//------------------------------//
// Breather (Star Trek: Phoenix) 
// Story: Sunset's Isekai 
// by Wanderer D 
//------------------------------//


Sunset's Isekai
Breather (Star Trek: Phoenix)
By Dewdrops on the Grass, Wanderer D, & Vic Fontaine







"You're on!"

Sunset leaned over the bar to look at the large table in the center of the room. This kind of event usually wouldn't coincide with the girl's usual gatherings, but Rozemyne and Philine had brought back with them Khisanth and Mirage, who had gone to mingle with the adults in the room as more and more of the regulars came in.

Soon, the bar had grown large enough to keep the group separated, with Rozemyne hosting a very civilized-looking tea party with Hilda, Philine and Robyn, while the rowdy adults had their own overly-large long table stocked with food, alcoholic drinks and irrational behavior.

Usually this wouldn't be a problem, however, Lena, Michiru, Dani, Luz, Mehb and Kipo had been drawn to watch the usual challenges between the adult gang, which included drinking games (which everyone knew well enough to keep the kids away from), arm wrestling, shows of skill and powers, etc.

And it was loud! Not surprising, given who was partaking in the impromptu festivities: Eivor and Kassandra, Wrex and Crocodine, Commander Sparkle and Octavia, G'kar and Londo Mollari, Khisanth and Mirage, Tsunade and Aqua, Cana and Yukari, Zoro and… well, Luffy's Crew was always drinking and eating in excess. Luffy himself was managing an impressive amount of drinking, eating and keeping an eager eye on the two people at the center of the current debacle.

One Michiru Kagemori, a tanuki/human hybrid, and one Kipo Oak, a hybrid of many different beasts. Both teens had been egged on by the crowd around them, and Sunset was sad to observe (but not really surprised) that the one teacher in the room—Yukari—had joined the group in encouraging the two teens to have an arm wrestling match.

Already disproportionately giant arms and paws were resting heavily on the table, while the entire gang around them shouted encouragement.

Sunset watched warily as the table, already overloaded as it was, creaked under their weight as the pair started their wrestling match.

On the one hand, the kids were not drinking alcohol, and were just having fun. On the other, the adults around them seemed oblivious to the inevitable outcome of this impromptu match. Though knowing them, Sunset thought, they were probably hoping for exactly that.

"Come on, Kipo!" Michiru shouted with more confidence in her voice than in her strained smile, "don't tell me that's all you've got!"

"Oh, I'm just getting started!" she leaned in and fought back, her massive pink giant paw pushing hard against Michiru's transformed arm. The table rocked and creaked beneath them with every shift in momentum, each one more worrying than the last.

Sunset sighed, narrowed her eyes, and began tabulating the bill.

"Come on, kid!" Wrex snorted from behind her. "I've got a hundred credits on you!"

"Ha!" Cana shouted from behind Michiru, "I'll see your hundred credits and raise you a hundred gold!"

"Wooooo!" echoed from several spectators.

"Guys," Sunset called. "The table is going to—"

The crack broke through the shouts of encouragement and soon, the table toppled altogether, sending food and drinks splattering around and into the air.

"Alright!" Sunset snapped, walking around the bar to stand in front of the sheepish teens and the laughing adults. "You're all cleaning this up! And I'm charging the grown-ups here for the damages!"

It took all of them about fifteen minutes working together to clean the place up, and march good-naturedly out of the bar, grinning almost unapologetically at Sunset.

She tried to be stern, but she loved these guys. And at least they'd paid up and cleaned. The last ones to go were her daughters and her students.

"Sorry mom," Lena said, grinning sheepishly. "We got carried away."

"That you did," Sunset said, shaking her head. "But it's okay. The grown-ups should've kept you out of it."

"I'm sorry, Miss Shimmer," Michiru muttered, rubbing her arm and looking down.

"Hey, it's alright, Michiru. Next time, let's just have you girls visit when the loud gang is not around, okay?"

The racoon-girl smiled, nodding rapidly.

"Alright, I've brought you all to Scrooge's, try not to cause too much trouble," Sunset said, opening the door for the group of girls to trot out.

"See you later, mom!" Dani and Lena echoed as they ran out, followed by the others.

"See you soon!" Sunset waved at them and closed the door, resting her back on it with a heavy sigh.

She took in the sudden quiet and calm of the bar. Whenever she had large groups suddenly leave, the silence was almost overwhelming, but the Isekai was as welcoming as ever, and instead of missing the people that had just left, she embraced the small respite.

Shaking her head, she made her way into the main room, resizing it for casual visitors once more as she put away the last dishes and glasses.

Sunset closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Love the hustle and bustle, but sometimes I really need a break from large groups," she muttered.

As if in response to her comment, the door opened and the bell rang, the silvery chime announcing a single visitor.

Light clopping steps made it sound like a pony, and sure enough a familiar alicorn stepped into the room. Dressed in what appeared to be a late 24th-century Starfleet uniform, a Sunset Shimmer made her way into the bar, looking around in confusion until she quickly spotted her.

"Who the hell are you?!" she cried, almost taking a step back.

Taking a moment to finish drying up the glass she had in her hand, Isekai smiled. "Hi, me," she said, knowing that would confuse the mare even more. "Welcome to Sunset's Isekai."





I fell backwards on my rump, unable to process what I’d just heard. “I-I’m sorry, Sunset’s what?”

“Sunset's Isekai,” repeated the human woman, still impossibly speaking in my own voice. Her eyes took in my appearance and a smile tugged at her lips. “My little bar floating in the omniverse. I gotta say though, you’re the first version of me from Starfleet to walk in here.”

“What?” I breathed. A deep sense of panic had begun to take hold of me, my heart stampeding in my chest, every hair on end, the urge to bolt rising rapidly. 

The woman reached for a bottle behind the bar and a mug, poured a pint of something amber, then brought it over to me. “Here. This’ll help.”

Mutely, I took the offered drink in my magic and sipped it. The taste of crisp apples and cinnamon exploded on my tongue, all warmed by the ever so finely balanced burn of alcohol. I swallowed and looked at the mug in shock. “This tastes just like Alma’s family cider.”

“Alma?” She raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Not Applejack?”

“Who?”

“Ah, nevermind, it's just one of those minor differences out there.” She stepped around me and pulled out a chair from the bar I hadn’t noticed before, tapping it. “Please, sit down. Get comfortable. You look like you need it. And don't worry about the tail, it's pony-friendly.”

“But, wait, no,” I objected, even as I found myself sitting down. The chair, despite being made of wood and rough hewn, was shockingly comfortable. Almost form fitting. “I’m supposed to be searching the station for parts. I don’t have time to be sitting back and drinking cider.”

“Relax, Sunset, you’ve got all the time in the world,” she said as she went back behind the bar. She resumed polishing glasses. “Think of this place as an extradimensional pocket universe. It’s outside of normal spacetime. You can spend all the time you like here and almost no time at all will pass outside.”

“R-right,” I murmured, sipping more cider despite myself. The warmth it brought me did help. It took the edge off my nerves, and allowed me to catch my breath. Mostly.

Now that I wasn’t panicking, I took in the space around me. It was a warm, comfortable environment that reminded me a bit of Captain Liang's pub back in Hong Kong. Booths lined one wall, with vinyl-covered furnishings. A handful of musical instruments, plus dozens of framed posters and pictures, lined much of the available wall space, giving it the feel of a place that had seen countless patrons over time. I tried my best not to dwell on the fact that many, many people in the pictures looked very similar to myself.

The bar itself looked to be made from a lovely mixture of mahogany and birch, all finely crafted and polished to give a refined but welcoming air. Chairs similar to the one I was sitting in sat at a slight angle along the front of the bar, ready to receive their next guest. A door behind the bar led into what might’ve been a kitchen or office, I couldn't tell which, given that it was only marked by a sign that read 'Staff Only’.

“I think I’ve heard of a place like this before,” I murmured as I drank more cider. 

“Oh, really?” asked the woman. Her voice being identical to my own still filled me with shivers, like I was speaking into a mirror. A bizarre, distorted mirror, showing me in a form I’d never once wanted to occupy. “How so?”

“Captain Liang told me he’d once been to a bar like this,” I said as I set my mug down on the bar, glancing around. It struck me as odd that I saw no other patrons, not even another employee working tables. “Said he found it way back during the Cardassian war. Heh, now that I think about it, he was on an abandoned station at the time too. He said it was called the Captain's Table. Same sort of vibe as this place, only it was full of captains just like him.”

“Huh.” I saw her briefly pull a book out from behind the bar and examine it for a moment. Did it say Captain’s Table on the spine? But she put it down almost as fast as she had picked it up, and went back to polishing glasses. “Sorry for working while we talk. The last customers left a little bit of a mess in their wake. Anyway, my place doesn't cater just to captains, although I am pleased to say we do have a Captain's Night. It caters to anyone who needs it.” She paused. “Well, anyone who needs it that’s friendly, anyway.”

“But why am I here?”

She set the glass and cloth down, and leaned over the bar, steepling her hands together. “That’s for you to tell me, Sunset. I’m just here to listen and talk.”

“And that’s another thing,” I said as I reached for my mug. Every sip of cider helped loosen my tongue. “Who are you? And don’t tell me you’re Sunset Shimmer, because that’s impossible.”

“Why?”

I blinked. “Why what?”

“Why is it impossible?” She beamed at me, her teeth shining white. “I’m Sunset Shimmer, just like you are.”

I found myself laughing, mostly without mirth. “No no no. No way. I’m a pony, not a human being.”

She raised an eyebrow. “That you are. And not the first pony me I've seen in here. Or the first Starfleet officer, by the way.” Her eyes dropped to my collar for a second. “You're a captain yourself, which means you have your own starship, correct?”

“Yeah, the Phoenix. We’re pretty far from home right now, and pretty banged up too. We stopped at that abandoned station to scavenge for parts when I wandered into here.” I took another pull of cider, which was inexplicably just as cold and refreshing as it had been when she first gave it to me. “But what’s that got to do with how and why you’re human?”

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “Come on, Sunset, you know exactly why. I know for a fact Starfleet is well aware of the existence of other universes, which means there's multiple versions of all of us out there. Is it really that shocking that you’d be human in some of them?”

“Well… when you put it that way, I guess not,” I admitted. “Still weird, though.”

“If you want to make things easier, you can always just call me 'Isekai'.”

“Isekai,” I repeated, tasting the unfamiliar syllables on my tongue. “Sounds Japanese.”

“It is. As for us being human… actually, it’s pretty normal,” she countered. She placed the glass she’d been polishing back on the shelf and grabbed another one to start working on. “Most universes with a Sunset Shimmer in them have her spend at least some of her time as a human. Did you never come across a mirror that took you to another universe entirely?”

It was my turn to raise an eyebrow at her. “If by mirror you mean the Iconian portal that dumped me and my sister on Earth, then yeah.”

She tilted her head. “Sister?”

“Adopted sister,” I added. “Twilight Sparkle.”

She broke into giggles at that, to my surprise. “Wow. Twilight Sparkle, our sister. It's been a long time since I've seen that variation come in here. I’ve seen adopted daughter, mentor, mentee... plenty of friends, rivals, lovers, spouses, even enemies. But sister is a rare one indeed.”

A sick feeling rose in my stomach. “I’m sorry, did you say lovers? Spouses?”

She chuckled and shook her head a bit. "Yeah, alternate relationships always catch me off guard a bit no matter how many times I see them. But hey, infinite universes means infinite possibilities, right?" She gave the glass in her hand a final touch with the polishing cloth and set it down. “Anyway, if your mirror was an Iconian portal, that explains a lot. For most universes, including my own, it's actually an enchanted Equestrian artifact that takes the user to a parallel human world, and turns you into a human in the process.”

The sick feeling doubled in intensity. “Wait, you used to be a pony too?”

“Yep.” Isekai gave me a wry smile. “Though in my case we have a stable terminal at either end of the portal, so I could go back and forth anytime I wanted. Now I can just change at will, or when a particular world or dimension demands a specific shape.”

“Wow.” I shook my head in disbelief. “How did you adjust to it all? I’m surrounded by humanoids all the time and I never once thought about what life would be like if I was one of them.”

“It has its advantages. And some drawbacks. But it’s not been bad.”

“Consider yourself lucky, then,” I replied. I took a long gulp of my cider this time. The sweet taste and slight burn of the alcohol washed away more of my tension, as well as the increasingly strange images of myself and Twilight that had begun to fill my mind. “Because in my world, Starswirl the Bearded used the Iconian Portal to banish the Sirens, and it permanently transformed them into Siren-like humanoids. Even returning to Equus didn’t restore their original bodies.”

“Huh, so you met the Sirens after all? That’s interesting. Usually they just turn human. So how did things go for you, exactly?”

One last gulp of cider polished it off. After I set the empty mug aside, I replied, “I found the portal beneath Canterlot Castle, and the moment I touched it I was sucked in and literally dumped out onto Earth. Mom and Mother took me in and eventually adopted me. Twilight showed up six months later. She was eight years old at the time, but unlike me, she never went looking for the portal.”

She raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? How’d she come through, then?”

“Magic surge during her entrance exam for Celestia’s School. Somehow that triggered the portal, and it sucked her in from across the castle.”

“Huh. How old were you when you went through?” She took the mug and filled it with more cider, passing it back to me.

“Eleven. Well, eleven and a half.” I took another sip. This time the cider tasted a bit different, but no less good. Like a different batch, with a different tang to the apples and a touch less cinnamon. 

“And lemme guess, right now you’re… mm… twenty-eight?”

“Just about.” I found myself chuckling. “Actually, it’s my birthday next month. Guess I’ll be celebrating on the ship, assuming we have enough supplies to even bake a cake by then.” All of a sudden my stomach rumbled. “You got anything to eat?”

“I’ve got just the thing, gimme a sec.” She disappeared into the back through that door, and a minute later came out with a steaming tray that sent my mouth watering. “How’s a havarti cheese sandwich and tomato soup sound?”

“Absolutely perfect,” I said as I immediately lifted one half of the sandwich and took a bite, moaning in sheer delight. “Oh wow, that is excellent.”

She smiled a little at that. “Glad to hear it. Gotta say, that's an unusual order. Most versions of me that come by here order things like pizza or burgers, and one in particular always gets sushi. But soup and a sandwich is a new one for us.”

“Really?” I took another bite, which was somehow even better than the first. Then I halted. “Wait, you say that like you didn't know what you- er, I mean I wanted to eat until you walked in there.”

“I didn’t. But you'd be amazed at what a non-linear kitchen can do.”

Both my eyebrows disappeared into my mane as I stared down at the food. “This doesn’t taste replicated.”

“You’re worrying too much about the little things, Sunset,” she said as she patted my hoof. “Now, why don’t we get to the reason you’re actually here. You said something about a station and looking for parts?”

I swallowed the mouthful of cheese sandwich and started on the soup, which just like the sandwich and cider was absolutely spot on perfect. “Mmhmm. The Phoenix was damaged in a battle with the Orions, and so we’re scavenging for parts on this derelict Orion station.” I paused. “Err, do I need to explain who the Orions are?”

“Nope. Like I said, I’ve seen Starfleet officers plenty of times, so I’ve picked up a thing or two. Anyway, I’m guessing there’s a reason you’re not just visiting a shipyard instead.”

I winced. Despite the food and drink, the sour, bitter, and shameful feelings I’d been sulking in returned in full force. “Yeah. See, ever since Twilight and I joined Starfleet, we’d been trying to find Equus. And we finally did, sort of. It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time.”

Hesitation creeped into me, and after a moment’s thought I shook my head. “Actually… can we talk about something else? I’m not trying to be rude, but I haven’t had a moment’s peace in almost two months.” I took another bite of my food, which despite my mood remained perfectly satisfying. “If this place really is outside of time, and I can spend as much time here as I want, then I'd like to talk about something else, anything else, for a minute. Please.”

Isekai shrugged with a smile. "Hey, like I said, I'm here to listen and let you take a break, who am I to deny you the chance? 'Sides, I've been told by some of my guests that clearing their minds first helps to bring a fresh perspective. How about we talk about happier things, then? Tell me a little about your family? You have two moms? Human? Klingon?" She grinned, leaning forward with anticipation. "Please say Klingon."

“Klingon?” A bark of laughter escaped my lips. “No, no, no. Mother is Vulcan. Her name is T’Lona. And Mom is human, Amina Riviera. I take after Mother more than I do Mom though. She’s the reason I was able to adapt to life on Earth at all.”

"Ah," Isekai nodded. "That is logical. I just have a soft spot for our very rowdy counterparts out there." She tapped her fingers on the bar. "So you actually take more after your Vulcan mother? That's interesting… it's a departure from the more familiar, emotional-driven Sunsets out there. Why do you think you resemble her more?"

My ears flattened against my skull as I took a moment to demonstrate one of Mother's meditative techniques. “Because she helped me quell the anger and hurt I used to carry around with me. I never really had a family before her and Mom, and on that first day, when everything was beyond terrifying and I was convinced I was going to die, she made a connection with me. And the more we connected, the better I felt. She… she helped me heal.”

"She sounds like a wonderful person," Isekai said, her smile softening as she nodded. "You are very lucky to have them both. Most of us Sunsets out there didn't get anyone on the other side of the mirror to help us adjust… it gets pretty bad sometimes, but we're a resilient bunch, at least."

Isekai took a moment to refill my mug, this time pouring one for herself as well before returning and placing her mug conveniently close to mine. "It's no wonder that, with loving parents to help you harness your natural talents in a positive way, you've come as far as you have.”

“I know what you mean,” I replied as I took another sip of cider. “When I think about the kind of pony I used to be back before I met them, it’s like night and day. I never knew my biological parents. My earliest memories are of growing up in an orphanage. I only became Celestia’s student because the ponies running the orphanage took me to Canterlot and signed me up for the entrance exam to the School for Gifted Unicorns. I guess I impressed them, because I got the sole scholarship entry for that year, and then out of nowhere Celestia pulled me aside and asked me to be her personal student instead.”

A slightly bitter sigh escaped my lips. “I always wanted to be closer to her than she’d let me be. ‘Trusted student,’ she’d call me. Almost always ‘trusted student.’ She usually used my name only when she was angry with me. When she showed me the mirror – the portal – it actually showed me what I look like now.” I gestured to my uniform, to the pips on my collar, and then spread my wings. “Of course, all I could focus on after that was making that image reality.”

"That is a sadly common thing," Isekai said, shaking her head. She took a deep… very deep, drink from her mug and set it down with a sigh. "It was pretty similar for me. Mom didn't acknowledge any familial feelings as I grew up with her, and if I called her that by accident, she'd always gently remind me that I was a student, not her daughter. That was half the reason I left… after she adopted Cadence straight to the Royal Family when she became an Alicorn. Didn't even know who she was before. I felt… betrayed." She raised her glass again, using it to motion at me. "Saw the mirror, had wings in the reflection… didn't really think past the fact that it was my ticket for power, recognition… and very deep… acceptance. So I crossed it as soon as I could."

I nodded in understanding. “Sounds like we have a lot in common alright. Though I never knew Cadance. She didn’t ascend till a few years after I’d already left. When I took the portal to Earth, it passed near a black hole, and I arrived on Earth twenty years later than I ‘should have.’ It’s how and why Twilight and I are sisters at all, because I should be over twenty years older than she is.” A cold shiver ran through me as I contemplated the deeper meaning of her words. “Though… you actually call Celestia Mom, huh? She adopted you?”

Isekai looked uncomfortable for the first time since I stepped in. She shifted in place a little and glanced at her drink as if considering whether she should have more. Eventually she did take a smaller sip. "Yeah. It… took us a couple of centuries to get past the awkwardness. And even now, calling her 'mom' to her face takes a bit of conscious effort. I had given up for the longest time, you know?" She cleared her throat and whispered under her breath, "That never stopped her from showing my family pictures of me as a foal though…"

I reached out with a hoof to set on her hand in what I hoped she’d take as comforting. “I’m sorry if I touched a sore spot. It sounds like you went through a lot of rough times.”

Isekai shrugged. “Embarrassing, more like. Let me tell you, having Celestias over can get pretty awkward. They all regret losing their Sunset Shimmer in one way or another. Some of them lost her forever, some of them are still angry, or distraught, or both. But when they see me?” She chuckled. “That's when the waterworks start. Needless to say, it made my relationship with my Celestia a tough one to figure out.” 

She gave me a considering look. "You mentioned you reached Equus earlier, right? How was Celestia in your world? Was Nightmare Moon still around? Without Twilight, I can't imagine how that one could've turned out."

I blinked in confusion. “What’s Twilight got to do with it? Equus handled itself just fine while we were gone. My Celestia found another student, someone named Starlight Glimmer, and she and her friends managed to find the Elements of Harmony and restore Princess Luna to her true self. Though it didn’t completely eliminate the Nightmare. In fact, it almost took over Twilight entirely when she Ascended, because she used dark magic to deal with the Dominion fleet.” I shook my head. “Anyway, Celestia and I… we found a way to come to terms with each other. We had a few talks, some pretty long ones at that, but we reconciled. I’m not angry with her, not like I used to be. And all she ever wanted was to be sure I was safe. Oh, and I see what you mean about the waterworks too. I don't think I'd ever seen Celestia cry, but when we finally had that breakthrough with each other, she became an even bigger blubbering mess than I was.”

"Hm, que sera sera, I suppose," Isekai said. "So Starlight stepped up, huh? You certainly come from a very unique universe. But I'm glad you got to talk to her… it's kind of humbling finding out how fallible our idealized princesses can be, isn't it? Even when you know, one hundred percent, that Celestia is or was wrong on something, seeing her vulnerable, repentant, or just apologetic is a game changer."

“It really is, though I long stopped thinking of her as idealized. When your entire worldview gets proven wrong, repeatedly, by real-world physics and a twenty-fourth century education, it’s pretty hard to keep viewing Celestia as some kind of goddess-like figure or whatever.” I blushed and waved my hooves in embarrassment. “N-not that I ever thought of her like that! Just… I had to listen to a lot of people tell me that’s how I thought of her, when I was first learning about solar physics on Earth. So the word kinda stuck in my head. And it actually kind of helped when we spoke, too. Helped me see her for the person she is, rather than whatever I had pictured her to be as a kid.”

"Eh," Isekai shrugged. "As for those people you mentioned on Earth, if they limit their thinking to that, this place would break their minds in minutes. Each universe has its own laws, and in some, magic just can't be explained by science, be it 24th Century or more. In others, Magic is as easy to explain as your ABCs." She grinned. "You could try to explain this place with normal physics, I suppose. It might even work on some of my regulars. But good luck trying that on any of the gods who pop in from time to time."

I smiled along with her. “That actually tracks with a lot of what I’ve learned. If there’s one constant in the multiverse, it’s that there is no constant. Though, at least where it comes to our Equus, they were actually right. My Celestia doesn’t really move the Sun, nor does Luna move the Moon. It’s actually an artificial environment, a rogue planet hidden in a nebula with massive satellites keeping it going. And the satellites are starting to fail.” My smile slipped away. “It’s getting colder on Equus by the day. Celestia’s aged, too. She’s lost a lot of her youth.”

“The whole system's an artificial construct? Wow, that's a new one for the books, and pretty dire too. Given you're at this abandoned station looking for parts, that tells me your Equus is pre-space era, right? Do the princesses have another way to evacuate if needed?”

“Yeah, their technology level is roughly equivalent to Earth’s early twentieth century, plus or minus a few oddities. As for evacuating, even if they could leave now, there'd be nowhere for them to go. There's nothing else habitable inside the nebula, and the region of space surrounding it may as well be uncharted for what little we know about it. In other words, Phoenix is the evacuation plan. We patched up the ship as best we could while on Equus, but if we can't restore high warp capabilities, a trip to Federation space that should take a few weeks will instead take a year. And I can't honestly say that I'm sure Equus has that much time left.”

“So what’s the plan for when you do get back?”

“Get the ship repaired properly, assemble a small fleet, and race back to fix the satellites before they fail entirely.” 

Isekai nodded. "It seems like a solid plan, so you and Twilight are headed back? I'm sure the Federation should help. The Prime Directive wouldn't leave an entire population to be destroyed."

“You’d be surprised,” I grumbled, thinking back to a few of the more irksome instances I’d studied or personally witnessed in the past. “As for Twilight, she stayed behind. She's leading a science and engineering team to continue investigating the situation. We also had to leave a number of badly injured crew behind with our CMO, including... including our former Captain.” I let out another sigh. “Twilight always had a bigger attachment to Equus than I did. I wanted to find it because it was where I came from, but she always thought of it as home, even after she accepted our parents as our parents.”

Isekai hummed. "I see. So… how do you feel about that, if you don't mind my asking? It can't be easy to be separated like that and knowing what is home to you, is not necessarily for her."

I rocked back in my chair and took another bite of food, taking a long time to consider my response. “I-I know it was never easy for her, adjusting to life on Earth. She had an actual family she was torn away from, after all. And my Ascension didn’t help matters.” A sour grin spread on my face. “I got to spend two years eking out a meager existence on a desolate planet called Viridian Three because a warp core blew up in my face. I saved a lot of lives and Ascended in the process, but Twilight spent that whole time thinking I was dead. And she was utterly furious with me for months after I got back. She nearly got thrown off the ship, actually. So I get it. I get that she has a lot of mixed feelings. But…”

The food stuck in my throat, forcing me to swallow some more cider before continuing. “But at the same time, I don’t want to lose her. We grew up together. I love her a lot. She’s important to me. And ever since I started at the Academy there’s been one thing or another constantly getting in the way of us getting to just live. To be sisters. I’m afraid… I’m afraid she’s going to pick Equus over me and our parents, and I don’t…”

I trembled, and a few tears ran down my face as another lump formed in my throat. “I don’t know how I’d cope with that.”

Isekai reached out to pat me gently on the shoulder. "I understand. It's not exactly the same, but I still sometimes wonder if my daughters or girlfriend would ever choose their original worlds over me. And how could I blame them? They have friends and even more family there. But then I remind myself that despite the distance, they love me just the same. Granted it's easier for me to see them right now than it is for you and Twilight, but I'd look at that as all the more motivation to succeed in your mission. So even if she does decide to stay, seeing Twilight won't be as hard in the future. If your Twilight is anything like the ones I know, she's not giving up on you, because she also knows you'll never give up on her.”

“No, I won’t,” I said, nodding firmly. “If there’s one thing I know it’s that I’ll never give up on her. Or Equus. I don’t care if I have to leave Starfleet and build a new ship piece by piece, I’ll do whatever it takes. And you’re right. Whether or not she leaves Starfleet and remains on Equus, I’ll still see her. I just hope that…” I bit my lip nervously. “I hope that the satellite holds out. We barely learned anything about it before we had to leave; that’s part of why I left the science team behind. And if it fails before we get back…”

I suddenly sat up straighter. “Wait a minute. You said this place exists outside of time and space. Does that mean you can let me leave here in a different place than where I came in? Y-you could help me get back to the Federation sooner, maybe.”

Isekai sighed and shook her head. "There are situations where I can directly act in ways that a universe permits it, but every universe—or even multiverse—has a destiny that it must fulfill before I can interact fully with it. The consequences otherwise are not just unpredictable, but oftentimes irreparable." 

She glanced warily at her empty mug, then set it aside in favor of pouring a shot of something green. 

"I'm thousands of years old, Sunset. With experiences and powers that even I can barely comprehend in the grand scheme of things. If I use that knowledge to interrupt a universe's path, even with the best of intentions, I'd cause untold damage to everything and everyone inside of it.” She leaned back and glanced at all the pictures on the wall. "Thus I'm only allowed to act with people I know, or friends I've made, when the fate of the universe will no longer depend on their actions. Until then I can only offer them a respite. A chance to breathe, to think. A cold drink, a warm meal, and a friendly ear.”

She chuckled. "And you, my dear Sunset, will definitely steer your universe one way or another."

I laughed with her. “You know what, that’s fair. I probably shouldn’t have asked.” I reached for my mug of cider and took a long drink. “I really do appreciate all of this. You’re surprisingly easy to talk to. You know, for being a human me.” I smirked to show it was meant as a joke.

"Hey, I might have some insight that other bartenders don't," Isekai replied, smirking back. "It's not often that you look in the mirror, ask a question, and it answers back, right?" She took a deep breath. "So Twilight home, at least for now, and you’re on your way back to the Federation. It seems like a very heavy weight for any Captain to handle."

Those words landed on me like the heavy weight they spoke of, erasing my smile in a heartbeat. “I shouldn’t even be Captain right now,” I murmured. “I’m only in charge because Captain Liang was too injured to continue his duties. He was on another ship when the Dominion attacked us. Took us all by surprise and wiped out half our fleet before we could even respond. It was a miracle that we found Liang's escape pod floating amidst the wreckage of the ship he was on.”

“That's horrific. I know Starfleet's not one to be taken by surprise too often. What happened?”

“We were working together to perform magical research, looking for anything that could help us even the odds against the Dominion. The nebula we were hiding in masked our signatures well, but it also clouded our sensors. It turns out that the Dominion had located a magical artifact that at one time was associated with the Sirens, and they used it to track our location. We never saw them coming until it was too late." 

I took another long drink of cider. “The Phoenix barely survived, thanks to Twilight. Like I mentioned earlier, she used some dark magic spell she’d memorized years ago and obliterated the attackers in an instant, seemingly killing her in the process. That’s how she Ascended… and how she had to deal with the Nightmare. It took Luna and Celestia to save her.”

More cider flooded my mouth as I needed it just to keep going. “Then, because she was on Equus with them after returning from wherever the heck we end up when we Ascend, she was able to use the help of a lot of others to summon the Phoenix to Equus. They literally pulled us through subspace and we crash landed outside of Ponyville. All told, we lost roughly half the crew, plus the loss of nearly all hands from the other ships in the fleet. Even with the locals helping more than I ever thought possible, it took us over a month to repair the ship enough to be spaceworthy at all.”

"Ah, Ponyville, of course, the everpresent magnet for weirdness in Equestria. The fact alone that you were able to get your crew and ship back into shape to fly all the way to Federation Space says a lot about all of you," Isekai said slowly, leaning down a little to try and catch my eye. "And a lot about you, as their leader."

I couldn’t help but laugh at that, bitter and entirely without mirth. “Yeah. Right. A great leader. That’s me, alright. That’s why we’re scrounging for parts in a friggen abandoned Orion station while my patchwork crew scrambles to keep the ship from falling apart all over again. Yup, real great leader here, let me tell you.” Mechanically I shoved another bite of cheese sandwich into my mouth and chewed it thoroughly before swallowing. “Because a competent leader gets the ship half-wrecked dealing with a simple band of pirates.”

"Or," Isekai spoke up, "a great leader gets the ship running, survives a pirate attack, and gets her crew to where they need to go to get repairs started. I imagine you didn't barge through pirate space on purpose."

“Not exactly,” I replied as I picked at my soup. “We ran into the Orions ten days after leaving Equus. We were nowhere near ready for full-scale combat, and they tore us to shreds. We barely made it out of there alive, and only because we pulled a few rabbits out of our hats.”

"Do you think any Ensign could've pulled those off, or do you think experience, training, and the ability to think under stress helps?" Isekai asked, giving me a look that clearly indicated what she thought of that. "Barely making it out alive is much better than not making it out at all, even if not in optimal condition. Even Kirk barely survived the battle against Khan in the Mutara Nebula, and his ship wasn’t in much better shape than yours."

I burst into laughter again, even more bitter and angry. “Maybe Kirk survived, but at least when Spock sacrificed himself to save the ship, he died because there was no other way to fix the warp drive. He didn’t get somepony killed because he failed to properly test an EPS conduit!”

Isekai's eyes widened a little before they became more gentle. "I see. I know you said you spent a while on Equus fixing your ship, but it sounds like it was still a work in progress when you left, then?”

“A work in progress?” I repeated in a soft whisper. “Sure. That’s what you call it when you get somepony like Flitter killed. A work in progress.”

There. I’d said it. And as I did, tears began to drip from my eyes once again. My breath shuddered in my chest, and the taste of the food and drink turned to ash in my mouth. I shoved the tray away and slumped onto the bar, feeling like the scum of the earth itself. “It was entirely preventable too. All of it. Local materials and pony engineering helped a ton, but there were still so many things we simply couldn't properly repair without 24th century tech. So many patch jobs I lost count. Like the EPS conduits.” I took a shuddering breath and sniffled back more tears. “I wanted to run more tests on them before leaving, but I was in a rush to leave too. Sun dying and all, you know? So I thought I'd test them on the way, but we hadn't gotten to it before... before…” 

“Hey.”

Isekai wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a bizarrely comforting hug. My emotional control slipped, and what had been a few tears transformed into sobs, then gut-wrenching crying as I inundated her shoulder. 

“Sssh, sssh, hey. It’s alright, Sunset, it’s alright.”

“No it isn’t,” I insisted, choking on the words. My throat burned like fire. “She’s dead, and it’s my fault. I might as well have walked right up to her and shot her with a phaser.”

“Don’t say that,” she chided gently, using one hand to stroke my withers. “You can’t blame yourself.”

“Easy for you to say,” I growled, pulling away from her. “I’m an engineer. I know exactly what we needed to do in order to test those conduits safely, and I didn’t take the time to get it done.”

She crossed her arms and stared down at me. “And I’m sure you had a reason for that, right?”

“Well, technically,” I admitted. “The extra tests would have cost us an extra week, probably more. I decided that was too long, especially when we don't know how long the artificial sun will last before it fails completely. The ship was spaceworthy, so I made the call to leave and complete the remaining tests enroute.”

She calmly set a hand on my shoulder again. “So you weighed your options and made the best call you could to keep moving forward. Sounds like the kind of thing a Captain would do. You said it yourself, you were planning to test them on the way. I’m guessing you were doing just that, right?”

I scowled back. “Technically, yes. Those conduits were to be tested a couple of days from now. But then the Orions showed up, and now Flitter's dead. And that’s my responsibility as her Captain.”

A sigh escaped her lips as she placed her other hand on my other shoulder and gave them both a squeeze. “Sunset. You’re blaming yourself for not anticipating factors you couldn’t have. You didn’t seek a battle with these Orions, right? They attacked you.”

I shrugged her hands off me. “You’re missing the point. I could’ve tried to flee. I could’ve done all sorts of things, like plan the battle better, or-or find some way of repairing the phasers well enough to damage their shields, or something! But I didn’t. I failed her.”

She stared at me wordlessly for a moment, then with a shrug, went back behind the counter. “Alright. You feel responsible, and nothing I say is going to change that. Wouldn't be the first time a captain came in here dead set on shouldering all the blame for something. The question now is, what're you going to do about it?”

I blinked, taken aback by this sudden rebuttal. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Like I said, I've had conversations much like this one with captains of all types. Usually this is the part where they swear vengeance on the enemy, or start thinking about time travel to try and prevent something from happening, or banishing themselves to the desert for a while.”

“What? No!” I slammed a hoof on the bar. “Why the hell would I do that? My crew needs their captain.” I let out a snort of disgust. “Or at least the person passing for their captain.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Aha. Now we’re getting somewhere.”

”Huh?”

She nodded. “Classic imposter syndrome. Seen that many times, believe me. You suddenly found yourself in charge, and despite your best efforts someone died under your command.”

“A lot of people died under my command,” I murmured as I reached for my mug. “We had seven hundred and fifty crew, and lost over three hundred.”

“So why aren’t you beating yourself up over them?” Isekai asked me as she refilled her shot glass, this time with something glowing and smelling of fruit. “What makes Flitter so special?”

I swallowed another bite of sandwich before responding, “You've met Starfleet people before; you know the training we all go through. All of us know we're risking death the moment we put the uniform on. But Flitter's not in Starfleet. None of these volunteers are.”

“So? You trained them anyway, didn’t you? You told them they might die in space, right?”

“Of course we did,” I growled. “We gave them as much training as we could. But it’s not the same thing. Until we crash landed on Equus they had no idea aliens existed at all, let alone starships and faster than light travel and everything else that comes with the Federation. They… they couldn’t understand what it really meant.” A snort escaped my nose. “Well, they do now.”

She knocked back her drink and set the glass on the bar with a clink. “You feel bad because she was a pony.”

“Yes!” I shouted, throwing my hooves up, and accidentally knocking over my tray of food onto the floor behind the bar in the process. “Yes, damn it. She had no way of really understanding the risk she was taking. None of them do. Hell, her sister even said she had to talk Flitter into volunteering.” 

She glared down at the mess I’d made and sighed, reaching down to pick up the spilled tray, placing the dirty dishes and utensils below the bar. “She wasn’t a child, Sunset. She was an adult, and adults can make their own decisions.”

I bit my lip, watching in embarrassment as she started wiping off the spilled tomato soup from the wall. “...sorry about that.”

She waved it off. “Forget it. I’ve had a lot worse happen in here, trust me. And don’t change the subject. Flitter made her choice.”

“Yes, but like I said, she couldn’t have understood what it truly meant, not like someone raised in the Federation would.”

Isekai tossed her rag below the bar and stood back up. “You say that as if she didn’t understand what death was. But she lived in Ponyville, right? And unless this Ponyville is different, it’s on the edge of the Everfree Forest, right?”

“Err… yeah, but what does that have to do with—”

She cut me off. “Everything. The Everfree is dangerous. I can’t tell you how many versions of ponies I’ve seen in here over the centuries telling me about how this friend or that friend got gobbled up by a hydra, or torn to shreds by a timberwolf, or snapped up by a cragadile, or even just sank into the marsh and drowned. Death might happen less often in Equestria, but it still happens. Flitter knew what death is, Sunset. Treating her like she didn’t is insulting her memory.”

I sat there in silence for a few moments as I digested that. “But… it was still my fault that she died,” I protested in a weak voice.

She nodded. “Yes, it was, in the sense that you were her Captain. I'll grant you that point. But you didn't attack that pirate ship first, and you did everything you could to get your crew out of danger.” She took my mug and refilled it. “You didn’t mention why she died.”

“...she was reconfiguring the deflector dish to act like an inverse tractor beam, so we could hurl some debris at the Orion ship to disable it long enough for us to escape.” I let out a shuddering breath. “And she succeeded. If she hadn’t, we would’ve been destroyed.”

She smiled a little at that. “It sounds like she made a valiant sacrifice in a difficult situation, and saved all of your lives in the process. That doesn’t feel like something worth blaming yourself over to me.”

“But I… I still didn’t…” But my protests were weak, shallow even. They lacked the bite they had before. “...I should’ve tested those conduits…”

She reached out and patted my hoof. “Remember what you said before. You have to get back to the Federation, and time is critical, so you made the best choices you could with what you had available. You had no way of knowing you'd run into Orions so soon, but Flitter sacrificed her life so the rest of you could live."

I sat back on my haunches, frustrated by her words, more so because she was right than anything else. And the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize how much I was heaping scorn on myself for things outside my control. “Maybe you’re right,” I finally ground out. “But… I still feel like I let her down somehow. Like maybe I could’ve done something to save her life.”

Isekai nodded. "You have no idea how many good people tell me that. Legendary Heroes, Captains, pilots, you. What it indicates is that you are a good person, Sunset. And a good Captain who really cares about her crew. But like everyone else, you have to remember you're not omnipotent. Flitter made her choice because she valued everyone else on the ship, you included… and the only way you'd be letting her down now would be to take that blame onto yourself and allow it to hinder your decisions. She left them all in your hooves to protect, Sunset." She smiled, squeezing my hoof gently. "That is something you can do something about."

For the first time since I’d stepped hoof into the bar, I felt a sense of peace in my heart. It was nascent, flickering like an ember in the wind, but it was there. And it could grow. “You’re right,” I said. “You’re absolutely right. Thank you… thank you for everything.” I sat straighter in my chair. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure her sacrifice wasn't in vain. I'll get this crew home, one way or another.”

Isekai raised her fist and it took me a moment to realize she wanted to hoof-bump. "I know you will. We Sunsets are a resilient bunch, after all. Not to mention cute, creative, reliable, and 110% humble." Her grin softened once more. "I know you'll make her proud, Sunset."

“I’ll certainly do my best,” I said, giving her the hoof bump she wanted. I took a final drink from my mug of cider and set it aside, and climbed off my chair. “Well, I think it’s probably about time I headed back to the station. I’ve still got a lot of work to do, and a ship to fix.” I looked up into her eyes. “I mean it when I say thank you, by the way. This means a lot to me. I needed this.”

"It was my pleasure," Isekai said, then raised a finger. "Oh, before you leave, we do have a tradition here, unless you missed all of the Sunset pictures on the wall."

I glanced back at the wall, and chuckled. “Well, who am I to part with tradition?”





Sunset "Isekai" Shimmer walked down the line of pictures. "Alright, where were they… Sheridan… Reynold… nope, Cid. Nope. Hm. aha!"

She stopped in front of a picture. "Here we are. Starfleet. Archer. Kirk. Picard. Janeway. Sisko. Riker. Kira… Shimmer." She smirked, saying the last name as she hung up the picture of herself and her adorably uniformed counterpart.

She stepped back, looking at the Starfleet captains, a group among many others, but certainly consistent across the multiverse when it came to strength of character and vision. And now, for the first time she had found a version of herself who served as captain of her own ship, with a title earned through fire and blood.

Perhaps her counterpart was ignoring the significance of her ship's name when it came to fate and destiny. Phoenix was not a name given to things that passed into obscurity, after all. And now she was on a mission to save not only Equus and all the species living there, but also to prove to herself that she deserved her role as captain.

Each loss and each win would forge her, especially during this trip, into the mare that would fit the role perfectly. And it would undoubtedly come with more pain and sorrow. She could only imagine for now what type of adventures were still lying in wait for Captain Shimmer.

Maybe it was bias, but she knew that Sunset would be up to the task, and that she'd have one hell of a story to tell when she came back one day. And sure enough, the Isekai would have drinks and warm food ready for her.

"What makes a Captain a Captain?" she muttered, looking at all her visitors. From Captain Picard to Captain Glober. From Bright Noa to Harlock. From Cherry Berry to Reynolds. She had met many of the best, and there were many more she would be meeting in the future.

All of them were different in the way they acted, or how they approached situations, even down to how they handled personal issues. There couldn't be a more disparate bunch. But there was one thing all had in common: they knew the value and weight of sacrifice; their own and their people's. 

And now, Sunset Shimmer was part of that proud group.

She chuckled, and turned back to the bar. It was time to make sure that everything was ready for her next visitors.

She hummed a song as she cleaned up the table and put the mugs away. "What was the name of that Captain she mentioned? Liang?" she murmured. "I wonder if he'll ever visit? I'll have to ask Picard or Sisko to invite him over."


End