"Twilight?" Sunset asked, standing outside of the doors that led to the ship's brig.
"Yes, Sunset?" her scientist asked back.
"Remind me, exactly how many lost or wayward children is the Phoenix housing by this point?"
Twilight chuckled briefly. "I well, if it makes you feel any better, Yona won't be staying with us for much longer."
Sunset glanced to her. "And you're sure they're gonna collect her?"
"Trust me, there's no misinterpreting that message. They want her back, no question."
Sunset nodded, then looked back to the door. "I take it she finally gave up on trying to break out?"
"Took a while, but yes," Twilight explained. "She gave a good show of it though. I don't think I've ever encountered a humanoid species that displayed that level of physical strength before."
"Well, there's a lot we don't know about the Yakz, but if Yona is any indication, I don't see us having friendly relations anytime soon," Sunset mused.
Twilight smiled. "There's always hope."
"Maybe," Sunset said, smiling back. Then, after taking a deep breath, she stepped forward. "Alright, let's get to it then." The doors opened automatically for her, and upon entering it took only a moment to see the one she'd come here for. "Figured it was time for us to meet face-to-face."
Yona, lying on the simple bed at the back end of the holding cell, gave her jailor a dark glare. "Yona smash face if Yona could."
Sunset folded her arms. "Yeah, thought as much." Then, she entered the room in earnest, giving Twilight a silent nod. Twilight nodded back, heading off to continue her own duties elsewhere, leaving the captain alone with their guest. Once the doors closed behind her, Sunset approached the shield that separated her from the Yak youth. "I know this isn't the best situation, but we couldn't take the risk of you attacking other members of my crew."
Yona huffed. "Hmph! Human should have let Yona crash into you. Yona could go out like hero then!"
Sunset frowned. "I'm willing to allow a lot of things under my watch, but a suicide run by a child isn't one of them." Then, her face softened again. "You didn't have to throw your life away like that Yona. Don't you have anyone back home? Friends? Family? People who'd want to see you again?"
"Yona has family," the prisoner answered. "And Yona's family understand. All Yakz understand! Yakz fight! Yakz are strong and we prove that every day!"
"So...that's all that matters to you? Fighting? Making others think you're stronger than them?" Sunset asked, trying to get her head around this alien cultural mindset.
"What else could matter?" Yona asked back. "To be stronger is to be better! Everyone know that! If you weak, you lose! You lose, you die! Be strong and live! Let all know you are strong and they will never hurt you!"
Sunset stared at her in silence for a time, thinking hard on what she was gleaning of this new species. Then, slowly, she pressed a button on the side of the holding cell. In an instant, the shield came down, and a very confused Yona sat upright on the bed, looking to Sunset with uncertainty. "Wha...what you doing?!"
Sighing, Sunset stepped into the cell. "We've contacted your people. They're coming for you and will be here shortly."
Yona frowned, looking away from her. "Yona ashamed. Yona's people know she failed."
Another moment of quiet, after which Sunset spoke softly to her. "Follow me."
She turned, heading out of the cell and towards the door again, with Yona eyeing her cautiously. "Why?"
Stopping, Sunset looked back, over her shoulder. "There's something I need to show you." Yona, still wary, nevertheless followed the captain. The two were soon together, walking down the hallway, and any passing crewman gave the young Yak an understandably wide berth when they saw her. Yona wasn't happy to see any of them, but for the time being she went along with whatever Sunset was planning. Eventually, the woman in question stopped at one door in particular, which looked different from all the others. There was a control panel by the side, which she started pressing a few buttons on. When she was finished, the doors opened, and she gestured inside. "After you."
Yona watched her carefully, slowly entering as requested. Then, she halted, eyes wide at the sight before her. It was as if she had stepped into a whole other world. A big chamber with flags of many nations and a plethora of humans all wearing very official uniforms. All of them were shouting and arguing with one another, and the whole thing prompted Yona to look back to Sunset, who was now entering the room itself. "What is this?!" Yona demanded to know.
Sunset stepped ahead of her, looking to the arguing group ahead. "This is our simulation room. If you can imagine it, you can recreated it here."
Yona looked from Sunset to the other humans. "They...not real?"
"They were," Sunset explained. "What you're seeing is a historical record. A glimpse into the past of my world." She turned, allowing the youngster to join her as she continued to watch the bickering going on amid the holographic characters. "A long time ago, several centuries in fact, my world and all of humanity was in a difficult spot. Nations baring their teeth and incapable of getting along with one another." She sighed. "Few things were good back then. And in some cases, nations even collapsed entirely, creating terrible situations for those who just wanted to live their lives." She looked up, to the ceiling. "Pinkie...move us ahead a few decades."
"Er...you sure, Boss?" the AI asked with uncharacteristic uncertainty. "It's not really the happiest story."
"I'm sure," Sunset told her.
So, the command was carried out, and the image created by the room began to change. What now stood in front of Yona was not a room filled with disagreeing leaders, but a massive crowd of thousands. And at their head stood a single man, clad in red and black, with a mane of black hair, fierce in his convictions, calling out to them and rallying them to some cause she knew nothing about. "Where we now?"
"Now...we are a few years on from that meeting you saw," Sunset answered. "With all the chaos and unhappiness around the world, one man emerged from it. He started spreading his ideas and his ways of thinking." Her eyes narrowed. "Dangerous ideas." Then, her eyes closed. "But people listened. He offered them a way out of the terrible times they were living through, and the people, desperate for any way to make things better, accepted." She stepped ahead, gesturing to the man ahead. "He told his people, his nation, that they were strong. That they could achieve anything, but they had to fight for it." She turned, looking to Yona. "And fight they did." Without even awaiting the command, Pinkie changed the image yet again. Now, Yona looked upon row after row of soldiers, all marching together while that same man smiled wickedly from a podium on high. "Those who listened to him, they joined him in his plans, his ambitions. Together, they launched an attack on everyone around them."
Placing her hands on her hips, Yona smirked. "Strong fight and strong win. That is way. That is right."
Sunset looked to her, her face difficult to read. "Is it?" When she saw Yona look to her, she continued. "Tell me...who do you think they were fighting?"
Yona, at first, seemed confused by the question, and so tried to answer. "They...fight...warriors? Other strong ones?"
Slowly, Sunset shook her head, and Pinkie took that as a signal to carry on to what she knew was going to be the next image on display. Instead of an army marching to war, now it was a city. But this was no bastion of civilization on display. This was a ruin. Homes collapsed, craters from cannon shells, plumes of smoke from raging fires in the distance. It was devastation, plain and simple. Whatever violence Yona had experienced in her own culture clearly hadn't prepared her for seeing something like this, for she looked to her new surroundings with horror. Sunset, seeing that look on her face, explained. "They fought everyone, Yona. Soldier or civilian, it didn't matter to them. They wanted to show the world that they were the strongest, but they didn't care who suffered in order to make that happen."
As if to emphasise that point, Yona now looked upon a brand new horror. A small child, a girl, wearing a tattered dress and clutching onto a doll that, from the singes it bore, was likely rescued from a recent fire. The child had tears streaming down her face, and as she stumbled through the rubble of what was once her home, she screamed, calling out for parents that she likely knew weren't going to come back. Yona stepped back, showing just how much this terrible situation was shaking her. "S...stop." She shut her eyes tightly. "Yona no see anymore!"
Sunset nodded, looking back upwards. "Pinkie...that's enough."
Without even a word the image faded, returning the room back to the blank white walls of its default setting. Sunset watched as Yona slowly opened her eyes, relived that she no longer had to look at such things, but still disturbed by having seen them all the same. After a time, she clenched her hands into fists, looking to Sunset with anger. "Why? Why you show Yona that?!"
"So that you understand," Sunset told her.
"Understandwhat?!" Yona demanded to know. "Why Yona need to know things of human past?!"
"So they don't repeat," Sunset said firmly. Taking a moment to calm herself, Sunset spoke in a softer tone shortly afterwards. "When I see you, I think of all those people who were taken in by the rhetoric of those old days. The tales of what glory they would achieve, how they could rise above all others. So many believed it, and the world paid the price for that belief. It took every free nation banding together to finally put an end to the madness, and for generations after, the healing was slow. But..." She sighed. "I suppose, if nothing else, it served as a wake-up call for my people. A lesson on just how far we can fall if we didn't change our ways." Looking back to the young Yak, she finally smiled. "And change we did. Once we stopped obsessing over our differences, over trying to be better than others or convincing them that we were, we entered a better age. We reached the stars, and our world has never had to go through the horrors we once subjected it to."
Yona frowned. "You think Yakz like humans?"
Another shake of the head from Sunset. "It's not a one-to-one translation, I know. But there's an old saying among my people." She stepped closer to Yona. "Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it." She gestured to the child. "I suppose the same can happen for those who didn't even know that history to begin with."
Yona eased off, at least a little, and glanced to the side. "What happened to him? That man who talk big?"
This time, it was Sunset's turn to frown. "It was never confirmed. Records during the final days of war, amid such devastation, were hard to verify. Some say he ended things himself. Others say he was captured and thrown in a cell by one of the nations who fought him. Regardless, even if he survived, he'd be long gone by now."
After a time, Yona looked back to her. "...Good."
Sunset, at least a little, smiled to her. "Yes, it is." Then, her smile faded. "What you just saw...it stands among the most shameful chapters in my worlds history. But, I wanted you to understand, Yona." Carefully, she reached out, placing her hand upon Yona's shoulder. "The road between thinking yourself stronger than others and thinking that you are better than them, more deserving of life...is a much shorter road than most people think."
Yona stared at her, and Sunset could see her processing what she'd heard and seen. After a time though, Yona seemed to ease off in her stance and expression, at least a little bit. "Yona's people not do those things."
Sunset nodded to her. "I'm glad to hear it." She looked to the side. "But, as a teacher of mine once said, we can't simply say we're better and have that be the end. We have to work at it, making sure, day by day, that we do right and ensure that the right path of walked." She looked back to Yona. "That means good people doing the right thing." Her smile returned. "And I think I'm looking at a good person right now."
Realising who she meant, Yona, for the first time, smiled back to her. But, before she could speak, a beeping sound from Sunset's bracer caught her attention. Once it was lifted up, a voice emerged from it. It was Rainbow. "Heads up, Captain. They're here."
"Understood. We're on our way," Sunset informed her. Then, once she was sure the communication had ended, she looked back to Yona. "Well, looks like your ticket home has arrived." Yona said nothing, merely nodding. Sunset began to walk out of the simulation room, only to realise that Yona wasn't following. Instead, it seemed as though the girl was lost in thought, and only after a solid minute of her thinking things over did she decide to join the captain in leaving. It took little time for the two of them to make their way up to the bridge, but it was a journey made in utter silence. Clearly, Sunset had left more of an impression on the youth than she initially thought. But, for the time being, there was the matter of her return to her people. So, as soon as she set foot onto the bridge, that was exactly what she got down to. "Report."
"There they are, Captain," Rainbow informed her, pointing ahead.
Looking up to the main viewscreen, Sunset could tell immediately that this was indeed a Yak vessel. Far larger than the one Yona had been piloting, it was a mass of weapons of every description, all pointing forward. If there was anything besides attack that their ship-builders had put any thought into, Sunset couldn't see it. "Hail them."
"No need, Captain," Rarity told her. "They're already trying to call us."
Sunset nodded to her, quietly commanding to hear the message. So, after setting to it, Rarity changed the image on the screen. Now, they were looking at another Yak. An adult male by the looks of it, bearing a massive braided beard and a crown of some description., Sunset had no doubt that, had she actually been face-to-face with this one, he'd rank as one of the biggest men she'd ever met. And his tone certainly wasn't one for diplomacy. "Where Yona?!"
Sunset stepped forward. "I am Sunset Shimmer, Captain of the Phoenix. I assure you, the girl in with us and unharmed."
"You lie!" the Yak shouted back., "We see pieces of her ship all around! Nobody lies to Rutherford and lives!"
Twilight span around in her chair. "They're powering up weapons!" she warned them all.
Yona, eyes widening, rushed forward, speaking to her leader. "Warchief! I here!"
Immediately, the Yak gave a signal to someone else on his bridge, and after getting a quiet nod from Twilight to indicate that their weapons were powering down, Sunset watched as the two Yakz conversed. "Yona! You okay?!"
"I fine," Yona answered. Then, a look of embarrassment came to her. "Warchief...I fail. I no win fight. I captured."
Sunset watched Yona's elder carefully, judging his reaction. Granted, it wasn't easy, given that his eyes were completely covered with his hair, but there were still enough signs to get at least a glimpse into what the man was thinking. From what Sunset had learned, victory was highly valued in their society, so an open admittance of defeat had a high chance of making things bad for the girl. Thankfully, that seemed to not be the case, as instead he simple looked relieved. "That no matter. You okay. That matter."
Yona too seemed relieved, and clearly she'd been expecting a worse reaction from her leader. Sunset, clearing her throat, gained the attention of both of them. "If you're ready to receive her, we can teleport her over." Rutherford, though definitely loathe to make any kind of arrangement with a non-Yak, nevertheless let out a grunt and a nod, which Sunset interpreted as an acceptance of the suggestion. Nodding back, Sunset then looked over to Twilight. "Prepare a ship-to-ship teleport. To their bridge, if you can."
"No issue," Twilight told her. "Their ship has the same openness as Yona's."
And speaking of whom, Sunset now looked to Yona. The two said nothing, at least for a bit, and Sunset quickly glanced to the side, just in time to see the image of Rutherford now gone from her screen. Satisfied that he was no longer listening in on them, she again turned to Yona. "Stay safe."
"Yona will," she was told back. Then, after a moment of hesitation, she added further words. "And...Yona think about what Sunset say."
Sunset smiled to her. Then, she stepped back, watching as the girl was soon engulfed in the bright light of their ship's teleportation systems. In an instant, she was gone, and Sunset turned to Twilight yet again. The scientist nodded to her, confirming that the girl had indeed made it safely to the other ship. The vessel in question now began to turn, heading away from them, much to the relief of the bridge crew, and Sunset, exhaling slightly, got into her command chair and thought back on the recent encounter. "Good luck to you, Yona."
"Think we'll see her again?" Rainbow asked.
Considering that, Sunset smiled. "Maybe not. But, if nothing else...we might have done some good for her."