goofy joke, Adagio replied, “We’re sure. It was nice to visit, but… Equus hasn’t been home for us for a long time.”

I nodded in understanding. “So… does that mean the ship is your home now?” 

“Perhaps,” Adagio allowed. “If nothing else, it’s… comfortable. And welcoming.”

“Adagio just didn’t want to lose out on being able to drink raktajino,” Aria blurted, smirking at Adagio.

A sneer pulled at Adagio’s lips as she flipped Aria off. “Shut it.”

I kept my laughter to a brief under my breath chuckle. “It’s okay, Adagio, I don’t blame you. Prench Roast didn’t taste that good to me either, not anymore. Even Twilight was disappointed.”

“It was foul,” Adagio growled. “Offensive to my palate.”

“It really sucked,” Sonata added.

“Mmhmm,” Aria thirded.

I raised an eyebrow, sensing a bit of deception on their part. “So we all agree the coffee was terrible, but, but what’s the real reason?”

Adagio sighed, scowled up at the ceiling, and called out, “Halt turbolift.”

So it was going to be one of those conversations, I realized as she looked at me, her expression… torn. Like she couldn’t decide if she wanted to be furious or sorrowful. “...while we were on Equus, we went to visit other Sirens,” she said, the words coming out haltingly, like pulling teeth.

“When you were gone for that week in Baltimare,” I said, remembering vaguely that the Dazzlings had accompanied the crew who flew over there to build our distillation plant.

“That’s right,” Adagio confirmed. “There used to be a large colony of Sirens living off-shore in the waters further to the north. So we borrowed the shuttle to see if it was still there, and we were right. It's still there. We were right.”

“There were dozens of them,” Sonata said, her usual smile and peppy attitude fading, replaced by a cold seriousness. “All ages too. Turns out they found a new way to get negative emotions without having to induce them in ponies first.”

“They just needed someone to go into a city like Manehattan and harvest the ambient negativity for a while,” Aria said, and like Sonata her usual attitude dissolved in favor of one much more despondent in tone. “They had an agreement with the local government; so long as they never tried to cause any problems they were allowed in.”

“Well, that’s great news, isn’t it?” I asked, though I wasn’t blind to the atmosphere of this discussion. “I mean, for your people, that they have a way of living sustainably while avoiding any further conflicts.”

The three of them bursting into laughter was not the reaction I expected from that, especially not laughter that sounded two steps away from transforming into tears. The lack of mirth left a sour taste in my mouth. “Damn it, that was insensitive of me. I apologize.”

Adagio waved off the apology. “Oh, if only,” she said as she clutched her stomach. “Good for their survival, sure. But socially? They were more insular than ever.”

“...not to mention huge meanie-pants,” Sonata grumbled.

“Yeah, they wanted nothing to do with anyone who wasn’t a Siren,” Aria said. “Didn’t matter what it was about. We even tried to explain about the sun, and they wouldn’t listen.”

“Wait… you say that as if…” I gasped as realization hit me. “Oh no… they, they didn’t— “

“No, they didn’t,” Adagio confirmed for me. “They didn’t see us as Sirens at all.”

Silence reigned in the turbolift like a dark, ugly cloud. They tried to hide it, but the heartbreak in their eyes was palpable. “But…” I finally insisted. “But that doesn’t make sense. You’re obviously—“

“A trio of pretenders who thought they could act like Sirens just because they, and I quote, ‘share a few similar attributes.’” Adagio interrupted with a growl.

“But your singing magic—“

“Was like torture to their ears, according to one of their supposed leaders.” Aria interrupted me with yet another bark of mirthless laughter. “You’d think having the same kind of magic would make a difference, wouldn’t you? Nope. Apparently their magic has changed over the past thousand years.” She clutched at her gemstone necklace. “Their songs aren’t even remotely the same anymore.”

“So we just looked like a bunch of fish people pretending like we were Sirens, and they thought we were the insulting meanie pants!” Sonata finished.

I swore I could feel my own heart breaking in two at this news. To be so rejected by their own people, after being away from home for so long… pony instinct won out over propriety, and I began to spread my wings and forelegs in preparation to give them a hug.

Only for Adagio to stop me with a palm to my chest. “Don’t,” she grunted, though despite the frown I could see a flicker of appreciation in her eyes. “I know you mean well, but don’t give us that pathetic pony hugging routine. We’re not… we’re not so weak that we need that.”

“...it’s not a weakness to want comfort,” I countered. “But I understand.”

“Do you?” Aria snapped. “I’m not sure you do.”

“Shut it, Aria,” Adagio said with a weary sigh. “There’s no need to be antagonistic towards the Captain of our home, much less one of the only friends we have left.”

That sent me reeling back. “Wait, so, did you return to the ship because... because you have nowhere else to go?”

“Pretty much, yup,” Sonata confirmed, hanging her head. “It’s not like we’re welcome anywhere else. Starswirl the Bearded made sure of that.”

My lips pulled away from my teeth ever so slightly. “What did that buffoon do this time?”

“Oh, nothing much. Just sent a warning to all the coastal towns of Equestria that we were the ‘bad’ Sirens, and weren't to be trusted,” Adagio said, another note of mirthless laughter escaping her. “And it’s not like we were about to live in an inland town.”

“So we had nowhere to go,” Aria finished. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Besides… we like it here.”

“I can’t believe he did that!” I said, snorting in disgust. “I’ll be having a talk with Celestia when we return about this. You’re certainly welcome to stay for as long as I’m Captain.” I gave them a firm, understanding nod. “If you’d like, you could consider joining the crew officially.”

“What, and have to wear those grody uniforms? Ugh, no thanks!” Sonata said, throwing her hands out to gesture as she spoke. “Plus I totally would suck at military discipline.”

“Yeah, we’re a bit too free spirited to be tied down like that,” Aria added, a smile crossing her face ever so briefly.

Adagio laughed, the rich chocolatey velvet sound with real mirth wonderful to hear again. “I don’t think you’ll be calling me Crewman Dazzle. Ever.”

I smirked along with them. “Fair enough. All I can ask then is that you keep pitching in where you can, as you've done so well already.”

“Oh don’t worry about that,” Adagio said with a matching smirk. “We’re finding ways.” She glanced up at the ceiling. “Resume turbolift.”

They disembarked on Deck Ten, most likely headed for Ten-Forward, while I continued to the bridge. The regular officers were in their standard positions, including Zhidar in the center chair with his new red command uniform in place of the old gold he used to wear. I was still trying to get used to seeing him in it, since it seemed so strange.

He started to rise from his chair, but I waved him off. “We’re still on course,” he reported. “No changes.”

“Good. I’ll be in my ready room if you need me.”

As I sat down at the desk, I glanced about the room. I still hadn’t bothered to decorate it… I’d removed the decorations that Liang put up, so he could have them on Equus during his recovery, but put up none of my own in their place.

I switched on the terminal to work on some reports and other paperwork, but the empty desk and barren walls continued continued to gnaw at me, till finally I had to push my terminal aside and step over to the replicator. While ostensibly only a food replicator, it was relatively easy to reprogram to produce other things, at least to a reasonable degree. So I did just that, and after a few moments of tinkering, had several still pictures, each enclosed in a simple frame. There were several family pictures, along with a few of Twilight and me, and one of Cadeneza and me.

I hung them up around the office, placing the one of Cadeneza and me on the desk. It was one she took not long before the Dominion attack on the fleet, with me laying my head on her lap, covered by her uniform jacket. I hadn’t even known she’d taken a picture till she showed me later. 

Damn it, I missed her terribly. 

As soon as I finished placing the last picture, the door chime rang. “Enter,” I called.

Prin – Ambassador Luna entered the room, smiling slightly as she took in the new decorations. “Your family,” she said, pointing to a picture of Mother, Mom, Twilight and I posing just after my sixteenth birthday. I still had a smile on my face from the news about testing for the academy.

“That’s right,” I answered. “What can I do for you, Luna?”

She cleared her throat. “If I may have a few moments of your time, I wish to discuss with you the matter of crew integration.”

“Of course,” I said, indicating for her to sit. “So, how is the crew doing so far? Hopefully everyone is getting along?”

She frowned as she sat. “Although most have caused no issues, there is one pegasus, a Lightning Dust, who has been training as a pilot for Gamma shift. While she obeys orders, she has displayed an attitude that I find is… unacceptable for somepony in her position.”

“Lightning Dust…” I murmured as I pulled up her file on my terminal. “She’s an ex-Wonderbolt… I thought the Wonderbolts used military discipline as part of their training.”

“They do. They may appear to be literal showponies, but they are still an active aerial division of the Royal Guard. And just as capable as you might expect, I might add.”

“I don’t doubt it.” My frown deepened. “So why would she have a discipline problem if she was officially a Wonderbolt? You don’t get to become a Wonderbolt without passing a lot of tests and proving yourself at their Academy, or so I thought.” I glanced back at the file. “Wait a minute… there’s no details here about how she became an ex-Wonderbolt.”

That prompted a sigh from Luna. “Indeed. I am beginning to wonder if she was discharged for lack of military discipline and failed to properly inform us when she volunteered.”

I scowled at the thought that we managed to let something like that slip under the radar when we’d been so vigilant about choosing the right volunteers. “She’s training under Rodriguez, right?” Luna nodded. “Then I’ll have him step up the reinforcement of discipline with her and his other trainees. Hopefully that’ll solve it. If not, I’ll speak with her myself.”

“Sickbay to the Captain.”

Blinking, I tapped my combadge. “Shimmer here.”

“Captain,” came the ever-calm voice of Doctor Selar. “I am afraid there has been an incident with one of the volunteers. I request your presence as soon as possible.”

I suppressed a sigh and looked at Luna, who nodded and rose from her chair. “On my way,” I said, tapping my badge again to close the channel. “Great. This better not be Lightning Dust.”

“It would be most unusual timing if she caused a problem right as we were discussing her,” Luna said as we left the ready room for the turbolift just across from it.

“Wouldn’t be the first time something like that happened,” I muttered. “Deck twelve, sickbay.”

As we stepped into sickbay, I felt a brief sense of relief when the pegasus I saw standing there, a look of horrified dismay on her face, was not Lightning Dust. But that feeling evaporated almost immediately when I realized who it really was.

Fluttershy.

And Danielle was standing not too far away… with a dermal regenerator being used on an open wound…

“Oh no. No no no, don’t tell me it happened again,” I groaned under my breath as I looked between the two of them.

Fluttershy looked up at me and shivered, her whole body trembling with nerves. “Oh my goodness, oh my gosh, I can’t believe she said those things, why would she ever think such things, I’m a married mare for pony’s sake…”

Luna stepped up beside me. “Please, be calm, Crewpony. We are here, we will help resolve the matter.”

Fluttershy meeped and began to bow out of habit before Luna softly shook her head. Fluttershy’s face flushed a solid crimson as she ended her tirade and swallowed, nodding. “A-alright.”

“Can you explain what happened?” I asked her.

“Well,” she said, glancing nervously at Danielle before turning back to me. “I was on duty, inventorying the medical tricorders and hyposprays, when Lieutenant Danielle came in, complaining of a headache. I e-examined her, and I noticed in the process that she had a small cut on her wrist that was bleeding.”

“Did she say how she got it?” I pressed.

“No, but she refused to let me treat it at first. I insisted, and in the process of pulling away, she, um, she accidentally rubbed some blood on me.”

“Wait, you were handling her without protective equipment?” I raised my eyebrows. “I thought your training covered Deltan physiology.”

Fluttershy frowned at me, her mouth curling to show distaste with my words. “It did, and I was wearing gloves, just as the training instructed. In the commotion, her hand brushed up against my face.” She pointed with a hoof to the side of her mouth, where there was still a slight trace of blood. “I think I ended up tasting it by accident too.”

I sighed. “What happened next?”

“She panicked, and started saying all kinds of things to me about me staying away, how I shouldn’t try to touch her or kiss her or, or do things to her, a-and I couldn’t believe she’d even suggest— “

“Wait a minute,” I interrupted, turning to Danielle. “Lieutenant, can you corroborate what Fluttershy told us?”

The expression on her face spoke volumes. “Yes, ma’am,” she said glumly. “It’s just as she said. She was using the proper precautions, but I didn’t want to risk her being affected. And when she, err… I panicked, and we both moved suddenly, and... well, here we are.”

I looked next to Doctor Selar, who was still at Danielle's side finishing up her treatment. “Doctor, can you confirm what she just told us? Did she really ingest some of Danielle’s blood?”

Doctor Selar nodded. “Indeed. It was an infinitesimal amount, but technically more than sufficient to induce the effects of Deltan pheromones. Once I realized what had transpired, I contacted you immediately.”

Luna stared at me blankly. “I don’t understand,” she said.

“Neither do I,” said Fluttershy.

“You'll recall that Deltans' physiology gives them incredibly potent pheromones, which can have an immediate and sometimes severe effect on anyone who comes into physical contact with them. Lieutenant Danielle is only half-Deltan, but the risk is still there – especially if blood is involved. A few months ago, we had an incident where Danielle’s blood mixed with… another crew member, and as a result, that crew member became infatuated with her, excessively so. The fact that you touched her skin and her blood, Fluttershy, but appear to be unaffected, is..."

Luna clopped a hoof on the floor in realization. “Ah! I see the issue now. Thank you, Captain." She turned to Selar. "Doctor, do you have any idea why was Fluttershy not affected by the pheromones?”

“I do not know. In truth, I had assumed the effects were simply delayed, so I have yet to examine her.” Before I could order it, she picked up her tricorder and began scanning Fluttershy. She arched one eyebrow and scanned her again, then a third time. “This is highly irregular.”

Fluttershy peered up at her. “Um, what is it, Doctor? Am I sick? Am I going to become… infatuated?”

“No,” Selar answered simply. “You are not. It seems the Deltan pheromones have been neutralized by your immune system.”

Everyone in sickbay paused to turn and look at Selar in shock as she said that. “Are you serious?” asked Danielle as she tried to crane her neck to look at Selar’s tricorder. “She’s really immune?”

“It appears that way,” Selar said, moving away from Danielle. “Fluttershy, with your permission, I would like to perform some additional testing.”

“G-go ahead,” she said, allowing Selar to lead her to one of the biobeds. “I’m not sure I understand what all this means.”

Selar helped her climb onto the bed. “Allow me to reassure you that you are well and unharmed, as is Lieutenant Danielle. What occurred here, while accidental, is beneficial. This testing is simply to establish why this occurred, is all.”

Danielle’s accent thickened as she responded. “Sacre bleu, Fluttershy, this could be something my people have wanted for a long, long time.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, Lieutenant,” I said. “This could be something unique to her that can’t be reproduced.”

“I am glad all is well," Luna said. "But I must confess, I still do not quite understand why Fluttershy's immune system is of such interest all of a sudden."

I eyed Danielle and gestured to Luna with a wing. “Care to explain, Lieutenant?”

"Gladly," she said. "Ambassador, as you no doubt just heard from the Captain, Deltans possess incredibly strong pheromones. To the point that any sexual contact with a non-Deltan species effectively brain-washes the other party. They become a slave to their hormones and, as you can imagine, their more basic urges. That very real possibility is why any Deltans wishing to join Starfleet must swear an oath of celibacy, which they keep until they retire or otherwise leave active service."

Luna frowned a bit. "That is... an unenviable position to find oneself to say the least. And no effective treatment has yet been devised that could at least lessen these effects?"

"You see, that's the ironic thing," Danielle replied, a bit of salt already creeping into her voice. "Experimental but promising treatments have been out there for years now. But because they involve genetic engineering, they're banned anywhere in the Federation. And before you ask, no I can't go on a medical vacation. That would only get me court-martialed and tossed out of Starfleet overnight."

“Aaah, I am beginning to understand now,” Luna replied with a nod. “I recall reading some of the history that Sunset prepared for me, particularly in regards to these Eugenics Wars that were fought, and the bans against such genetic manipulations that came as a result.”

Danielle’s mouth curled into a nasty frown. “Yes, well, I have much to say about how fair it is for the Federation to make a blanket law based upon one world’s screw-ups, but that's going to require a few wedges of brie and a bottle of Pinot Noir. The point is, no species has ever been known to be immune from this, save for non-humanoids like Hortas. Ponies are non-humanoid too of course, but... and correct me if I'm wrong, Doctor, so far ponies have proven to be more compatible with humanoids than you'd ever expect."

"So it would seem," Luna nodded before glancing my way. "Why has this never been examined before?”

“Because of that very compatibility she just mentioned,” I said. “Twilight and I both went through countless medical exams when we first arrived on Earth, and in that process we learned pretty quickly that we likely have ribosomes or other genetic donations from humanoid species, and vice versa. It’s actually pretty fascinating how similar we are in some ways. Then again, we ponies are the first non-humanoid species ever encountered by the Federation that is also mammalian. So it was just assumed that Deltan pheromones would affect us the same way, and no one ever bothered to test otherwise.”

Selar looked up at us. “I believe we may need to change that, however. I cannot say from a simple examination of Crewpony Fluttershy alone, but it is quite possible that this immunity is shared by other Equestrian ponies. With your permission, Captain, I would like to ask for volunteers to test this. I have already verified that the process used to filter out the effects from those afflicted will work on your species, so there is little risk.”

“Well, little risk other than a hell of a lot of embarrassment.” I sighed and looked at Danielle. “Lieutenant, I’m alright with this suggestion, and to be honest I would be willing to volunteer as well, but this is obviously going to need your participation to work. Are you okay with this?”

“Captain, to be frank with you,” Danielle said, a wide grin on her face, “I would suffer any amount of embarrassment if it meant a treatment could finally be made that didn’t require genetic engineering.”

“Then it’ll be done,” I said, smiling back at her. “Though for now it’s a low priority project. This won’t be something we’ll be solving overnight.”

“Oui oui, Captain, I understand,” Danielle replied. She stepped over to Fluttershy, her grin dimming substantially. “I apologize for making you uncomfortable, Fluttershy. It was not my intention.”

Fluttershy’s lips curled into an uncertain smile of her own as she said, “It’s okay. I get it now, and I hope something good comes out of all this for you, Lieutenant.”

Danielle stuck her hand out. “Claricia, if that’s alright with you.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Fluttershy shook it with her hoof. “Claricia, then.”

Nodding to Doctor Selar, Luna and I left those two to form their new friendship, leaving sickbay behind. “How curious that occurred,” Luna said. “I wonder how Lieutenant Danielle injured herself to begin with.”

I shrugged, rolling my wing joints. “Honestly, there’s still a lot of places that need spot repairs, even on the bridge. She could’ve cut herself on any piece of metal. What’s bothering me is the possibility that Twilight and I have been walking around with the solution to the Deltan problem all this time and no one ever knew.”

“It was impossible for you to know, Sunset.”

“I know. Still kinda sucks, though.”

A brief, quiet rumble echoed through the corridor. “It would seem it is time for me to partake in a meal,” Luna said. “Would you care to join me in Ten-Forward?”

“Might as well,” I answered as we returned to the turbolift. “I can work on reports while we eat.”

A quick turbolift ride later, we stepped through the doors of what the senior officers had begun to lovingly dub the Ten-Forward Cafeteria. One look around the space and it was pretty easy to see the resemblance.

The wall behind the bar had been entirely removed, giving a mostly clear view back into the kitchen area, which itself had been significantly expanded into rarely used meeting rooms on either side of it. Much of that space was used to support the vast array of Equestrian cooking implements that the volunteers brought onboard, plus pony-friendly utensils, pots, pans, dishware, and everything in between. 

The dishwashing system though, that was all Federation tech. Efficient, and most importantly, fast. It allowed those working in the galley to concentrate more on food and serving and less on cleaning up after themselves. And indeed I could see several crew members working there alongside our self appointed Head Chef and Morale Officer, Pinkie Pie, who directed the whole affair with a cheery charm.

All in all, it was an eclectic mix of crisp-clean 24th century industrial kitchen design and Equestrian cooking. But with each passing meal the more I came to like the unique vibe to the whole setup. Not just for the quality of the food it was creating, but the microcosm of what it represented for everyone on the ship – two entirely different worlds working together to help each other.

Working with Pinkie, we'd set up a rotating menu system that featured both vegetarian and meat-based items, rotating them at set intervals so as to cover as many of the crews' "usual" meal times as possible. For those few who had special needs, such as our resident dragon, we kept a supply of their required supplemental food available at all times. Any food waste was recycled and resequenced so that it could still be utilized in some capacity.

The service setup reminded me a great deal of military or school cafeterias I’d seen in some of the historical vids I'd watched, allowing people to line up at one side of the bar with a tray to pick up their chosen food, a beverage, and whatever cutlery they needed before stepping away to take a seat. It was far from a perfect system, but we were refining it as we went.

As Luna and I lined up to obtain our meals, Pinkie Pie spotted us from the kitchen and pronked her way over. “Hiya, Captain, Ambassador!” she said as she took over at the line to serve us personally. 

“Crewpony,” I said, though I couldn’t help smiling. Something about Pinkie Pie just put a smile on my face whenever I spent any time around her. Despite her manic energy, she seemed to always fill the air with laughter and cheer.

It was enough to make me idly wonder if she would’ve been a good fit for Trixie’s Element of Laughter.

“How are things here in the kitchen?” I asked as I selected the mashed sweet potatoes over the corn.

“Great! It’s been fun learning all these new recipes, and a real challenge to make enough to feed everyone. But don’t you worry. I’m up to the task!” Pinkie ladled a few dumplings onto my plate. “The biggest help has been Ensign Flanagan. He’s a pretty good baker, and he’s teaching me a lot about mixing drinks. Did you know there’s a whole field of drink mixing called mixology? I didn’t!”

A snicker slipped out before I could squash it. “I’m glad to hear he’s been such a huge help.”

“And how are you doing personally, Miss Pie?” Luna pressed.

Pinkie’s smile dimmed ever so slightly for a moment, and I swore her hair seemed to deflate by just as much. “I’m adjusting,” she admitted. “I do miss my husband though. Poor Cheesie. I hope he’s not too sad by himself at home.” Her smile brightened back up. “But I’m making all sorts of new friends among the crew. There’s so many interesting creatures on this ship! Like Lieutenant Rodriguez. He’s such a charmer.”

“That he is,” I said, smirking ever so slightly.

“Oh, Captain, I had an idea,” Pinkie said, pivoting to place beverages on both my tray and Luna’s. “I was looking into the history of stuff done aboard ships to keep morale high, and I found an old tradition on the NX… 01! Yes, the NX-01 Enterprise that I think might be good for the crew. They held a movie night at least once a week. They showed a lot of old movies from Earth’s 1950s, but I think we could do a bit better than that. Like, we could even show some Equestrian movies. I know some ponies brought recordings aboard too.”

I eyed Luna. “What do you think?”

“I don’t see why not,” she said after mulling it over. “It would be interesting to see movies from various cultures, both of Equus and other worlds.”

“Agreed. Crewpony, put together a plan for it and send it my way when you get a chance. I’ll evaluate it and see about getting it implemented.”

Pinkie beamed. “Aye aye, Captain,” she said, giggling to herself as she returned to the kitchen.

As Luna and I carried our trays to a table and sat down, Luna murmured, “Miss Pie continues to surprise me with ideas. I had my doubts initially, but I am quite glad she came along.”

“Me too,” I said as I began to eat, and let out a brief sigh at the shockingly good taste despite the food being mass produced. “If nothing else, the food is way better than it probably would’ve been otherwise.”

“Indeed. We could have been cursed with a far worse chef,” Luna quipped. “Like my sister.”

I almost choked on my food as I burst into laughter, Luna grinning along with me. After chewing on some peas, she added,“Sunset Shimmer, I’ve been meaning to ask you about how your magic has been doing, since we ascended from Equus.”

“What about it?”

She cleared her throat, and looked me in the eye. “I am referring to the two of us mixing our magics to aid the ship in its ascent. I wanted to check and ensure your magic has not suffered as a result.”

I tapped my horn with a hoof, feeling it out. “Nope. After some rest I was just fine.”

Luna nodded, relief clear in the way her whole demeanor relaxed. “This gladdens me to hear. I worried that due to our Light and Dark opposition, we might suffer especially ill effects from attempting to mix our magics.”

“Yeah, I’m still surprised that we pulled that off,” I said. I chewed thoughtfully on one of the dumplings. “I never really thought of my magical aura as being Light. At least, it didn’t used to be.”

“Indeed, Light and Darkness are among the rarest of magical auras,” Luna said. “At least, among ponies. I have witnessed it only in alicorns.” She frowned. “Though I have heard many legends and ancient tales of Light and Dark wielding Kirin and Deer. It is likely that when you Ascended, your magic changed, much like your sister’s had.”

“That makes sense to me," I replied. "After all, before the wings, Twilight and I had very similar magical auras. When she first came to live with us I was worried we'd be incompatible, but thankfully we dodged that problem, and since then I've never really thought about auras much at all. At least until now, anyway. Now our magics are like oil and water, basically."

Luna took another bite of peas, along with a forkful of a salad before continuing. "Speaking of auras... I suspect your time on Earth has changed your understanding of them. Or how they function, at least."

"Very much so."

"And what was your reaction to that?" Luna asked between sips of what looked to be iced tea.

"Equal parts fascination and sadness, to be honest. Fascinating science, and of course it's amazing to understand exactly how what we call magic works. But also sad that everything I thought I knew just couldn't be true. So much of our understanding of auras is grounded in what turned out to be false assumptions about physics and the way real chemical elements functioned, it was kind of hard to accept that what ponies would call ice or fire was actually something much more along the lines of temperature control, or oxidation."

"I share the sentiment, Sunset," Luna replied. "You can imagine the shock to both myself and my sister when we came to understand the reality of what our Sun and Moon really are." She took another sip of tea. "Still, it is good to see that you and Twilight have not suffered real incompatibility since your ascensions."

I nodded in agreement as I dug further into my food. Unicorns with opposing auras could still live together, of course. It happened all the time, it just required they use different charms or other spells to keep in sync. A strong bond helped quite a bit, which often meant that unicorns with opposing auras formed some of the strongest, longest lasting relationships. No doubt, Luna and Celestia would rightly be held up as the epitome of that delicate balancing act.

Regardless, if nothing else had been drummed into me from magic kindergarten on up, it was how vital it was to avoid mixing opposing magical auras without taking special precautions.

Which prompted me to ask, “Actually, how did we pull that off? Twilight told me you kept Princess Celestia from trying to heal her with magic when she first ascended because it would have been fatal.”

“Indeed, it likely would have been,” Luna responded. She ate a slice of her pork chop, giving me a plaintive look. “Your sister's magic was in an extreme state of flux when we found her. The manner by which she ascended put both her body and her magic through drastic changes, and in the most violent, painful way possible. With that much unchecked dark energy flowing through her, adding Celestia's Light magic would have been akin to pouring acid into an open wound. It would have poisoned her magical core like a toxin, killing her within minutes.” 

She shook her head. “And before you ask, Celestia is well aware of the risk, believe me. But I know her well enough to know she is always the first to jump in to help when others are hurt, and she believed that her mastery over her magic was sufficient to avoid causing further harm. In my absence, I would entrust her with such a task without hesitation. But, since I was present, I saw no need to take the risk at all.”

“Couldn’t you have worked together, like you and I did on the bridge?” I asked, now curious.

Luna let out a small sigh. “Nay. Mixing magics as potent as ours is taking the danger to an immensely higher level. We have done it before, yes. But in a more hostile context, such as the first war with the griffins, or fighting Discord. Combining in a healing context, especially with a third pony's magic potentially fighting the both of us? Entirely too risky, even for us. Ergo why I stopped Celestia and tended to Twilight myself.”

My brow furrowed as I digested that. “That's... a lot to take in. Though now I'm wondering what exactly you did on the bridge to make things work between us. All I did was follow your lead as best as I could.”

Luna smiled. “You recall your education, about how unicorns with opposing magics can still work their magics together if they are sufficiently in sync?”

“Well, yes, of course I do,” I replied. “That’s why I’m confused. I did it, yes, but it wasn't a trot in the park. I feel like I worked harder in those few seconds than I ever have, even when learning to control my pegasus magic.”

“I sensed that, yes. That you followed me, magically speaking, without severe difficulty is admirable. A testament to your mastery of both the form and function of your magic. Should time and holodeck energy allow, I would suggest joining me for some training. The better 'in sync' we are magically, the better we can respond should the need arise again, and with less risk to ourselves.”

Luna took a last bite of her meal and set her fork aside. “Additionally in a way you and Twilight are as bonded as siblings as any two blood siblings might be. Both Celestia and I sense that bond between you. I am not Twilight of course, but I am a dark magic user just like her. Training now may well make it easier for your magic to interact with hers upon our return to Equus.”

“Thank you for the kind words, Luna,” I nodded, “and I agree, some additional practice can only be a good thing.” I paused and tried again to wrap my head around everything I had just learned. “But, that still doesn't really answer my question. I think. I'm guessing it's something to do with how you've trained my sister?”

“Indeed. The bond she shares with you was easy to sense, even during our initial lessons. So I used that to my advantage by giving you something relatively familiar for your magic to follow.”

“I see, I see. That makes sense.” I frowned as I realized something else. “By the way, what exactly were you implying with the suggestion that my magic would work better with Twilight’s?”

Luna looked me directly in the eye. “Equestria has been saved on more than a few occasions by the ability of Celestia and I to combine our magic. Mayhaps, the fate not just of us, but all of Equus, will rest on a pair of alicorns once again.”

At first I opened my mouth to respond that of course Twilight and I would give everything we had to help, especially since we now knew that the planet was facing a technological problem they could never hope to solve on their own. But then I actually thought about what she said, and I shut my mouth. It struck me as ominous… and concerning.

Unfortunately I didn’t get long to think about it. Before I could take another bite of my food, the comm system bleeped. “Captain Shimmer to the bridge, repeat, Captain Shimmer to the bridge.”

Tension filtered into the atmosphere of Ten-Forward as the ship abruptly switched to Yellow Alert, the lights flashing from a few panels scattered throughout the room.

I set my food aside and made for the nearest turbolift, Luna hot on my heels. Arriving on the bridge, I called out, “Report,” as I moved to take the center chair.

Zhidar moved over to the first officer’s seat. “We’ve detected a trio of ships approximately two light-years away.”

The turbolift doors opened again, revealing Danielle, who took over at Ops. After a moment, she nodded. “Confirmed, Captain. The readings are consistent with that of Orion pirate vessels.”

Pirates. Normally not a threat, but with the ship in its current state… “Is there any sign they’ve detected us yet?”

“Not yet,” Maia reported from tactical. “They appear to be holding position.”

“Let’s hope they stay that way,” I murmured. “Helm, alter course. Take us away from those pirates.”

“Aye, ma’am,” said Rodriguez. It was only as he spoke that I realized he was being shadowed by a familiar looking pegasus, the Lightning Dust that Luna had mentioned earlier. For the moment she seemed to be watching Rodriguez's every move intently, but now that I knew she was there I made a note to keep an eye on her.

An insistent bleep came from Danielle’s console. “Captain, the Orion pirates have abruptly leapt to warp.”

“Heading?”

“Directly for us at warp seven.”

“Damn it,” I grunted. “Bridge to engineering. Wattson, what have you got for weapons and shields?”

“Not much. I can give you shields at fifty percent, and half power to forward phasers, but that’s about it.”

“What about the magical enhancements to the shields?”

“We haven’t tested those since before the attack on the fleet. I can’t promise they’ll be worth anything.”

I considered that, then made a decision. “Be ready to bring them online anyway. If nothing else, the unusual energy signature will hopefully give the pirates pause.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

As the red alert klaxons wailed through the ship, I watched the Orions approach us. Fighting was a horrible option, but there was no way we could outrun them either. “Helm! Are there any nearby star systems or anything we can try to lose them in?”

“Yes, Captain,” Rodriguez replied. “We will be passing through the outer edge of a red dwarf’s Kuiper belt.”

“How dense is the belt?” Zhidar asked.

“Not dense enough,” Rodriguez answered after a moment. “But there is a gas giant with at least twenty-nine moons. We could be trying to lose them there.”

I nodded. “Change course, make for the moons.”

“Aye. ETA is three minutes.”

“Captain!” Maia called. “We’re being hailed by the pirates.”

I sighed, and stood from my chair. “Well, no need to be rude. Maybe we can negotiate here. On-screen.”

The screen switched from the swirling starfield at warp to an image of an Orion bridge, laden with filthy looking consoles crewed by Orions wearing haphazard clothing that I hesitated to even suggest were uniforms. But there was a center chair, with a captain who immediately began laughing when he saw us.

“What is this? A Federation starship, all by itself, with animals on its bridge?”

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m Captain Sunset Shimmer of the U.S.S. Phoenix. What can we do for you?”

He sat up straighter in his chair, taken aback. “And the animals talk?! My my my, the vaunted Federation really must be desperate for officers these days!” Smarm dripped from his every word, the mockery digging into me like steel pinpricks. “Forgive me, I’m used to Federation ships having humanoid captains, not… whatever you are. I am Dessan, of the Orion ship Venom of Deceit.”

Repressing the sigh, I did my best to keep any irritation out of my voice as I replied, “Again, do you require assistance?”

“Assistance? Noooo. Your cargo?” He grinned toothily. “Yes.”

“If you’re interested in trading, we could— “

He cut me off with another burst of laughter, one matched by every Orion on his bridge. “Don’t be stupid, Captain. I think you know I’m not about to trade a damned thing with you. But I will be having anything precious aboard. You seem like a rare specimen too… in fact… I do believe the Dominion is looking for creatures like you.”

My blood turned to ice in my veins. If these pirates were in contact with the Dominion, we were in far more danger than I had anticipated.

Fortunately, Luna stepped in to assist. “I believe you are mistaken, Captain,” she said as she flanked me, her own cold gaze burning like a plasma fire. “There is no need for violence.”

He about doubled over with guffaws. “No, no, I’m certain of it now. Forget the cargo; your ship and its crew will make a far finer prize.”

“If you attack us, it will be a declaration of war,” I snapped.

“Oh please, you and I both know you’re alone, isolated. You’re crawling along, and according to my sensors you’re injured. You’re bleeding, Captain. A little lamb lost in the woods without the protection of their precious Federation, struggling to find a way out. Well, lemme tell you something. This forest belongs to the wolves. And you're our next meal.”

The communication cut off. “Well, so much for that,” I groused as I resumed my seat. “Thanks for the assistance, Ambassador.”

“I only wish it had been effective,” Luna added.

“Maia,” Zhidar said, “tactical analysis?”

“They’re standard Orion pirate cruisers,” she said as she tapped through her controls. “Aged, each one comparable to a Klingon B’Rel class bird of prey. Under normal circumstances we’d wipe the floor with them. But with us damaged as we are…”

“We’ll just have to outmaneuver them,” I said. “Divide and conquer.”

“We’re coming out of warp now, ma’am,” Rodriguez said. “Entering the gas giant’s moon system.”

The viewscreen showed as much, a gigantic ball of gas that looked, at first glance, similar in composition to Jupiter, though it bore a set of brilliant rings laden with pieces of ice and stone. Moons of all shapes and sizes crisscrossed it in a wild mix of orbital paths.

“Mister Rodriguez, I want us on—”

“The Orions are dropping out of warp!” shouted Maia. “They’re arming weapons!”

“Raise shields!” I ordered. “All hands: battlestations!”