Everyone in the medbay gathered around the pod, who’s fourth dot had turned green and began shining a light through what appeared to be the main access hatch. Proxima had taken point and had her horn extended just in case, and was flanked by a pair of security guards who were armed with phaser rifles. Everyone watched with bated breath as the hatch opened and released some kind of condensation, clearing up to reveal what was inside the pod. And it was something, or rather, someone that made everyone stare in disbelief.
Cmdr Sela, having been called once the fourth dot turned green, appeared in the medbay through insta-transportation. “Captain. I came as soon as I got your call. Is there a--” Sela cut herself off when she got a look at the open pod, and saw what her colleagues were seeing. “...Curious.” Was all she could say as they all looked upon a pair of small, blue foals that very much resembled a pair of Equis ponies.
(Start to about 1:24)
Space: The final frontier. This is the story of the USS Equestria. A ship fresh out of construction, with a crew fresh from the Academy. Together they will embark on a mission of discovery, and evolution. They will explore a strange new frontier, seek out new life and a new civilization, and boldly go farther than anyone has ever gone.
“Chief Medical Officer’s log Stardate 32120801.1215. We successfully routed the Terrorcon attack and thankfully there STILL are no casualties...Which is a good thing because we’ve been presented with something more pressing. We discovered what appears to be a pair of baby Equines in the pod recovered earlier in the day. Based on what the Captain reported about the pod scanning her...It’s plausible that whatever might have been in there before, used that scan to assume its current form...er...forms?”
Proxima, Sela, Boimler, and Yamik, who had been summoned after the revelation, all stood around a Biobed, on which sat the two occupants of the pod. Each a different shade of blue. While Boimler did a routine check on them, Yamik was the first to speak. “Captain? From your own recollection, was there another occupant in your pod?” He asked.
“If there was, I have no recollection of them. I’ll need to ask my parents.” Proxima responded. Still trying to process what happened. The two foals were looking around at them, and then they saw each other and broke down giggling, reaching out and booping each other.
“God that’s adorable.” They heard someone behind them say. Boimler turned to see a nurse standing there with a few others. The nurse cleared his throat. “Sorry, Cuteness is my kryptonite.” He said, before walking off and getting back to work.
Attention turned back to the two foals on the bed and Sela glanced at Boimler. “Anything doctor?” She asked.
“I found a few things. But I believe it would be best if the captain and I talked in private once the exam is done. In case things get heated.” Boimler responded.
“Heated?” Proxima asked. “What’s there to get heated about?”
“Because scans are showing that their genetic makeup borrows heavily from your own Captain, by all accounts, they’re your kin, next generation to be exact.” Boimler announced.
That revelation took a second to sink in, but when it did, Proxima was at a loss for words as her jaw dropped. She took another look at the two foals, and the first thing she noticed upon closer examination was that they had her eyes. ‘My Kin, next generation, that would mean they’re...’ Her mind was firing on all cylinders trying hard not to get overwhelmed. She hadn’t considered having any kids until she was at least thirty. She wasn’t even a year into her career as a Starfleet officer. ‘Not to mention that I haven’t found someone to settle down with.’ Several thoughts raced through her mind. “...Finish the examination as fast as you can, Doctor, we can talk in my ready room then.” She finally said before excusing herself and leaving the Medbay in a hurry, fearing that she might faint if she stayed there.
Sela watched her leave, and turned her attention to Yamik. “Post a guard here to keep an eye on our little friends here. And sound the alarm should anything happen.” She told Yamik before she left to go after Maxima. She jogged to catch up to her in the corridor. “Captain Maxima.” She called after her.
Proxima saw Sela catch up to her and sighed. “If you don’t mind Cmdr, I’d rather be alone. Have a lot on my mind all of a sudden.” She told her.
“I can imagine.” Sela responded. “You doing OK?” She asked.
“I just found out that I apparently have two kids after a pod scanned me and presumably analyzed my DNA to make those foals...I...Honestly don’t know how to feel about that.” Proxima admitted as they walked together down the Corridor. “And to top it off, they show up on the same day my parents call saying they want to adopt and grow our family...Oh god what am I gonna tell them?” She asked, realizing that she’d have to tell her parents sooner or later.
“For now, I believe it might be best to hold off until we know more about these foals.” Sela suggested. “They will surely have questions.”
“So will Starfleet once we report this. I mean, imagine the luck we’d need to have to find a second pod like mine, have that new pod scan me and my DNA, and then use it to make a pair of foals.” Proxima remarked.
“The odds are against having such luck.” Sela responded. “However, the same could be said for you crashing on Earth all those years ago.” She commented.
“So when it comes to me, it’s better to not think about the odds.” Proxima deduced.
“Exactly.” Sela responded. “You are, to put it bluntly, a magnet for the unusual.” She said.
“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t.” Proxima commented. “In any event, I have some big decisions to make real darn fast it would seem.”
“Indeed.” Sela responded as they continued on. “Just know that if you ever need help. There are people on this ship willing to offer that help. Myself chief among them.” She assured Maxima.
“For that I am grateful Cmdr.” Proxima responded.
Meanwhile, Harmony and Shron entered the cannon control chamber they were in before the battle. “After action protocol.” Shron said. “Each weapon system gets a thorough inspection to make sure nothing got damaged. If we find damage, we are to report it to engineering to add to their docket.” He told Harmony.
“Aye sir.” Harmony responded. “What can I do?”
“Run a diagnostic first and foremost. I’ll start the visual inspection.” Shron responded as he approached the prefire chamber. Harmony meanwhile approached the console and began her diagnostic. After a few moments, Shron spoke up. “I’m impressed with you CyberSpark.” He commented.
“Sir?” Harmony asked.
“The Riker Beta Maneuver. Such a simple solution yet it was unfathomable to the rest of us. With thinking like that I see you being top of your class at the Academy.” Shron explained.
Harmony hesitated. On the one hand, she was glad that she was making a good impression with her superiors, but she didn’t feel right taking credit for something that she didn’t do. “…with all due respect sir.” Harmony finally responded after making a choice. “I don’t deserve your praise for the Riker Beta maneuver today.” She revealed.
Shron frowned and turned to Harmony, confused. “Not sure I follow boot. You were running a simulation?” He said.
“Boot?” Harmony asked, momentarily sidetracked.
“Easier than saying Junior Warrant Officer.” Shron responded.
“Ah. Gotcha.” Harmony replied. “And…yeah it may have looked like it. But that simulation started up on its own. I didn’t prompt the computer to run it.” She explained.
“Well if you didn’t run it, how did it run at all? The computer can’t run a simulation without a prompt.” Shron said.
“I don’t know sir.” Harmony responded. “Maybe because the computer is connected to my brain module, maybe I was considering it subconsciously? But I didn’t mean to do it sir.” She tried to explain what happened.
“Hm. That’s rather odd.” Shron responded. “Anything else you’d like to report?” He asked.
“Yes actually.” Harmony replied. “After the battle, a schematic of the ship popped up, and the Captain’s Yacht was highlighted in red.” She reported.
That caught Shron’s attention. “The captain’s yacht?” He asked. “Why would that be glowing red?”
“I don’t know sir.” Harmony responded. “Seems today is full of strange occurrences.”
“Seems so.” Shron replied. “Hm...When we’re done here, we’ll get a hold of Yamik and check it out.” He said.
“Sir?” Harmony asked, confused.
“Captain’s Yacht was glowing red, that could be a sign of danger. Meaning it should be investigated.” Shron responded.
“...Yes sir.” Harmony responded after a moment to process that conclusion.
Meanwhile, in Proxima’s ready Room, Boimler had just arrived after his examination of the new foals. “Alright doctor.” Proxima said. “What’s the rundown that only parents are allowed to talk to doctors about?” She asked. Knowing full well what Boimler had been implying when he said he had wanted to talk in private.
Boimler responded by pulling up the results on his HUD. “Let’s get the more mundane results out of the way first. The two are a colt and a filly. Twins.” He reported. “Both are perfectly Healthy.”
“Good to hear.” Proxima responded. “What else?”
“The foals appear to be a year old. But in reality, scans show they are in fact only about an hour old.” Boimler replied.
“Concurrent with when they obtained my DNA.” Proxima deduced.
“Exactly. My best guess is they had accelerated aging tech in the pod so that they come out looking like a year old.” Boimler responded.
“Makes sense.” Proxima said. “Now, what’s the NOT so mundane rundown?” She asked. Inferring that Boimler had found something else, something she wasn’t sure if she should be worried about or not as her innate parental instincts began to kick in.
Boimler tapped his combadge and an X-ray of the two foals appeared before Proxima. “When taking their X-rays. I found something that might explain where they came from, and where YOU come from.” He said as the X-ray zoomed in and showed four spherical objects. Two were glowing blue and the other two looked like something they had all seen attached to Harmony.
Proxima got one look and she gasped as she recognized the four subjects of the image. “Sparks...” She whispered. Covering her mouth in shock.
“And T-Cogs. Cliff and Blitz confirmed it.” Boimler responded. “There are organic elements as well as technological elements to them, your kids are Cybertronian/Equestrian Hybrids.” Boimler announced.
Proxima’s mind raced again, this new information threatening to overtake her. Her foals were part Cybertronian? It defied logic, and yet, she was seeing the proof.
Boimler watched Proxima with bated breath, letting the information sink in for her. When he first saw the results, he knew that it was gonna be hard for Proxima to hear. “Captain.” He said after a few minutes. “You realize what this could mean right?” He asked.
Proxima heard him, and knew what he was implying. “L-Let’s not jump to conclusions Doctor.” She said. ‘J-Just because they’re part Cybertronian doesn’t mean...” Proxima trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.
“But this IS another clue pointing towards that theory.” Boimler pointed out. “Kids often take after their parents in many ways. Most of them at the DNA level.” He reasoned.
“Right...But there are billions upon billions of races out there.” Proxima countered. “For all we know, my pod coulda come from somewhere else.”
“This is absolutely true.” Boimler agreed. “But still, we can’t just discount the Cybertronian theory. Not with all the evidence so far.” He said.
Proxima could only nod as she struggled to keep her composure. Boimler could tell that she was struggling to juggle it all. “If you want, I can keep the foals in the Medbay for now. They’ll be taken care of, and you’ll have time to consider everything.” He suggested.
“That...Might be best doc. Thanks.” Proxima responded, agreeing. “Dismissed.”
Boimler nodded and turned to leave, before glancing back at the captain. “A word of advice though captain, regardless of their origins, they need someone to take care of them long term. And that decision needs to be made sooner rather than later.” He advised her as he left.
Proxima heard Boimler, and she agreed that someone needed to take charge of them, but she was still unsure if she herself was ready to be a mother. And then there was the whole revelation that they were part Cybertronian, which absolutely lent credence to the theory that she herself was at least part Cybertronian. She pushed that thought to the back of her mind for the moment, and decided on a course of action. “Computer, patch me through to Commanders Maxima.” She ordered.
Meanwhile, in the Medbay, Cliff, Blitz, and Teletran were gathered around the Biobed with the foals, the Biobed now having walls around it to make a crib to make sure they didn’t fall. Teletran glanced between the foals and the pod. “How curious. Two entities came out of one pod.” He commented.
“And they’re ponies.” Cliff remarked.
“Yeah.” A Medical officer responded as he came up carrying a spoon, a bottle of baby food, and a bottle filled with liquified Energon. “They are techno organic, Cybertronian/Equestrian Hybrids.” He said.
“What do you have there Lt?” Blitz asked.
“Organic Baby Food and a bottle of Energon.” The Medical Officer responded. “We need to figure out what these little ones can and can’t eat. Otherwise they’re in danger of...not being with us anymore in two weeks tops.” He explained.
“Cybertronians need Energon to survive. So I suggest feeding them Energon.” Teletran responded.
“Maybe full Cybertronians do, but these kids are PART Cybertronian.” The Medical Officer countered. “It’s entirely possible that they are sustained through organic food and not Energon.” He reasoned. He put the Energon bottle down and opened the baby food. “Hey there little ones.” He said to the foals, which made them turn their attention to him. “You hungry?” He asked.
The foals just stared at him. The officer scooped up some baby food with the spoon and slowly brought the spoon to them. “Anypony want to open up and let the choo choo train pass through the tunnel?” The Medical Officer asked, trying his best to do it in a way that a parent would try to have fun with their kid.
“What are you doing?” Teletran asked.
“This is how us Organics try to get our young to eat. By trying to pretend like it’s something else.” The Medical Officer responded. “Come on. Who wants to let mr choo choo pass through?” He asked the foals. NEITHER of them opened their mouths. Just continued to stare at him like he was crazy.
After a few minutes of him failing to get them to open their mouths, Blitz rolled his eyes. “Oh for Primus’s sake. Let me try.” He said as he took the baby food and spoon.
Teletran and Cliff stiffened, fearing what Blitz was gonna try. “Uh, Blitz.” Teletran said.
“I Don’t think that’s such--” Cliff tried to say before Blitz cut him off.
“Oh relax. Young people love me.” Blitz said while he turned his attention to the foals.
What happened next made everyone in the Medbay jump as Blitz suddenly started yelling. “Alright you Maggots! If you want to survive you need to open up those mouths and let this essential fuel through into your systems! Got it?” He yelled at the foals.
Cliff, Teletran, and the Medical Officer with them all stared at Blitz in total shock. The foals, of course frightened by the yelling, very quickly started crying and tears quickly followed. The Medical Officer, after recovering from the shock, very quickly grabbed the baby food and the spoon back. “Nope, no that’s not gonna work.” He said as he pointed out the door. “Get out.” He told Blitz.
“Get out?” Blitz asked.
“Yes. Get out. Leave. You were no help and only made things worse.” the Medical Officer said sternly.
Blitz opened his mouth to respond, before Cliff grabbed his arm and pulled him away. “Blitz, just go before you make things any worse.” He said as he pulled Blitz out of the Medbay. They passed Boimler, who paid them no mind as his attention was on the crying foals. “Aww what happened?” He asked as he approached the Biobed.
“I was trying to get them to eat some baby food, and then Blitzwing tried to get them to do it by YELLING at them sir.” The Medical Officer responded.
“THAT’S what that yelling was?” Boimler asked. “Is he insane?”
“Must be if he thinks young people like him. Based on what I just saw, that assessment might not be accurate.” Teletran responded.
“No kidding.” Boimler commented. “Fortunately, I got an idea.” He said as he tapped his combadge, and a hologram of an old TV show appeared before the foals. “Hey there little ones, check this out.” He told them.
The foals noticed what was before them, and their crying eased out into a mere whimper as they watched, and soon, that whimpering turned to giggling when the Coyote blew himself up trying to catch the Roadrunner. The Medical officer smiled and relaxed. “Looney Toons. The Number 1 Comedy Kids show in the 21st century.” He Identified the show.
“Works every time.” Boimler smirked to himself. “Now, on with figuring out what these guys eat.” He said.
Before anyone could do anything, two little horns poked out of the foreheads of the foal and glowed. Boimler and the Medical Officer stopped smiling, recognizing what was about to happen. “No. No don’t--” Boimler tried to get them to not do magic, but it was futile as the foals disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Teletran, unaffected by said smoke, witnessed the foals disappearing. “They can do magic already. Curious.” He said.
“And BAD. Because now they’re in god knows what danger!” Boimler responded, panicked. “Computer, locate the foals.” He said.
“Unable to comply.” The computer responded. “Insufficient information available.”
“Insufficient my ass we just did a full examination on them you should have more than enough information.” Boimler responded, growing more irritated.
“Insufficient information available.” The computer responded.
“Perhaps the computer needs names?” Teletran suggested.
“If it does then it’ll be no help because the foals don’t HAVE names yet.” Boimler responded as he tapped his combadge. “Boimler to Yamik, We need Security’s help to find a pair of missing foals.” He said.
“What? Did they get away from you doc?” Yamik asked.
“Unfortunately yes.” Boimler responded. “We need to find them before the captain finds out or all hell is gonna break loose.” He said.
“Well we don’t want that, do we.” Yamik responded. “I’ll get all security personnel on it. Two shades of blue, gray, and one is a filly while the other is a colt.”
“I’ll get my staff looking too.” Boimler responded before the connection was cut. “God I hope those foals didn’t end up somewhere dangerous.” He prayed.
Meanwhile, back in her ready room, a hologram of Proxima’s mothers appeared before her. “Hello there Proxi.” Hannah said, smiling. “How’s it going?”
“It’s Uh...It’s definitely going, that’s for sure.” Proxima responded. “Sorry about earlier, Blitz found something that was indeed urgent.”
“What was it?” Belana asked.
“Remember earlier you said you wanted to grow our family?” Proxima asked, receiving nods from both her parents in response. “I guess fate must have heard you.” She said as she told them about finding the Pod, the pod scanning her, and about the two foals that came out of the pod. Showing them the security feed of the foals in the medbay to back up her story. It was then that they were all treated to the sight of Blitzwing yelling at the foals. After she finished her story, Proxima made a parental instincts mandated note to scare Blitz into not doing that again while Hannah and Belana processed what the heck their daughter just told them,
“So you found a second pod like your own out there.”
“It scanned you.”
“And produced a pair of Cybertronian/Equestrian Techno-Organic Hybrids with your DNA?” Hannah and Belana summed up the story as a sanity check.
“Yep.” Proxima responded. “I guess fate heard you wanted to expand our family and so gave me foals...” She said.
“Well...That’s great right?” Hannah asked. “I mean you did say you wanted to be a mother.”
“Eventually.” Proxima responded. “I had wanted to get a few years of my career under my belt first. Maybe find someone to settle down with...solve the mystery of my origins...” Proxima trailed off as her ears drooped down.
Belana and Hannah saw her demeanor change and instantly knew there was something more. “Proxi? What’s going on?” Belana asked.
Proxima hesitated, before letting out a sigh. “This is another clue to my origins, everyone is in agreement on it…but I don’t know if I even want to find the answer anymore.” She revealed. Letting out what had been on her chest for a while. “I have a good thing going here and solving the mystery could change everything...” She said.
“Does it have to?” Hannah asked.
Proxima raised an eyebrow. “What?” She asked.
“Does solving your mystery really need to change everything?” Hannah asked. “The way I see it. Solving your mystery won’t change anything that actually matters.” She told Proxima.
“It won’t?” Proxima asked. Not really understanding.
“Not at all.” Belana said. “Take it from us. When we adopted you. Sure, some things did change. But our lives weren’t completely upended. We stayed in Starfleet, we still had our friends behind us, wherever it counted, nothing changed.” She said.
“And what did change, it changed for the better.” Belana said. “You filled a void in our lives. And we’ll forever be grateful.” She said.
“You really mean that?” Proxima asked, her eyes watering slightly.
“Yes.” Hannah said. ‘We love you Proxi. And if we had to do it all over again, we absolutely would.” She said.
Proxima couldn’t help but choke out a chuckle. “Doesn’t that take a literal meaning when you are talking about adopting again?” She asked.
Hannah and Belana laughed. “Fair point.” Belana said. “But, the point we’re trying to make Proxi, is that whether it’s solving the mystery of your origins, or becoming a mother earlier than you thought. If anything changes, it will ultimately be for the better. And where it counts, nothing will change at all.” She told Proxima.
Proxima considered her parents’ words, and it managed to quell her fears and she wiped her eyes dry. “Alright. If you say so. Thanks.” She said. “And...How did you two decide to adopt me on such short notice?” She asked.
“We took one look at you, saw a lost soul in need of a home, and since we knew we could give you that, we pulled the trigger.” Hannah responded. “It helped that we knew we wanted to be parents.” She added.
“I DO want to be a mother...” Proxima replied.
Belana nodded. “With that in mind, I believe the question should be, can you give them what they need.” She suggested.
Proxima thought about it for a moment, before she nodded. “You’re right. The question should be if I can give them what they need or not.” She said. “Thanks mom, momma. I needed that.” She said.
Hannah and Belana smiled. “Happy to help.” Belana said.
“Let us know how it goes.” Hannah told her.
“I will.” Proxima responded. “Oh, and going back to you looking to adopt, I know you called before to ask what I thought about it. I think you two should go for it. Do for them what you did for me.” She said.
Belana and Hannah nodded. “Alright. Glad to see you like the idea.” Belana told her. “We’ll leave you to it then.” She said. They and Proxima bid farewell to each other before the connection cut.
Proxima sighed in content and smiled, glad now to have called her parents. “Can I give them what they need…” She mused.
Elsewhere on the Equestria, Boimler sprinted through the Corridors of the ship, trying to find the foals. He asked passing officers if they had seen them, to which the answer was always no. He turned the corner into a corridor and sighed in relief when he saw them just sitting there. “There you are.” He said.
The foals heard him and turned to see Boimler approaching them. The two started giggling and lit their horns again. Boimler saw and shook his head. “No. There’s no need for—“ He tried to say, but the foals teleported away anyway in a puff of smoke. “Come on.” Boimler let out, exasperated. He HAD found them twice since leaving the Medbay, only for them to teleport away. “This isn’t a game of hide and seek tag.” He said.
At that moment, Yamik turned the corner and saw the smoke clearing up. “Don’t tell me they teleported again.” He said. Like Boimler, Yamik had found the foals a few times but they teleported before he could grab ahold of them.
“They did.” Boimler replied, facepalming.
“How did we not think to place some kind of magic dampener on them when we had the chance?” Yamik asked.
“Because we didn’t think they’d have their mother’s magical prowess at their current age.” Boimler responded. “And I do not want to admit to the Captain that they got away from us.”
“They got away from you.” Yamik corrected him.
“Either way. If we don’t find and catch them soon, Proxima’s gonna blow a gasket.” Boimler responded. “Do you want to face her when she’s in momma bear mode?”
“Of course not.” Yamik responded.
“Then let’s find them.” Boimler said before they both split up and resumed their search.
To Be Continued…