Darkening Star

by John41

Chapter I - Convergence

“Coffee, Black.”

Rarity cringed at the order placed by the mare at the table next to hers. Who in their right mind took their coffee black? The alabaster unicorn sat back in her chair on the café’s patio and nursed her own caffe latte in quiet contemplation. She knew she shouldn’t judge, but the mere thought of drinking that swill on its own made her stomach turn.

“Geesh, Rarity, take any coffee with your milk?”

Shaken from her thoughts, the white unicorn looked up from the table attempting to find the source of the rough voice that had called to her.  She quickly spotted a smirking Rainbow Dash sauntering over from across the street with Pinkie Pie bounding close behind her. Rarity tried to force a frown at her friend’s jibe, but found she could only manage a smirk of her own. She was just happy to see her friends approaching.

“It’s a latte, Rainbow Dash. Steamed milk with espresso. You should try it sometime.”

The cyan pegasus grimaced. “Espresso? No thanks. Coffee tastes awful no matter what you put in it.”

“I don’t know, Dashie,” Pinkie Pie said, bounding on the spot next to her friend with a goofy grin plastered across her face. “Think of all the pranks we could pull if you didn’t need to nap all the time.”

“Hey, don’t knock napping!” Rainbow Dash responded defensively. “I wouldn’t be half as good at my job without a good snooze once in a while.”

The pink pony giggled at that, while Rarity shook her head and took another sip of her latte. She couldn’t deny Rainbow Dash was good at her job. The skies above Ponyville were almost always on forecast and the regularity of the weather was due in no small part to Rainbow’s work. The cyan pegasus could often be seen early in the morning, clearing the clouds from the sky or setting up the rain showers. Between that and her stunt flying, it was a wonder Rainbow Dash didn’t sleep more than she did.

“Rarity, you excited for our trip to Canterlot tomorrow?” the pink pony posed.

The white unicorn smiled at the mention of their upcoming trip. “I am indeed, Pinkie. I have several new dress designs I’m sure will impress the retailers attending the fashion expo next week.” As she imagined all the potential business she could drum up at the expo, Rarity’s eyes fell on the Rainbow Dash. “It’s a shame you’re not coming with us, Rainbow. I could use somepony to model for me.”

“Ugh, pass,” Rainbow Dash muttered, obviously less enthused with the idea of modeling than the fashionista was. “Besides, the rest of us are going on that camping trip with Twilight.”

“You mean that Canterlot Academy-funded expedition organised by the Faculty of Natural Sciences to conduct a detailed zoological survey of a remote section of the Everfree forest?”

Both Rarity and Rainbow Dash stared blankly at Pinkie Pie, unable to decide whether it was more impressive that she had remembered all of those details or that she had managed to convey them all in a single breath. Shaking it off as just Pinkie being Pinkie, The alabaster unicorn took another sip of her coffee.

“Hardly sounds like something you’d volunteer for, Rainbow,” Rarity pondered aloud, eyeing the remaining liquid at the bottom of her coffee cup.

“Hey, Twilight asked me and I wasn’t about to let them go alone,” Rainbow replied, waving a hoof dismissively. “I am the Element of Loyalty after all. Who do you think is going to make sure no rogue storms roll in over the campsite?”

“Hmm,” Rarity murmured, “Isn’t there an audit being conducted on the Ponyville weather department next week?”

“W-what?” Rainbow Dash stammered, caught off guard by her friend’s assertion. “That has nothing to do with it!” she affirmed, running a nervous hoof through her multi-coloured mane.

“Of course not,” Rarity replied, her face breaking into a sly smile. “Perish the thought.”

“You’re leaving today aren’t you, Dashie?”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened at Pinkie’s question and she quickly looked over towards the Ponyville clock tower. “Uh, yeah, - actually, I should get going. Twilight was kind of expecting me at the library half an hour ago,” she continued, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

The white unicorn sighed. “We’ll go with you. We should be there to see you all off anyway.” She quickly drained her remaining coffee and rose from her seat, leaving a small pile of coins next to her empty cup. Rarity had left a sizable tip; she was feeling generous today. Well, more generous than the Element of Generosity typically felt. “Shall we?”

The trip to the library was a short, if not uneventful one. The trio witnessed the wall-eyed pegasus mail-mare make a crash landing into somepony’s front door. The ditzy grey mare managed to shake off the impact and deliver the mail to the owner of said house, before repeating the crash at the house next-door. How she managed to never lose a letter and deliver the mail on time without suffering multiple percussive head injuries remained a mystery.

Rarity looked up and smiled as the trio approached the Ponyville library. At first glance, the building carved out of the trunk of a living tree was completely out of place amid the clusters of thatch-roofed houses. Despite that it, the building’s organic framework gave it an inviting and natural feeling. It was perhaps a testament to the mindset of the residents of Ponyville. While other cities saw nature as an obstacle to be overcome, Ponyville embraced it and incorporated it into their own town planning.

Rainbow Dash gave a few firm knocks on the library door before entering, followed by Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Inside the library’s central chamber they could see three ponies and one baby dragon assembled around a table, looking over a long piece of parchment paper. A certain lavender unicorn turned her attention from the parchment towards the newcomers and greeted them with a wide grin.

“Rainbow, you made it. Finally,” Twilight Sparkle said, her grin never faltering. “It’s a good thing I budgeted some extra time on the schedule. Spike, check Rainbow Dash off the list.”

“Got it,” the small purple dragon answered, quill in hand. He quickly found Rainbow Dash’s name on the long parchment and jotted a small check mark down in the empty box next to it. The two remaining ponies, a behatted orange earth pony and a canary yellow pegasus, left the table and joined them.

“We were all starting to wonder if you’d show,” Applejack said adjusting her Stetson hat.

“Hey, I said I’d be here didn’t I?” Rainbow replied. “I just got a little distracted. I wouldn’t leave anypony hanging.”

“Um, excuse me, but-.” Fluttershy began in a quiet voice, but was quickly cut off by Applejack.

“A’ course not, RD. The orange pony brought a hoof to her chin and gazed upward as if in deep thought. “Well… except for that one time-.”

“One time, one time!” the cyan pegasus shouted angrily. “And I wouldn’t have slept through it if I hadn’t pulled a double shift the night before because a certain apple farmer said she needed rain.”

“Girls I think-.”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “Ah told ya Ah needed that shower two weeks ahead of time. It ain’t mah fault y’all left it to the last minute-.”

“Girls!”

All eyes immediately fell on Fluttershy, who shrank slightly under their collective gazes. The timid yellow pegasus rarely ever rose her voice and the group was taken aback by her outburst.

“Oh, I’m sorry for interrupting,” Fluttershy squeaked, her voice almost a whisper, “but I think there’s somepony at the door.”

The lavender unicorn shook off the shock of her friend’s outburst and quickly trotted over to the door. Standing just outside the door’s threshold were two ponies; the first, a dull copper coloured earth pony stallion and the second, a figure covered from head to tail in a dark purple cloak.

“Professor Trottson!” Twilight beamed as she ushered her former teacher into the library.

“Twilight my dear, so good to see you again,” The stallion replied.

“Likewise. And thank you again for inviting us to participate in the expedition!”

“Please Twilight,” the professor started, brushing a hoof through his messy brown mane. “Even in my class you demonstrated a remarkable talent for observation and analysis, and, unwittingly or not, you and your friends have more first-hoof experience with the creatures of Everfree than anypony in the past century. Speaking of which, perhaps some introductions are in order?”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Twilight apologized hastily, glancing back at her friends. “This is Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash,” she said, gesturing to each of her friends in turn. “Pinkie Pie and Rarity here had some prior commitments and won’t be able to come with us. Girls, this is Professor Adrian Trottson, the current chair of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the Canterlot Academy, and Equestria’s foremost expert on zoology. He’s also the author of several books including The Equestrian Bestiary, The-.”

“That’s quite enough, Twilight,” the professor interrupted. “I’m here as your colleague, not a guest lecturer. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. Please allow me to introduce you to my wife, Serene,” he continued, motioning towards the cloaked figure next to him.

“Wait, what? Your wife?!” Twilight said flabbergasted, her head rapidly whirling between the professor and his cloaked companion.

The professor looked perplexed. “Did I not tell you she was coming?”

“Your letter said your assistant would be joining us, not your wife!”

“Oh, well yes, I suppose I did say that,” Trottson mumbled, grinning sheepishly. “Though, in my defence, at the time of writing she was my assistant. We were wed just last week. I... uh, guess that detail slipped my mind.”

Twilight just shook her head and sighed. Even as learned as the stallion was, some things seemed to sail right over his head. Perhaps that was part of his charm. He had a certain naivety about him that let him see and approach situations in a different way. It was, no doubt, part of the reason he was so well liked on campus. Twilight held him among her favourite teachers.

“Congratulations!” offered Pinkie Pie, zipping up and rapidly shaking the married couple’s fore-hooves. “Hey, do you know what this calls for?”

“Sorry Pinkie,” Twilight said, “No parties. The train will be arriving soon. We just don’t have enough time for that.”

“Awww.” Pinkie’s mood crashed at Twilight’s statement; her poufy pink mane visibly deflated.

Fluttershy moved next to the pink pony and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Pinkie. It just means you’ll have more time to plan the party for when we get back.” That seemed to bring Pinkie Pie out of her saddened state and within moments she was happily bounding around the library again as if nothing had happened.

The cloaked figure finally moved from her position beside the professor towards a coatrack near the door and began to disrobe. With her cowl and cape removed, the assembled ponies got their first look at the professor’s wife. The pegasus mare had a light greyish-purple coat and a two-toned light lavender mane, but perhaps her most striking feature was the pair of bat-like wings in place of the feathery ones sported by most pegasi.

Rainbow Dash immediate drifted over towards Serene. “Those are awesome! You’re one of Princess Luna’s guards?”

“Yes,” The bat-winged pegasus replied, smiling and bowing her head. “I received The Lunar Princess’ blessing when I was younger and, until recently, have spent my life in Her Royal Highness Princess Luna’s service as a member the Royal Lunar Guard.”

“You’re not a guard pony anymore?”

“I am always at Her Royal Highness Princess Luna’s command,” Serene stated, standing resolute. “However, shortly after The Lunar Princess’ return, I felt the need to broaden my experience. Her Highness graciously gave me leave to explore my own academic pursuits. The Academy was in need of an assistant night librarian. The position offered a new set of challenges along with the opportunity to further my own education.”

“I take it that’s where you met Professor Trottson?” Twilight asked before turning to her former teacher. “Professor, you never did seem to be able to reach the library at a reasonable hour.”

“Um, yes... uh,” the professor stuttered, caught off guard. “Well, you’re one to talk, young lady,” he quickly managed a retort. “I seem to recall running into you on more than a few evenings while you were taking my classes. ‘Just a few more pages,’ you’d always say.”

“Yeah, that sounds familiar,” Spike agreed, earning himself an angry glare from a blushing Twilight.

“You are of course correct, Twilight,” Trottson continued. “I did meet Serene at the library. It did not take long in her company for me to become completely smitten by her.”

“Most ponies are intimidated by those of us who bear The Lunar Princess’ blessing,” Serene said, her smile falling slightly. “But from the moment we met, Adrian has never once treated me as anything less than the most special mare in Equestria.” The bat-winged pegasus’ amber eyes glowed brightly as she beamed at her husband. “He also discovered my crippling weakness for sweets, something he has exploited to great effect,” she added patting her middle with her foreleg.

The lavender unicorn had not noticed until Serene had pointed it out, but the bat-winged pegasus did sport several pronounced curves around her flanks and barrel. In spite of that fact, the muscles of her legs and wings appeared strong and well-toned. Twilight figured Serene could probably still give most guard ponies a run for their money in strength and endurance, if not speed, even with the added girth.

“All is fair in love and war,” The professor remarked, drawing his wife closer and nuzzling her cheek affectionately. “Besides my dear, you look just as lovely now as the day I first laid eyes on you.”

Twilight was a bit stunned by the professor’s overt display of affection. She reasoned it was because she had so seldom seen him outside of a classroom environment. The lavender unicorn noticed her friends’ reactions seemed varied as well. Rarity and Fluttershy looked almost starry-eyed, no doubt finding the whole notion quite romantic, while on the other side of the room Rainbow Dash and Spike were making gagging motions, obviously not impressed with the display. Before Twilight could scold the two troublemakers, Rarity spoke.

“You both have my most heartfelt felicitations. I do have one question though,” Rarity continued, looking a bit uncertain. “And I certainly don’t want to come across as sounding rude for asking, but-.”

“Why are we honeymooning in the Everfree forest?” Serene stated quietly, completing the white unicorn’s sentence.

Rainbow Dash scoffed at that. “Yeah, it’s not exactly a popular holiday destination.”

“As I’m sure Twilight has told you, the expedition was approved rather suddenly,” the professor began, his demeanour completely changing as he entered lecture mode. He adjusted the wide rimmed glasses on his snout before continuing. “I’ve been trying to get authorization for an expedition to the remote parts of the Everfree forest for years, but the academy simply hasn’t been able to come up with the funding until recently.”

“If we had passed up the expedition in favour of our own plans, the funding would have gone elsewhere. We agreed that we simply could not let that happen,” Serene added.

“So, what exactly are we gonna be doing out there?” the orange farm-pony asked, just barely able to get a few words in edgewise.

“We’re hoping to gather more information on the fauna of the Everfree forest,” the professor answered, his voice almost shaking with enthusiasm. “The southernmost region has never been explored and presents us with a rare opportunity to see these creatures in a new environment. We hope to learn more about the more obscure species and perhaps even discover new ones.”

“Given my… unique talents, the professor and I will be mainly observing the nocturnal creatures,” the former guard pony offered. “Miss Sparkle and her team will be in charge of diurnal observations.”

“We’ll be taking the train as far as Dodge Junction, then we’ll be carting our supplies north across the plains, all the way to the southern edge of the Everfree forest.”

“Seems like a bit of a roundabout way to get to Everfree, don’t it?” Applejack asked, scratching her head. “Ah mean, Ponyville is right next to the forest.”

“The Everfree forest is a big place, Applejack,” Twilight answered, revelling in the opportunity to contribute to the lecture. “It would take days to hoof it all the way through to the other side of the forest, especially with all the supplies we’ll be taking with us. It would be just as hard to fly since there are no reliable cloud banks for the pegasi to rest on.”

The professor nodded to Twilight in approval. “A few undergraduate students and a small contingent of guards will be joining us there in a few days. It’s taking them longer to get organized than previously anticipated.”

“Shouldn’t we wait for the guards to be ready before we go into the forest?” inquired the timid yellow pegasus.

“Do not worry, Miss Fluttershy,” Serene said reassuringly. “I may be fat, but I am still a member of the Lunar Guard. I will not let anything happen to you or your friends.” She then took an over exaggerated bow.

That seemed to put the yellow pegasus at ease… for about the two seconds it took her to realize what was implied by the statement. “W-wait! I-I-I d-didn’t mean-,” Fluttershy stammered, but she trailed off when Serene erupted in a fit of giggling.

“You’ll have to forgive Serene,” Professor Trottson said, frowning at his wife. “She was only teasing you, Miss Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy looked over to Serene, who winked and gave her a toothy grin. She shrank a bit upon seeing the bat-winged pegasus’ fangs, but managed a weak smile.

A faint whistling permeated the air of the library. Applejacks ears twitched, swivelling around to catch the sound.

“Sounds like the train’s here.”

“Yes, well we’d best be off,” the professor said, motioning to the door. “All the expedition supplies would have been loaded before the train left Canterlot. We can depart as soon as your own things are stowed aboard.”

“Alright,” Twilight agreed. “Spike, you’re in charge of the library until I get back.”

“Don’t worry, Twilight. You can count on me,” the young dragon replied, giving her a salute.

The group of ponies trotted towards the door. Twilight, Fluttershy and Applejack strapped on their saddlebags - each bulging with supplies - that they had left near the door. Rainbow Dash, who had evidently decided that she did not need to bring anything, quickly flew out of the library ahead of the others. As Rarity was making her way out behind the rest of the group, she noticed Serene carefully donning the cloak she had entered with.

“Darling, it’s far too nice a day out there for you to be bundling yourself up like that,” Rarity said, ambling over towards her.

Serene gave a fleeting smile to the alabaster unicorn before continuing adjusting her cowl. “While The Lunar Princess’ blessing gives me great strength and stamina, it is not without disadvantages. Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia’s sun makes me very… uncomfortable. This cloak protects me from its rays.” She noticed Rarity giving her a sad frown. “Please don’t give me that look, Miss Rarity,” Serene quickly added. “It is a burden that all those who serve the Lunar Princess must bear, but it is one we accept gladly.” With that she quickly exited the library and re-joined the others, followed closely by the white unicorn.

The Ponyville train station was not as large or impressive as the stations of other towns; it was built with only simplicity and functionality in mind. The entire station consisted of a long, raised wooden platform opposite the tracks, with a small building next to it where tickets were sold and train schedules posted. Only a few ponies could be seen getting on and off the train; the Dodge Junction run wasn’t nearly as busy as those to Canterlot or Fillydelphia.

As the group approached the station, a few porters arrived to take the girls’ saddlebags. Professor Trottson began passing out the tickets the Academy had provided to each of his traveling companions. Almost as soon as he was finished, a commotion below the platform drew their attention. A tall figure was approaching. She was a large white pony, standing almost two heads taller than anypony else, who sported both a pair of feathery white wings and a long horn atop her head. She was flanked on either side by two white pegasi clad in ornate gold-plated armour. The Solar Princess had arrived.

“Princess Celestia!” all the members of the group called in unison and then quickly bowed. Upon rising, Twilight trotted over to her mentor.

“Hello, my little ponies,” Celestia greeted them. “Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student, how are you? I was hoping I’d be able to see you off on your first official assignment for the Academy.”

“Thank you Princess. I can’t wait to get there and start taking notes.” The lavender unicorn was almost quivering with excitement.

Celestia chuckled. “Twilight, I sometimes wonder if a quill and parchment, like the professor’s cutie mark, wouldn’t suit you better than that starburst on your flank.” The group joined the princess in laughter, save Twilight who blushed, but managed to keep smiling.

“Professor Trottson, I hear congratulations are in order,” The Solar Princess continued, looking towards the group’s lone stallion. “It seems rather cruel of the Academy to force you to choose between your honeymoon and your expedition. Perhaps you and I can have a word with the board once you return.”

The professor’s eyes widdend at the Princess’ offer and he struggled to keep a smirk from forming on his face. “It would be an honour, Princess,” he replied by bowing, ultimately failing to keep a neutral expression.

“Be sure to take every precaution, professor.” The Solar Princess’ face darkened ever so slightly and her voice took on a more serious tone. “The Everfree forest is a dangerous place.”

“Of course, Princess,” Trottson replied, nodding vigorously.

“Oh, Princess Celestia?” Fluttershy murmured, trying to work up the courage to address the princess. “Please thank Princess Luna for the meteor shower two nights ago for us.”

“Oh yeah,” Rainbow Dash added. “That was awesome!”

Twilight gave her friends a puzzled look. “Meteor shower? There wasn’t a meteor shower scheduled this month.”

“I saw it too!” Pinkie shouted standing on her hind legs and waving her fore-hooves in the air. “They were all like whoosh and zoom and whoa-.” The pink pony fell over backwards.

The Solar Princess gave a quiet laugh at the pink pony’s antics before responding. “My sister Luna was at a trade summit in Zebreica this past week. I’m sure she was just showing everypony back home that she was thinking of us.” Before Celestia had a chance to comment further, a loud voice sounded across the station.

“All aboard.”

The assembled ponies said their goodbyes and six of them filed on to the train, leaving Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Celesita and her escorts together on the station platform watching the train depart. Once the train was out of sight The Solar Princess turned to the two remaining ponies.

“Rarity, Pinkie Pie,” Celestia began. “Twilight’s last letter mentioned you will be traveling to Canterlot. Would the two of you like to return with me now and stay as guests at the castle?”

Rarity looked up at the princess in awe. “Why, of course. We’d be honoured, Princess,” she replied excitedly.  “But what about my things? I have several suitcases full of dresses for the fashion expo.”

“Somepony will be sent to retrieve anything you need from Ponyville tomorrow.”

The alabaster unicorn and the pink pony exchanged a glance. The latter wore a grin so large it threatened the limits of what was physically possible. “We couldn’t turn down such a gracious offer,” Rarity answered.

“Woo-hoo, I call shotgun!” Pinkie shouted, zipping over to where the princess’ chariot had been left.

Rarity and Celestia shared puzzled stares, and both pegasus guards raised a single eyebrow, all unable to guess what ‘shotgun’ was. Shaking it off, the guards hitched themselves to the chariot while the princess and the fashionista joined the pink pony in the back. They took to the skies swiftly, leaving Ponyville behind.

A hand shot up from the floor and grabbed the railing beside the conn station. Captain Janeway, the owner of said hand, pulled herself up to her feet and surveyed the bridge. It was a disaster. Several consoles were blown out, bundles of cables hung from tears in the ceiling and debris littered the floor. Janeway herself seemed not to have fared much better, sporting a number of cuts and bruises. All around her, the bridge officers were picking themselves up and scrambling back to their stations.

“Report!” Janeway bellowed.

Harry Kim was the first to answer, having retaken his place at operations. “Main power and sensors are down!”

The Red Alert claxon was still sounding across the bridge. The red glow of damage indicators on the console bathed Harry’s face red. Before he could speak further, the ship was jolted by another series of tremors and the bridge crew struggled to keep their footing.

“Inertial dampeners are offline,” Kim added, redundantly.

At tactical, Lieutenant Tuvok was looking just as battered as his captain; his left cheek now bore an olive coloured bruise, where his green blood had collected underneath his skin. “Weapons and shields are offline,” the Vulcan called out stoically, in spite of their dire situation.

Chakotay looked over the terminal next to his chair. “Casualty reports are coming in from all over the ship. Nothing serious so far-.”

“Tom!” Janeway shouted, cutting off her first officer. At the conn station next to her, Tom Paris looked up from his console and followed her gaze towards the main view screen. A planet hung in the center of the viewer, and it was rapidly increasing in size. Voyager was on a collision course.

“Helm control is still offline!” Paris cried, slamming his fists on the console.

The captain tapped her communicator. “Janeway to engineering. B’Elanna, we need engines, now!”

“The impulse engines are shot, captain,” came Torres’ frustrated reply, the alarms in engineering coming across the comm along with her voice. “The best I can give you is manoeuvring thrusters.”

“It will have to do,” Janeway said through her teeth, seething at the fact her chief engineer seemed only to have been delivering bad news as of late.

The planet loomed larger on the main viewer. Vibrations began to rattle the ship once again and across the bridge the officers were bracing themselves. Captain Janeway’s knuckles whitened as she gripped the railing beside the conn, desperately trying to remain standing. To her left, Paris fought with the ship’s controls, cursing under his breath.

Voyager plummeted towards the planet. The ship’s unshielded duranium plating began to glow red as flames licked across the bottom of the secondary hull. On the bridge, the officers all watched the image on the view screen being obscured by the inferno outside, unable to hear over the roaring and shaking of the ship. The starship burned across the planet’s sky. Slowly, the forward section started to angle upwards and, finally, Voyager began returning towards the heavens.

“Paris?” Chakotay asked, anxiously awaiting the lieutenant’s report.

“Levelling us off. We’ve achieved a stable orbit,” Paris responded, slumping back in his chair exhausted. The entire bridge released a sigh of relief.

“Nice work, Tom.” Janeway commended, placing a hand on his shoulder. After giving the officers on the bridge a brief moment to catch their breath, she shot back into action and issued her next order. “Now,” the captain continued, still addressing Lieutenant Paris. “I need you in sickbay. We’ve just lost our nurse and they could use a hand down there.”

“Yes ma’am,” Paris answered, rising from his seat and hurrying into the turbolift.

“Ensign Jenkins, Take the conn,” Janeway ordered. A blond woman quickly took over Paris’ empty station.

At the ops station, Ensign Kim was still struggling to deal with the problems cropping up all over the ship. “Containment fields are offline and emergency bulkheads are not responding on deck six. We’re venting atmosphere,” Kim reported in frustration.

“Seal that section off and assign damage control teams,” Chakotay replied, still poring over his own terminal that was equally swamped with reports.

“Tuvok, send out an emergency distress call across all subspace channels,” the captain ordered, looking back to the tactical station.

“Aye, captain.”

The comm system snapped to life and Voyager’s chief medical officer’s voice permeated the bridge. “Doctor to Janeway.”

The captain tapped her communicator once more. “Go ahead, Doctor.”

“The surgery was successful, despite the turbulence,” came his irritated reply. “Please report to Cargo Bay 2.”

“Acknowledged, Doctor.” Janeway confirmed, closing the channel. She began making her way around the bridge towards the turbolift. “I want a deck by deck survey of the damage, and a damage report from each department head by 1600 hours,” The captain commanded, gesturing to each of the bridge officers. “Harry, you’re with me,” she added, pointing a finger at Ensign Kim. The young man quickly left his station and joined her in the lift. Finally, Janeway locked eyes with her first officer. “Commander, you have the bridge,” she added as the turbolift doors hissed shut.

Cargo Bay 2 was an uninviting place. Unlike the brightly-lit corridors beyond its doors, Cargo Bay 2 appeared dark and cluttered. Along with the countless racks of supplies, like those that could be found in the holds of any starship, the dim room contained an equally large number of foreign objects. Dark metallic plating was unevenly patched across the floor, large cylindrical tubes were set against the bulkheads; their surfaces glowing green with alien symbols. Flickering green and yellow lights provided the room with what little illumination it had. The whole mess was tied together with long bundles of winding grey cables. The cargo bay bore more resemblance to the interior of a Borg vessel than that of a Federation starship.

While this room had once housed a number of Borg drones, it was now only home to Voyager’s one remaining Borg passenger, Seven of Nine. Said passenger fidgeted slightly as she stood in her alcove. Voyager’s Emergency Medical Hologram stood next to her, prodding the exposed circuitry above her left eye with a medical tool, while humming quietly to himself. The former drone found it quite aggravating.

“Hold still!” The holographic doctor snapped after nearly dropping the small instrument.

“My ocular implant is properly calibrated,” Seven responded, speaking through her teeth. “Your continued tinkering is a waste of time.”

The Doctor frowned, glaring at her. “I’m verifying the integrity of the synthetic optic nerve fibres. The last thing you need is your left eye shutting off.”

“Their integrity has been verified by the fact I can see,” Seven growled, “Double checking them is an exercise in futility.”

The Doctor sighed, taking a step back and replacing the small instrument into his medical kit. “Apparently so is having a pleasant conversation with you,” he muttered under his breath. If the former drone heard him, which she probably did given her cybernetically enhanced senses, she gave no visible indication. The Doctor took a deep breath before continuing his evaluation.

“I’ve successfully extracted 82% of the Borg hardware. Your remaining bio-implants are stable and seem to be working in tandem with your human immune system. Fashion isn’t my forte, nevertheless; I’ve managed to balance aesthetics and functionality in a pleasing enough manner.” The EMH beamed with pride at his work. His expression deflated quickly upon hearing Seven’s response.

“Aesthetics are irrelevant,” she stated simply.

“Of course they are,” the Doctor responded, rolling his eyes. “In any case, you’ll have to spend a few hours each day regenerating in a Borg alcove until your human metabolism can takeover-.”

“That will have to wait,” A voice called from across the room. Light flooded into the dark cargo bay as Captain Janeway entered, followed closely by Ensigns Kim and Ayala. “Doctor,” Janeway continued, “we need you in sickbay. Lieutenant Paris is already there. We have wounded.”

“Aye, Captain,” the hologram responded, quickly grabbing his medical kit and hurrying out of the cargo bay.

“Seven of Nine,” The captain said, turning her attention to the former drone still standing in her alcove. “We’ll be needing your assistance as well.”

Seven eyed Janeway for a long moment, carefully considering her words before responding. “My last assignment aboard this ship ended in the brig. I would prefer to remain here.”

“Not an option,” Janeway replied, shaking her head. “Voyager has suffered heavy damage and it’s up to each and every member of this crew to pitch in.” When the former drone failed to react and continued to stare blankly at her, Janeway added, “Our survival is your survival.” That statement seemed to make more of an impact, as Seven cocked her head slightly in response.

“I understand.”

“The ship’s sensors are offline. I want you to work with Ensign Kim to repair them.”

Harry Kim looked alarmed at Janeway’s last statement. “Captain, are you sure this is a good idea?” the young ensign pleaded before being interrupted by Seven of Nine.

“Ensign Kim, the last time I was assigned to you, I struck you at the base of your skull and attempted to contact the Collective. It will not happen again.” The former drone’s declaration did little to ease the young man’s fears, but the captain managed to display a ghost of a smile.

“Good to hear,” Janeway continued. “However, I’m assigning Ensign Ayala here to ensure that it doesn’t. Dismissed.”

Seven stepped out of her alcove and marched towards the doors, flanked on either side by the ensigns dressed in gold tunics. Harry Kim eyed the former drone carefully, never letting himself get too far ahead of her. Ayala similarly kept pace, his phaser trained on Seven the entire time.

“Oh, and Seven,” Janeway called, snapping her fingers upon recalling something nearly forgotten. “You’ll need one of these.” She tossed a small object towards Seven of Nine, who caught it with cat-like reflexes.

Seven turned the small object over in her hand, identifying it as a Starfleet combadge, a small communication device in the shape of the Starfleet insignia. She looked up at the captain, who gave her the most genuine smile she had seen Janeway make since they had met.

“Welcome to Voyager.”

Princess Celestia left the girls to settle into their quarters. She would have liked to have spent more time with the Elements of Generosity and Laughter, however; she had a more pressing appointment. The palace guards saluted her as she passed along the halls on her way to the castle courtyard. Her sun was gently setting in the distance when she arrived. The Solar Princess took a moment to watch the western sky as she lowered the golden globe beyond the horizon. The countryside was briefly bathed in an orange glow and the light reflecting off the nearby clouds gave them a light magenta hue. The princess worked hard to create the sunset for her subjects yet rarely found the time to enjoy it herself; it was something she would have to see about changing.

Once the sun had sank beyond the distant hilltops, a cloud bank in the distant sky began to darken, as if on cue. The clouds rumbled and thundered briefly until an object shot out of them, heading directly towards Canterlot castle. The object - a chariot clad in dark ebony trim being pulled by two pegasi of the Royal Lunar Guard - slowed as it passed over the courtyard. The chariot’s lone occupant, a cloaked figure, sprang from the vehicle and gently glided on dark indigo wings down to where Celestia stood. Upon landing, the figure’s cloak quickly evaporated, revealing a stunning dark blue alicorn, her mane a glittering collection of blues and violets, which waved gently behind her, and an ebony tiara perched atop her head.

Celestia shook her head and smiled. Her sister truly did know how to make an entrance.

“Celestia!” the figure called, briskly trotting over to The Solar Princess. Celestia beamed inwardly at the sound of her own name. She seldom ever heard it spoken without the ‘Princess’ label.

“Luna,” Celestia returned, drawing the dark alicorn princess into a tight embrace. “It’s so good to see you.” She gestured towards the castle doors and the pair began walking together in stride.

“How were the trade negotiations in Zebraica?” Celestia posed quietly as they passed the door’s threshold.

“At first I was sceptical, dear sister of mine. But t 'was quite the spectacle, and well worth the time.”

The Solar Princess stopped dead in her tracks at her sister’s statement, a look of shock plastered across her face. Luna returned her stare with a blank expression, which quickly broke into a wide grin accompanied by a fit of giggling. Celestia herself could not help but join in.

“You’re speaking in verse now?” Celestia asked when the laughter had subsided. “And I had just gotten used to the Royal Canterlot Voice.”

“Oh lighten up, sister, ‘tis but us having a bit of fun,” Luna countered as they continued to stroll down the castle halls. “As for the negotiations, our offer was generously met. Our presence there was merely a formality.”

“The nation of Zebraica is one of our closest friends. It’s important that we keep up political ties. Besides,” Celestia added, “they must have been thrilled to play host to an Equestrian princess.”

Luna sighed heavily. “Of that I am sure,” she said, pausing a moment and gazing out a castle window to where her moon was presently rising. “However, we- I think, I have spent enough time away. I would much rather be at home.”

Celestia gently wrapped a wing around her sister, drawing her in closer. While Luna’s speech had become more modern in recent months, she only left the ‘royal we’ out of her most personal statements. “Likewise,” Celestia whispered, before the moment was lost and they continued their stroll.

They walked in silence for a short stretch approaching Celestia’s private quarters before the Solar Princess spoke. “There is something I have been meaning to ask you about,” she posed gently.

“Oh?”

“When was the last astral-census conducted?”

Luna raised an eyebrow at this statement. The astral-census was carry out periodically by the Royal Astronomical Society to keep track of the smaller celestial bodies and help schedule the passing of comets, meteor showers and the like. Luna herself had presided over the society since her return and, much to the delight of its members, had taken a much more liberal attitude towards the art of the night sky than Celestia had.

“‘T 'was last month,” Luna answered, “Scheduled every quarter. Why?”

The pair entered the chamber and Celestia nodded for the guards to leave them as she responded. “There have been scattered reports from Appleloosa to Cloudsdale of an unscheduled meteor shower two days ago.”

Luna frowned. “Space is vast, sister. Despite our best efforts, even we cannot keep track of every object in the night sky.”

“Of course, Luna, and normally I wouldn’t pay it any mind, but…” Celestia’s voice trailed off.

Luna turned to face her sister who had stopped a few steps back. The smile that had been so prevalent on the Solar Princess’s face had been replaced with an expression of uncertainty. It was an expression Luna almost never saw her make. In an instant Luna was at her sister’s side.

“Celestia, what is it?”

The Solar Princess frowned and glanced back at the door briefly, ensuring they were alone. “Can’t you hear it, Luna?” Celestia answered, her voice almost a whisper. “Deep in the back of your mind?” When she received nothing but a confused look from her sister, Celestia pressed on. “Focus your mind and listen carefully.”

Luna nodded in response, still unsure of her sister’s request. She took a seat across from her sister on one of the many cushions scattered about the lavishly decorated chambers and closed her eyes. The dark alicorn’s horn began to take on a soft midnight blue aura as she filed her thoughts away and embraced the silence of her own mind. Or she would have, had she not been disturbed by a faint sound emanating from a distant corner of her mind. Luna’s brow furrowed in concentration as she focused on the offending noise, bringing it to the forefront of her mind. She could make out a series of faint garbled sounds… a voice speaking words, yet too faint to make out. Luna’s horn began to shine brighter as she zeroed in on the sound. After what seemed like an eternity, at last she could hear the voice clearly.

“This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager to any vessel in range. We have suffered heavy damage and require assistance. Message repeats. This is Captain-.”

Luna’s eye’s shot open, her mouth agape. Her sister gave her a weak smile.

“Hear Kathryn Janeway’s message?”

The Lunar Princess stared at Celestia, her mouth desperately trying to form words yet unable to make a sound. Luna’s mind reeled as she tried to explain the strange message. Eventually she was able to utter a response.

“How?”

The Solar Princess shook her head. “I don’t know Luna, and what’s worse, I haven’t been able to come up with any way of responding.”

“We cannot recall any vessels named Voyager,” the Lunar Princess said, after a long moment in thought.

“Indeed,” Celestia replied. “The Royal Equestrian Navy has no ships by that name, at sea or in the air. I’ve also made some discreet inquiries with the griffon and zebra ambassadors. They deny having any ships named Voyager.”

“Then whose ship is it?” Luna wondered aloud.

Celestia shifted slightly before meeting her sister’s gaze. “Kathryn Janeway referred to Voyager as a Starship.”

Luna’s eyes widened when she realized what it was her sister was implying. “Sister, surely you jest,” she said in disbelief.

“A vessel from a distant star, come here to Equestria,” The Solar Princess responded, almost lost in her own thoughts.

“Dost thou not realize what thou sayest?!” Luna bellowed, the Royal Canterlot voice making an appearance after so many months absent from her speech. “The implications, mine sister, canst thou imagine?”

Luna’s mind raced as she considered the possibilities. Aliens… ALIENS! Here in Equestria. How would their subjects react? Would the idea excite them? Would it terrify them? Would it cause them to panic? What of their neighbours, the other nations of the world? Could a fragile global peace be shattered by the revelation that they were not alone in the universe?

“The implication is that there is a ship out there in need of help,” Celestia responded softly yet firmly.

Luna was about to launch a counter argument before she caught herself. Her sister firmly believed that the measure of a ruler was how they treated others, both domestic and foreign. She knew Celestia would not be swayed from that position unless a clear and present threat had been determined. The Lunar Princess sighed and conceded to her elder sister.

“What should we do?” Luna asked at a much more reasonable volume.

Celestia looked skyward through the glass of her private chamber’s atrium-like ceiling. “Watch the skies, Luna,” she answered softly.

“You believe the meteor shower is somehow connected?” Luna posed, following her sister’s gaze upwards, her eyes surveying the countless stars that now filled the night sky.

“The timing is suspect,” The Solar Princess replied. “Have the Royal Astronomical Society search every corner of the heavens, just to be sure.” Celestia’s gaze shifted back to her sister and her voice took a more serious tone. “Make sure to have them come to us with their findings first. You and I both know how excitable those scholarly types can get when they catch word of a new discovery.”

Luna chuckled as her mind drew an image of greying old mares and stallions in lab coats dancing around like foals on Hearth's Warming Eve. “Very well, sister. I shall speak with the Astronomical Society presently.”

As her sister made to leave, Celestia called out. “Wait, Luna - you’ve only just returned. Please, stay. Talk with me a while,” The Solar Princess pleaded gently.

Luna paused. Since her return, the dark alicorn had been receiving a lot of extra attention from her sister. While at first she had believe her sister simply craved the fellowship of another immortal being, Luna soon realized Celestia’s attention was her way of trying to make amends for banishing the corrupted Lunar Princess so long ago. They both knew Celestia had had no other choice and Luna harboured no ill will towards her sister. In spite of this, Luna could see her sister was still burdened with guilt from the act she had taken over a thousand years prior.

“Very well,” Luna agreed, returning to her seat next to Celestia. “The Astronomical Society can wait a few hours.” If the mere act of conversing could ease her sisters suffering, who was she to deny her that?

The two monarchs talked well into the night.

Captain’s Log, Stardate: 51042.9. It’s been eighteen hours since we encountered the anomaly that brought us here and we are no closer to discovering what it was or where we are now. The damage to Voyager is more extensive than we had previously thought. Nerves are frayed and tension is mounting; however, I’m confident that we can rise to meet any challenges ahead.

Captain Janeway walked across the bridge towards the briefing room where her senior officers were assembling. She stepped over a charred piece of debris, likely the remnants of a blown-out console. The bridge has seen better days. Janeway noted that she hadn’t seen the command center of her ship in such bad shape since they were first pulled into the Delta Quadrant almost three years prior. Members of one of B'Elanna’s engineering teams were busy effecting repairs, clearing debris and replacing damaged components.  

Reaching the far side of the bridge, Janeway entered the room and acknowledged her senior staff. They were all standing and looked as if they had been involved in a heated discussion moments before. The captain’s arrival had signalled a ceasefire. Despite their outward composure as they all stood at attention, Janeway could see that the ship’s current situation weighed heavily on them. Even Tuvok, wearing the same expressionless face he always did, gave off an air of gloom as he met her gaze.

Janeway motioned to the table. “At ease,” she ordered as she made her way past Chakotay and Paris to the head of the table. “Now please, tell me at least one of you has some good news.” The officers began to take their seats. Seven of Nine stood with her back against the wall behind Harry Kim, watched closely by Ensign Ayala, who stood near the door. Kim glanced nervously between Seven and Ayala, obviously still uncomfortable having the former drone standing behind him.

“Well?” Janeway pressed, observing the officers. A few shifted in their seats. Finally the Doctor spoke.

“Things are going reasonably well on the medical front,” the holographic doctor began with a hint of pride in his voice. “Crewman Lang suffered severe plasma burns when a plasma conduit exploded on deck six and there were fourteen other minor injuries, all of which I’ve treated. Lang has been discharged from Sickbay but will need several days to fully recover.”

“Well, that’s something. Thank you, Doctor,” Janeway responded, her face displaying a hint of relief. Her expression darkened once more as she turned to face her first officer. “Chakotay, damage report.” Commander Chakotay frowned as he looked over the PADD in his hand. He took a deep breath and began to list off the damaged systems.

“We’ve sustained damage to almost every deck, including the shuttle bays. Main power is down. The main computer is offline, along with most primary systems.  Security force fields are down on decks three through twelve. Replicators are offline-”

“Commander,” Janeway interrupted, “Perhaps it would be faster if you listed the systems that are working?”

“Deflector control, transporters and long range communications are in working order and we’ve got partial shields, though the ventral emitters are still offline.”

“Tuvok?” Janeway asked, turning towards her security chief. “Weapons.”

“I’m afraid the news is not good,” the Vulcan began. “The energy discharge from the anomaly fused the forward phaser arrays, and both fore and aft torpedo launchers are offline.”

Janeway sighed heavily at his statement. “Do we have any weapons at all?” The captain asked holding up her hands, as if willing to accept anything.

Tuvok shot a glance to Lieutenant Torres before answering the captain.

“During the time since we encountered the anomaly, the one remaining Borg torpedo launcher on the primary hull has regenerated and is fully operational.”

It was Janeway’s turn to frown. During Voyager’s brief alliance with the Borg, the Collective had made several alterations to the ship in order to better defend against Species 8472. When the alliance had fallen apart, Janeway had ordered the removal of the Borg enhancements, as they were interfering with Voyager’s systems. Over the past two weeks, engineering teams had been stripping the Borg armour and weapons nodes off from the ship’s hull, but it had been a slow process and even now, Voyager’s hull was still spotted with glowing grey and green ‘implants’.

“However,” the Vulcan continued, shaking the captain from her musings, “it was designed to fire bio-molecular warheads, not type VI photon torpedoes. It would take almost as long to repair our own torpedo tubes as it would to modify the Borg weapon to Starfleet standards.”

“Leave it for now. We’ve got more pressing issues.” Janeway nodded towards her chief engineer. “B'Elanna, what’s our engine status?” B'Elanna Torres looked up from the table and met the captain's eyes for the first time since she entered the room.

“We should have the warp core and main power back online within the hour. The impulse manifolds took some damage; it will be at least twelve hours before the sub-light engines are operational.”

“What about warp drive?” the captain pressed.

Torres bit her lip and sighed heavily. “Three weeks,” she said simply. Silence fell over the briefing room as the assembled officers brooded over the implications of the lieutenant’s statement. Janeway looked on as Tom Paris, his demeanour dripping of exasperation, surveyed the room; at last, the young man rose to his feet and slammed the table.

“Three weeks?! You can’t be serious, B'Elanna!”

Torres huffed at this statement as she rose and walked to the briefing room’s data terminal. After tapping a few buttons, she brought up an image of the ship’s stern on the monitor.

“The energy discharge passed right through the port nacelle,” Torres began, pointing to the image. “Honestly, I’m surprised it’s still intact. Almost every part of the nacelle is going to have to be repaired or replaced.” She turned and locked eyes with the captain once more. “Captain, that three week estimate assumes I have access to replacement parts. Even if I cannibalize every nonessential system on the ship, we’ll still come up short. I… don’t know if I can fix this, captain.”

Torres lowered her head once more and returned to her seat. Captain Janeway remained silent for a long moment as she tried to digest the information. Finally she turned to face Paris, who had since regained his composure.

“Lieutenant Paris, has there been any response to our distress calls?” the captain’s tone was even and level, though all her officers could tell there was an edge in her voice that hadn’t been there before. Paris sat up a little straighter before responding.

“No ma’am, no comm traffic of any kind, the channels are clear.”

“Then we’ll have to hope we can find the materials we need in this system,” the captain responded. “Harry, what have you got?”

The young ensign quickly rose from his seat and took the same position Torres had next to the monitor. After tapping a few buttons an image of the planet they were orbiting appeared on the screen.

“Seven and I have managed to restore partial sensors,” Kim began, nodding towards Seven of Nine. For her part, Seven merely glared at him before resuming her cold stare at the bulkhead across the room. Unfazed, the ensign continued. “We are currently orbiting an M Class planet. It has one satellite, a Class D moon. The planet has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, 96% Earth-standard gravity and is capable of supporting plant and animal life. It’s also probably the strangest planet I’ve ever seen.”

“Explain,” Janeway responded, her curiosity piqued. Harry had not yet described anything out of the ordinary.

“The planet isn’t rotating,” the ensign continued enthusiastically. “In fact, its position seems to be fixed in relation to every other object in the system.”

Chakotay hazarded a guess. “Some sort of rogue planetoid?”

“That’s what I thought at first, too,” Kim responded, pointing a finger at Chakotay. “That is, until Seven located the planet’s sun.” Kim tapped a few more buttons and the monitor display changed to a close-up image of a star. “It’s a G-Type star, probably 4.8 billion years old… and it’s orbiting the planet.”

“That’s impossible,” Torres shouted, staring at Harry.

“Ensign Kim,” Tuvok began, “were you not only able to restore partial sensors? Perhaps you have misinterpreted the sensor data-.”

“Ensign Kim is correct,” a voice came from across the room; Seven of Nine had broken her silence and was glaring daggers at Lieutenant Tuvok. “While we are unable to explain why this phenomenon occurs, as there is no gravity well of sufficient size in the area to account for its movement, there is no mistake; the star is orbiting the planet.” Satisfied that she had made her point, Seven returned her gaze to the bulkhead.

“Leaving that aside for now,” Janeway interjected, trying to reduce the mounting tension in the room as well as return to more pressing matters, “Does the planet have any of the materials we’ll need to manufacture replacement parts?”

“We’ve been able to confirm the existence of duranium, verterium, and cortenum on the planet. I’ve also detected small dilithium deposits on the planet’s moon. If we can find a way to refine these materials onboard the ship, we should be able to synthesize replacement parts.” Everyone at the table seemed to let out a sigh of relief, but Kim held up his hand before anyone could say anything else. “There is, however, one small problem. The planet is inhabited.” Kim then brought up a distorted, greyscale image, displaying clusters of squares and rectangles connected by winding, disjointed lines.

“Harry, I thought you said you fixed the sensors,” Paris prodded.

Kim just shook his head. “This is the best we can do right now. These here look like railroads,” he said pointing to a section of the monitor, “and this river appears to be blocked by an artificial dam. I’d say were looking at a civilization in the early stages of industrialization.”

“Keep working on the sensors, Mr. Kim,” said Janeway. “I want to know everything there is to know about the planet and its inhabitants. See if you can find any of the ores in isolated or unpopulated regions. If you can’t, we may have to explore other options. We’ve got to make sure we’re not detected by the locals. Send the Doctor any biometric data on the inhabitants once you’ve isolated them.”

“Captain, there is another matter,” Seven interrupted, moving from her position against the wall.

Ensign Ayala tightened his grip on his phaser as the former drone moved towards the data terminal. Ensign Kim quickly moved out of her way and returned to his seat, knowing full well she would have run him over if he hadn’t.

Seven continued. “While we were scanning the system, we picked up several tritanium signatures on the planet’s surface.”

“That doesn’t seem consistent with the level of technology you’ve described,” Chakotay stated.

“Correct,” Seven responded without looking away from the monitor, “We traced the signatures to a wooded area on a continent in the northern hemisphere.”

Seven finished tapping several buttons on the terminal. The monitor now displayed another greyscale image; this one depicted a large circular object surrounded by clumpy, asymmetrical shapes which could only be assumed to be foliage. Janeway immediately recognized what it was she was looking at.

“The sphere,” the captain muttered, her voice almost a whisper.

Seven glanced briefly at the captain before continuing. “The sphere is a long range tactical vessel. The ship has sustained heavy damage, but appears to be mostly intact. It is currently regenerating.”

Captain Janeway rose from her seat, turning away from her officers and towards the briefing room windows, through which the planet they were discussing could be clearly seen. Without taking her eyes off the planet, the captain spoke.

“Harry, what’s the population of the planet?”

“Based on what I’ve seen, my best guess is several hundred million,” the ensign replied.

“Seven,” Janeway began, turning back from the window and locking eyes with the former drone. “I want all available tactical information about this vessel. Weapons, defenses, layout, crew compliment – everything.”

Chakotay was surprised at his captain’s sudden interest in the downed Borg vessel. “Captain?”

“We’re going to destroy that ship,” Janeway responded, the smile from earlier returning to her face.

“What?!” Torres shouted, coming across more forcefully than she had intended. “Have you not been listening to what I’ve been saying? This ship is falling apart! We are in no condition to do anything to that sphere!” While the engineer did her best to remain level headed, her Klingon heritage often made it difficult. Thankfully, the captain always seemed to offer her more latitude than protocol demanded.

“I’m well aware of our condition, lieutenant,” Janeway countered, “and I’m not going to let it stop us from helping these people.”

It was Tuvok’s turn to object. “Captain, need I remind you that aiding this society in any way would constitute a direct violation of the Prime Directive?”

Janeway paused for a moment to consider her response, knowing full well that how she responded to his objections would also be how she would justify the decision to herself.

“The Prime Directive states that no Starfleet officer shall interfere in the natural development of an alien society,” Janeway began, reciting the Directive from memory – It was a tenant that every Starfleet officer had to know and abide by. “That is, unless said society has already been contaminated, in which case, action can be taken to minimize the damage. Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but that,” Janeway said, pointing at the image of the sphere, “looks like contamination to me. I refuse to believe that being assimilated by the Borg is part of this world’s natural evolutionary process, and I’ll be damned if we stand by and let it happen.”

Janeway paused again, ensuring her officers were fully aware of her resolve before continuing. “Chakotay, I want you to work with Tuvok and Seven. Come up with an attack plan. We don’t have much time until the sphere completely regenerates. The rest of you get working on those repairs; we’ll need to be in as good of shape as possible before taking on the Collective. You have your orders.”

The assembled officers slowly rose from their seats and shuffled towards the briefing room exit. Before any of them could make it very far, Seven of Nine spoke.

“Captain Janeway, you are in error,” Seven stated matter-of-factly. The rest of the officers froze, either stunned by her statement or wanting to see the captain’s response. For her part, Janeway raised an eyebrow at the declaration.

“Is that so?” The captain asked, deciding to hear Seven out.

“Engaging the Borg is a tactical error,” Seven continued, “The Borg will not perceive us as a threat so long as we remain in orbit. We should take the necessary resources and leave. Once we restore the sensor logs, we can use the main deflector to recreate the anomaly and return us to our own reality.”

“What if you can’t?” Janeway responded, narrowing her eyes. “What if it takes longer than anticipated? What if the logs are unrecoverable? When the Borg are done with the planet, who do you think they’ll come for next? I won’t be caught playing with the sensors when the Borg arrive in force, not when we can do something right now.”

“I can recover the logs,” Seven resisted.

“I appreciate your confidence, Seven, but the decision has been made.”

“The wrong decision.”

The captain locked her eyes with Seven’s. It was clear she was done arguing with the former drone. “Seven of Nine, you will assist Commander Chakotay and Lieutenant Tuvok in the creation of an attack plan or Ensign Ayala will escort you to the cargo bay, where you will remain until the situation has been resolved. Is that understood?”

The former drone continued to stare at the captain. Janeway could see the conflict raging behind Seven’s hardened glare. Everyone in the room watched the two in silence, waiting for one to concede. Finally, one did.

“Yes, Captain.”

“Dismissed.”

As if shaken from a trance, the senior officers resumed their course towards the exit, quickly filing out of the room. Alone in the briefing room, Janeway hung her head and sighed.

“Just another day in the captain’s chair.”

She drifted through the void of space, above the planet she had once called home. She… she was a she wasn’t she? She had been reduced to a specter, merely a ghost of her former self. She no longer had a body. She existed now as a cloud of energy; simply essence without physical form. ‘It’ would have seemed a more apt description of her current state, although she would never admit it.

How long had she been out here, banished from the world below? She had been exiled once before, but that had been a different affair entirely. She had a body then; her host had shared in her exile, deep within the rocky orb. Even trapped in that celestial prison, she could perceive time; she could hear her host’s breaths and count her heartbeats. For every heartbeat she felt she knew she was one beat closer to freedom. Now she floated without form, high above the planet that never turned, without any means of knowing the passage of time. It was maddening.

She drifted perpetually around the stationary planet, interrupted only by the occasional connection with a passing asteroid that the planet’s gravity had managed to pull into orbit. She could envelop, inhabit and explore them with her essence, yet without a living host she could do nothing with them. Inhabiting these bodies served no purpose, other than to remind her of her previous imprisonment.

Another such object was approaching her. She recognized immediately that something was different about this one. It was massive, far larger than the pebbles that normally fell into orbit. Its surface was smooth and regular, unlike the pitted and uneven faces of asteroids. But what set it apart from the rest was that it seemed to be radiating energy. She could sense heat and light emanating from the object as it approached.

She reached out with her nebulous form and touched the passing object. As she explored it, she could feel the energy coursing through it, like blood pumping through the countless conduits that permeated the object. But what excited her the most was what she could sense deeper within the object.

Life.

The object contained life. It may very well have been alive itself, in a limited way. Life promised a chance at freedom and a chance to end her exile. She could not allow such an opportunity to pass her by. She latched on to the fleeing object, sinking her formless mass of energy inside of it and allowing herself to drift along with the energy flowing through it. She then began the daunting task of trying to study and understand the object; proceeding with an enthusiasm not seen since her banishment had begun. For if the life within promised freedom, then freedom promised her something she craved more than both.

Revenge.

Twilight Sparkle swatted another mosquito with her tail, grumbling slightly. The unicorn had thought about using her magic to create a shield around herself to keep the bloodsucking insects at bay; however, she simply wasn’t able to generate one with a small enough profile to protect her and fit through the dense foliage, let alone her three companions. Unable to come up with a better way of dealing with the insects, she begrudgingly resorted to using her tail like everypony else.

It was little wonder nopony had ever bothered exploring this region. Dangerous creatures and unpredictable weather aside, the whole area was wet, marshy and incredibly difficult to travel through. Twilight and her friends were tired and their bodies caked with mud. In spite of this, Twilight remained resolute. She was determined to give the most detailed report possible. She was doing this for science… and admittedly because she couldn’t stand the thought of failing the professor or her mentor Princess Celestia.

The lavender unicorn looked back, checking on her friends. The insects did not seem to bother Applejack, who marched quietly behind her. There was no doubt the farm-pony had a lot more experience roughing it in the wilderness than the rest of her friends. Applejack had been reluctant to join the expedition given the fact it would keep her away from the farm, but now that she was here, it almost looked like she was enjoying herself.

Fluttershy on the other hoof had been adamant about joining the expedition; the desire of discovering never-before-seen animals being strong enough to move the otherwise timid pegasus to action. Her resolve had wavered once they had reached the edge of the uninviting Everfree Forest and she had resisted even leaving their campsite. Her fear had gradually given way to excitement again, once she was surrounded by her friends. The yellow pegasus’ eyes darted around the forest, no longer fearfully looking for danger, but in the hopes of catching a glimpse of a rare creature.

Twilight was not sure what to make of Rainbow Dash. The normally brash and outspoken pegasus had remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the entire trip from Ponyville to their campsite and their current excursion deeper into the forest. Twilight had mentioned the need to remain as quiet as possible to avoid scaring away the animals they were there to study. She smiled at the thought that Rainbow might have actually taken her advice. Her thoughts were shattered by a loud groan from behind her.

“This is so boring!”

Twilight rolled her eyes. Complete silence was obviously too much to hope for. Behind her, Applejack was chuckling. The farm-pony quickly responded to Rainbow’s comment.

“Lighten up, Rainbow. A long walk through the woods will do ya some good.”

“We haven’t seen anything since we got here,” The cyan pegasus replied, placing a heavy emphasis on ‘anything’.

Twilight sighed. “We’ve only been here one day,” she deadpanned.

“Yeah, but still,” Rainbow Dash continued. “We should have seen some horrible monster with like eight thousand horns by now!” The cyan pegasus heard Fluttershy giggle a bit at her last statement, before the group fell into silence once more.

The quartet continued their trek through the forest. As they went along, the trees began thinning out slightly, letting more light from Celestia’s sun filter through the canopy of leaves above them. Rainbow looked skywards and noticed, to her displeasure, that the sky was devoid of clouds. On top of having failed to discover any new creatures, there had not been any weather related jobs for her to do since their arrival either. The trees continued to thin out as the landscape became even more swamp-like. The group had to slow their pace a bit to check their footing and ensure they wouldn’t go sinking into the mud.

“Rainbow Dash is right,” said a meek voice.

The rest of the group looked to Fluttershy, who was slowly making her way through the bog behind Applejack. She avoided eye contact as she pressed on, but kept speaking.

“We should have seen something by now, even if it was just birds or rodents. The forest seems too quiet. Professor Trottson and Serene said they didn’t see anything last night either.”

“Too busy looking at each other,” Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath.

“What was that?” an annoyed Twilight called from the front of the group.

“Nothing,” the cyan pegasus said dismissively. “I’m sure they were just engaging in… research.”

“Research?” Applejack raised an eyebrow.

Rainbow Dash snickered. “Yeah, uh, in comparative anatomy.”

The farm-pony let out a disgusted sigh, turning back towards the cyan pegasus. “For pony’s sake Rainbow, that’s…” she trailed off when she saw her friend’s face. Rainbow Dash was now seated on her haunches, eyes open wide and mouth hanging ajar as she stared upwards. Applejack saw Fluttershy standing next to her, wearing a similar expression and staring in the same direction. The orange farm-pony followed their gazes, and upon reaching their end, she felt her own jaw drop. “Land sakes…”

The group members found themselves standing at the edge of a clearing in the forest, but it was obvious from the mass destruction before them that the clearing was unnatural. The thinly spread trees ahead had been flattened for hundreds of strides in all directions. Some were burned, while others had been simply knocked over and pressed into the ground. The wet marshy earth had been pushed outwards in a wavy pattern and the ground warped into shallow hills and valleys. It resembled the ripples on a pond’s surface when broken by a skipping stone. But what rested at the center was no stone.

The object towered above the canopy of the surrounding forest. Irregular dark greyish scales were unevenly arranged over its surface, forming winding angular trenches across its curved exterior. The object could perhaps best be described as a colossal dome. Parts of its metallic shell looked singed and melted, others were unblemished and their smooth surfaces reflected the sunlight. Others still appeared heavily damaged, exhibiting large gashes and tares, where twisted metallic framework and soft green light could be seen emanating from within. It sat at the center of the destruction; a foreign body gouged into the earth.

Rainbow Dash was the first to speak. “What is that?” she asked dumfounded, still seated in the mud. Ahead of her, Twilight reached into her saddlebag and extracted a piece of folded paper with her magic.

“It’s…” Twilight began, unfolding and levitating the large parchment in front of her muzzle, examining it closely. “…Not on the map…” The unicorn frowned. While the region was unexplored, aerial surveys were conducted periodically along the edge of The Everfree Forest to provide data for maps of the Equestrian territories. The pegasus pony she had bought the map from in Dodge Junction had assured her the chart was up to date and accurate to with twenty strides.

“How could anypony have missed that?!” Rainbow shouted, jumping back up and pointing a hoof at the offending object. “Even if this place is unexplored, you could see that thing for miles from the sky! Somepony would have noticed it.”

“Ah reckon you’re right, Rainbow,” Applejack agreed. “Look at all them downed n’ burned trees,” she continued, moving a foreleg in a sweeping motion across the clearing. “Somethin’ happened here recently.”

It was Rainbow’s turn to frown. “Yeah, okay,” she conceded. “But where did it come from?”

“Didn’t you see a meteor shower a few days back?” Twilight said, finally pealing her eyes away from the object, and the map, turning to face the cyan pegasus.

“Well yeah, but-.”

“Maybe it fell from the sky.”

“What?!” Applejack and Rainbow Dash shouted in unison, staring at Twilight in disbelief.

Twilight pressed on. “The burn marks don’t look much older than that,” she said pointing towards one of the downed trees. Its surface was scorched and yet, despite the wet ground around it, the tree appeared bone dry.

“Wait a second!” Rainbow shouted. “We didn’t see anything like this. Somepony would have seen this come down!”

“Hmm…You’re right,” Twilight admitted. “And an object this size would have left a much larger crater,” she added, after pausing for a moment in thought. “Well what are we waiting for?” The lavender unicorn then asked suddenly, replacing the map and closing her saddlebags.

“Twilight?” the farm-pony asked, confused.

“These questions aren’t going to answer themselves. We need to investigate.” Twilight nodded towards the massive dome.

“Now hold your horses there, sugar cube,” Applejack said. “We don’t know anything about this thing.”

“Exactly!” Twilight said with a widening grin. “Nopony knows anything about this. We’ll be the first ones to examine it.”

Fluttershy, who had since backed away from the edge of the clearing, broke her tentative silence. “Maybe we should go back. Tell the Professor and Serene-.”

“No Way!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “We’ve been trudging through the swamp for hours to get this far. This is the most interesting thing we’ve seen since we got here! I’m not going back without at least taking a look. What if it’s gone when we get back?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Up and leave, just like that?”

“Hey, nopony saw it get here. Who’s to say we’d see it leave?”

“Can’t we just go back to camp?” Fluttershy silently pleaded.

“Girls!” Twilight shouted, ending her friends' bickering. “We came out here to learn and discover new things,” she continued, sounding resolute. “This may not have been what we were looking for, but that doesn’t make it any less important. We owe it to the Academy to learn as much as possible about it. Even Princess Celestia will want to know about this. Who’s with me?”

“Well, so long as we’re careful-.”

“Alright!” Rainbow shouted loudly, cutting Applejack off.

Fluttershy seemed unconvinced. “I don’t know…”

Twilight focused her attention on Fluttershy. She had backed away even further and her face was almost completely obscured by her pink mane. It was clear the yellow pegasus was not as thrilled with the idea of investigating the strange object as she was. Twilight wasn’t about to force Fluttershy to do anything she did not want to, but by the same token, she was not ready to give up trying to convince her friend just yet.

“Fluttershy, we’ll just look inside and take a few notes,” the lavender unicorn began in a diplomatic tone. “Then we’ll head back and tell the professor and Serene. We can bring them here tomorrow.”

Inwardly, Fluttershy was sceptical, wondering how Twilight defined ‘a few notes;’ however, after receiving reassuring nods from both Applejack and Rainbow Dash, she ultimately agreed.

“Okay, I guess so…”

Twilight gave her a warm smile. “Don’t worry; everything is going to be fine.” She then nodded towards the dome. “Let’s go.”

The quartet then began making their way towards the imposing structure.

Captain Janeway stood on Main Engineering’s second level, with the warp core behind her humming softly as it powered the rest of the ship. She leaned against the guard rail and observed the crewmen working below. Crewmen ran from station to station, carrying replacement parts or diagnostic tools with them, making repairs and adjusting controls. The flurry of activity would have appeared chaotic to most, but Janeway recognized her chief engineer B’Elanna Torres at the center of it all, barking orders and directing her team with all the skill of a conductor leading an orchestra. Eventually, the captain stepped away from the railing and turned her attention back to the matter at hand.

To the captain’s right, Lieutenant Tuvok was dispensing equipment to the away team members from a nearby weapons locker. Tuvok handed a Type-3 compression phaser rifle to both the captain and Lieutenant Paris, while Commander Chakotay and Tuvok himself opted to take smaller Type-2 hand phasers. He then passed each of them a tricorder and a wrist-mounted flashlight. Finally, the Vulcan removed a small number of spatial charges, carefully placing them in two carrying cases.

Satisfied they were fully equipped, Janeway gestured towards the engineering lift and the team headed for engineering’s main level for one final mission briefing.

On the engine room’s main floor, Lieutenant Torres was running a diagnostic, her face bathed in the blue glow of the warp core across from the console she was operating. The ship’s instruments were still registering a two percent power drain in the plasma network. She had sent Ensign Vorik to repair the EPS conduits that were bleeding energy. That had been over twenty minutes ago and her patience was running short.

Just as she was about to call him over the comm, the chief engineer looked up in time to see Vorik approaching from one of the Jeffries tube access doors. Before he could react, Torres was marching towards him, ready to grill him with questions.

“Vorik, did you replace those damaged conduits?” Torres shouted, approaching the Ensign. Vorik’s pace slowed as she got closer, and if she had not known better, Torres would have thought the Vulcan ensign was intimidated by her.

“No Lieutenant,” Vorik responded stoically, holding up an open tricorder. “The conduits you told me to replace are undamaged.”

“Let me see that,” Torres said, snatching the small scanning device from the ensign’s hand. Sure enough, the tricorder’s readouts confirmed the conduits’ undamaged state. She let out a frustrated sigh.

“Perhaps there is a problem with the internal sensor,” Vorik offered.

Torres gave the ensign an angry glare. “I’ve checked them. Three times,” she growled through her teeth. She marched back to the console near the warp core; Ensign Vorik was standing at her side a moment later. “Sensors are still picking up power fluctuations.” The engineer stood there, her eyes running back and forth across the readouts, until they picked up something interesting. “Take a look at this,” Torres said, pointing to a section of the screen. “It’s moved. The power drain is now on deck twelve, section forty seven.”

Vorik raised an eyebrow. “Shall I take a look?”

“I don’t care if you have to lock down every EPS conduit on the ship. Find that power drain!”

The ensign nodded and hurried out of the engine room.

“Problems?”

Torres spun around, finding herself face to face with Captain Janeway. Chakotay, Tuvok and Paris were following closely behind her. The engineer regained her composure and answered the captain.

“Since we’ve brought the warp core back online, there have been minor fluctuations in the power network,” Torres reported. “Honestly, I’m not surprised. With the ship this badly damaged, we’re bound to run into a few problems. It shouldn’t affect any primary systems.”

“Good to hear,” Janeway replied. Before she could comment further, the doors to Main Engineering hissed open and Harry Kim and Seven of Nine entered, still being shadowed by Ensign Ayala. The captain waved to them and signalled the rest of the officers to one of the many terminals along the engine room’s walls. With her senior staff assembled, forming a semicircle around her and the terminal, Janeway began the briefing.

“Alright, now that we’re all here, let’s go over this once more. I’ll be leading the away team consisting of Commander Chakotay and Lieutenants Tuvok and Paris.” Janeway motioned to each of the officers in turn.

Chakotay stepped forward and continued where the captain left off. “Once inside the sphere, we’ll be splitting into two teams,” Chakotay began. “Seven of Nine has identified several potential weaknesses within the sphere and we’ll be taking advantage of them.” He then gestured towards the former drone, beckoning her closer. “Seven?”

The captain and first officer retreated to the edge of the semicircle as the former drone took up position at its center. “Borg vessels have a largely decentralized power distribution network,” Seven dictated, her voice a dull monotone. She pressed a few buttons on the terminal, bringing up a schematic diagram of the Borg sphere. “Each distribution node has multiple redundant backups.” This information was well known to the crew; it was one of the reasons Borg vessels were so difficult to disable. “However,” Seven continued, “an explosive charge of sufficient yield placed at this damaged junction should cause a power surge throughout the entire ship.” She indicated the junction by pointing to a section of the monitor.

“Sensors have also picked up fluctuating power readings from the sphere’s central plexus.” Seven pressed on, tapping a few more buttons. The image zoomed in and the monitor displayed the core of the sphere. “The Borg drones are diverting power to repair other sections of the ship. A small group should be able to exploit this gap in security.”

“Tuvok and I will be targeting the power distribution junction,” the captain interjected. “Chakotay and Paris will head for the central plexus.”

“I still don’t understand why we can’t just beam down a couple of torpedoes and be done with it,” Tom Paris chimed in, choosing this moment to interrupt.

“Mr. Paris,” Voyager’s security chief began, turning to face the pilot. “The target locations are too heavily shielded. A photon detonation anywhere else would not cause enough damage unless they were fired directly from our torpedo launchers.” Tuvok’s monotonous droning as he offered his explanation was on par with Seven of Nine’s.

Janeway stepped forward once, more raising a finger and pointing at the screen. “Both charges have to be set at the target areas and detonated simultaneously in order to cause enough secondary explosions to destroy the sphere. B’Elanna,” she added, signalling the chief engineer, “we’ll be counting on you to pull us out of there at a moment’s notice.”

Torres nodded. “We’ll keep an active transporter lock on you.”

“Mr. Kim,” Janeway continued, “you’ll have the bridge while we’re away.” She regarded him with a smirk. “Try not to let it go to your head.”

Harry Kim failed to keep a large grin from appearing on his face. The young ensign was always looking for a chance to sit in the big chair. “Yes, captain,” he replied, beaming.

“Alright, let’s do it.”

The officers left main engineering and entered the corridor. Janeway watched the other members of the away team head off towards the transporter room, while the rest made their way towards the bridge. As she was leaving, Janeway caught Seven’s attention, stopping her just outside the engine room. Ensign Ayala, who still followed the former drone closely, stopped as well, until the captain nodded towards him and waved him off. He reciprocated and resumed his course for the bridge.

“Excellent work, Seven,” the captain congratulated, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I had my doubts at first, afraid you’d try to have us all assimilated, but this,” she continued holding up the PADD containing the mission outline, “has exceeded all my expectations.”

Seven’s expression was difficult to read. She gave the captain a long, scrutinizing look before responding. “I have identified the targets that would give this mission the highest chance of success,” she stated flatly. “That does not change the fact this mission is an unnecessary risk.”

“Seven, we’ve been over this,” Janeway said, her hand falling from Seven’s shoulder. “These people are defenceless. We cannot allow the destruction of this world, not if we can do something to prevent it. Millions of lives are at stake.”

“The welfare of this crew is at stake,” Seven countered. “This plan puts the away team and Voyager at risk. There could be unexpected obstacles that expose you and the ship to The Collective.” The former drone’s eyes narrowed. “Your vision is limited by your own experience. You are failing to draw on the experiences of others. You are one individual-.”

“Seven, this isn’t a Borg Collective!” Janeway shouted, cutting her off. “This is a starship with a clear chain of command. When the captain makes her decision, the discussion is over.” The captain took a deep breath. She knew this would not quell the former drone’s objections, so she decided to try a different approach. “Out here in the Delta Quadrant, or wherever we happen to find ourselves, we are alone, cut off from Starfleet. With no one else to turn to, we only have the principles of the Federation. They tell me we have to help these people and I stand by them.”

Seven remained unconvinced. “Even when those principles threaten your survival?”

“Especially when survival is at stake,” Janeway responded quietly. “Now get to the bridge. We’ll need your help to guide us through the sphere.”

Seven of Nine stared at Captain Janeway for a long moment, contemplating whether to further challenge her reasoning. Finally, the former drone simply turned and left, marching down the corridor en route to the bridge.

Janeway watched her go and shook her head. The captain made her own way to the transporter room where the rest of her team was waiting patiently on the transporter pad. After handing the PADD she was carrying to the transporter operator, she took her place on the pad.

“Trouble with our Borg?” Chakotay asked, gently voicing his concerns.

Janeway looked to her first officer. When Voyager had been initially stranded in the Delta Quadrant, Janeway and Chakotay had been on opposing sides. Now she could not imagine running the ship without him. As her first officer, Chakotay offered her his advice in command decisions, and she often sought his counsel.

“One step forward, two steps back,” Janeway replied with a sigh. “Just when I think I’m breaking through all that Borg conditioning, she falls back, resisting even harder. I knew it wouldn’t happen overnight, but I’m beginning to wonder if she will ever regain her individuality.”

Chakotay frowned. He spent a moment in thought, before finally speaking. “I don’t know, Captain. Only time will tell.” He shared a brief look with Lieutenant Tuvok before continuing. “That said, I do believe she is sincere about wanting this mission to succeed. Tuvok and I wouldn’t have been able to plan it without her.”

“Indeed,” Tuvok added, nodding forward slightly.

“Well, there’s something we have in common,” Janeway replied with a hint of a smile. “Let’s get to it.”

Captain Janeway unstrapped her phaser rifle and held the weapon high. The rest of the away team followed suit, drawing their weapons and standing ready. The captain turned to the transporter chief, signalling him to begin.

“Energize.”