Author's Note: For the more geeky treknobabble, I have linked relevant Memory Alpha Wikia pages in the story
Five Years Later...
"Like hell you're him!" Melanie screamed at me, right in my face poking her index finger into my chest. "He died a year ago testing some damn new shuttle! I don't know who or what you are!" She continued, her prodding forcing me back towards the door of my sister's home.
I don't know why I decided to come and visit her without contacting her first. I knew what Starfleet had told me when they investigated the area where I went missing and found that there were tell-tale traces of dust-form dark matter. Further study of my shuttle and it's sensor logs determined that my warp field had collapsed when it passed through a particularly thick cloud of it. After, the shuttle apparently hit a sizable rock of the stuff, shearing off the front portion of one of the nacelles causing the shuttle to veer towards the ion storm I was originally trying to avoid.
Fate was a funny thing. Sensor records from other Starfleet vessels in the area concluded that the storm was safe to pass through, even for a shuttle, with the right shield modifications. If I had OPS training I would have known that, but since I didn't, I did the sensible thing and changed course to avoid it, which put me into this entire mess in the first place.
But apparently, I, or rather another James Scott, survived the whole encounter. He was able to get a distress signal off and was rescued within a few hours. Meanwhile, I wound up where I crashed. I and the entire shuttle; had been copied right down to the molecular level.
I didn't believe it at first, but apparently this happened before to another vessel, USS Voyager, when she was lost in the Delta Quadrant. Their vessel was duplicated in a similar fashion when they exited a plasma drift. When I desperately tried to avoid the ion storm, I skimmed its outer edge and the drive plasma discharging from my damaged nacelle was ignited at the exact moment the shuttle's ejected warp core breached. All those events occurring at the same time produced the right set of circumstances allowing for the shuttle to be duplicated.
But that's not the weirdest part. Because of all the dark matter in that area of space, and its interaction with the ion storm, it all played havoc with subspace in that region. Right after the shuttle was duplicated, my copy was pulled into a pocket of normal space in a layer of subspace, which contained three stellar bodies: A star, a class-M planet, and a moon.
I originally thought that I simply crashed on a planet in one of the nearby star systems, but it wasn't until I salvaged the shuttles long range sensors a year after I had crashed, mostly out of curiosity, only to find that according to the sensors, the exact dimensions of the universe was a sphere four point two AU in diameter.
If fate thought it was funny, it must also think its fun to be a vindictive bitch. There I was stranded on a planet, no way to get off, no way to call for help, and then finding out that I was possibly somewhere other than the universe I came from.
Now fate, it seems, is doing it's best to kick me in the teeth.
I stood by the door of my sister's home, staring into the eyes of who I thought was family. The one person I thought would have welcomed me back after years away with open arms. Instead, I found anger and disbelief staring back at me.
"I know that I'm not the exact same James that you knew the last few years, but I'm still your brother. I have his memories, his personality, everything that made him, him, I have too." I told her. "I'm sorry that I showed up unannounced, this proved to be too big of a shock for you and I apologize. But try and see it from my point of view. I was stranded for five years. I had no idea what happened, I couldn't have predicted that. I thought that I had been declared missing and presumed lost. I came to terms with that, I thought I would never see you again." I continued, my voice becoming sullen. "After losing mom and dad, and then T'Pomei, that hurt, a lot. It took me a long time, but I moved on. So you could imagine my state of mind when I found myself with the chance to see you again."
After all I said, my sisters expression hardly changed until she let out a protracted sigh and rubbed the center of her forehead.
"I don't know what to believe, I need time to think on this. Until then, don't contact me, I'll contact you." She finally answered. "Please leave." She said coldly.
So I left. I took a few seconds to stare up into the sky above the Trill Capital of Leran Manev when I heard muffled voices through the door.
"Who was that Mom?" an adolescent female voice said that could only be Mellissa, my niece.
"Someone who knew your Uncle and wanted to talk to me. Go back to your homework."
While not surprised, my sister lying to her daughter about me hit like a ton of bricks.
"It didn't go well, did it?" A gentle voice asked me. Looking to a pair of kind cyan eyes made some of my stress go away.
"No, Fluttershy, it didn't. I don't even think I know that woman anymore." I told my dear friend.
"I heard some of your conversation through the door..." she said meekly. "It was kind of hard not too, but I think she's just shocked by this whole mess. She's family, I'm sure she'll come around."
"Thank you, 'shy, that means a lot," I told her, getting an affectionate nuzzle on my shoulder in return. "It's almost time for us to go, we should head back to the ship."
"I know that you have to attend this hearing, but you haven't told me what it's about."
"Well, it's an informal meeting to discuss what happened when I was stranded on your world," I told her. "Depending on how it goes, I could be in a lot of trouble. I didn't exactly follow the rules on some things." I pulled Fluttershy into a hug after I noticed her worried look. "It won't be that bad. All I have to do is tell the truth, and everything should work itself out."
"Ok, but I'm still worried." She told me, feigning annoyance.
With a smile, I tapped my comm badge. "Scott to Sutherland, two for transport."
"Thank you all for coming here today. I'm Rear Admiral Corbyn Matthews, Judge Advocate General for Starbase Eighteen. I want to extend welcome to our visiting dignitaries and guests to this proceeding." The Admiral said to all those gathered in the starbase's courtroom. "Please be seated." He continued, sitting down himself, then using a small hammer, he rang the tiny bell on the table in front of him.
"I now bring this hearing to order. The purpose of this hearing is to determine if there is sufficient evidence or cause to proceed to Article 32 proceedings, a court martial, under the Starfleet Code of Military Justice. Lieutenant James Matthew Scott, please stand. According to your own records of the ordeal you underwent, you are suspected of committing two counts of violating Starfleet General Order One, The Prime Directive. Specifically, interfering in the natural development of a pre-warp civilization by the sharing of knowledge and/or technology, and interfering in the internal affairs of said civilization." The Admiral continued, addressing me directly. "These are very serious charges, and should you be found guilty in a full court martial, they carry a sentence of no fewer than ten years in a penal colony and a dishonorable discharge from Starfleet." He explained. "Do you understand the gravity of these charges, Lieutenant?"
"I do, Admiral."
"Very well, let's continue," Admiral Matthews answered.
The first hour of the hearing droned on as the circumstances of how I wound up where I did where explained. In excruciating detail. The next hour dealt with how I was found, only a week before.
Considering that magic had everything to do with how I got home, I don't know what I would have done if Twilight hadn't volunteered to explain just what unicorn magic is, and how it works. Well, volunteered isn't really the right word, really. She had already made up her mind when I told her that some of the federation's top exobiologists would hang on to her every word. She got so excited that she teleported to her room to pack for the trip before I finished telling her.
"...I trust that is enough information you need to understand how our magic works." Twilight finished.
"Thank you, Princess," The Admiral said. "That was very informative, I'm pretty sure when you're done here, there's going to be a line of people wanting to speak with you. But before that, I have some questions how you managed to contact the Enterprise, and the subsequent events after."
"Where would you like me to start?"
"How about the beginning."
"You want me to do what?" Twilight asked, sitting on my couch taking a drink from the tea I had replicated. She did let me know previously that it wasn't as good as the real thing, but just between her and I, it was still better than the stuff Spike had been making her recently.
"We both know you can focus your magic better than any unicorn or alicorn I know. You don't have the sheer power of Celestia, the finesse of Luna or the gentleness of Cadence, but what you do have is control. I've seen you do it." I explained. "What I'm asking is if you can try and focus and adjust a simple magical energy beam or whatever you call it, to a specific frequency."
"I'm following you, but I still don't understand why."
"I told you that I hypothesized that the region of space this planet is in resides within subspace, and that makes sense, it explains how easily the Solanae were able to interact with our realm from their own." I continued. "Starfleet as well as every other spacefaring civilization that we know of uses subspace as a conduit or medium for faster than light communication, and each one uses a specific frequency that identifies what civilization sent the signal," I told her, getting to my point. "If you can adjust your magic to the standard Starfleet subspace frequency, and aim it back along the trajectory my shuttle took when I entered this system, we might be able to catch the attention of someone," I concluded. "If we're lucky."
"That's a lot of ifs and mights," Twilight told me. "But I'll try." She told me with a smile.
It took us a few days of trying for her to focus her magic to a specific frequency, and it proved to be very taxing, but we were finally able to succeed. Unfortunately, maintaining that level of magic left Twilight drained as well as not being able to project it very far.
That's where Spike chimed in with an idea neither Twilight and I had thought of: asking for help.
"Couldn't Princess Celestia help you power up the spell?" He asked. I looked towards Twilight, my eyes mirroring his question.
"Doesn't hurt to ask, Spike, take a message: 'Dear Princess Celestia...'" She began, dictating the letter to the diminutive purple dragon who wrote it all down on a scroll of paper before engulfing it in green flame.
Later that week I found myself on the top of the tallest tower in all of Canterlot with three Princess' gazing into the night sky.
"Hast thou chosen what message to send?" Princess Luna asked.
"Because of the physical stress that this causes, I think we should just keep it short and simple." I answered, turning to Twilight. "Just keep your magic going for as long as you can, and oscillate it in this pattern," I told her, clapping my hands in old morse code for SOS. "Repeat it as much as you can."
"What does that mean?" Celestia asked.
"It's an ancient form of communication on Earth called Morse Code. Originally, all letters and numbers are represented by a series of either short or long oscillations of an electric current carried by wires." I explained. "That pattern represents the letters SOS, the universal distress call. The hope is that a vessel will detect the effect Twilight's magic will have on subspace and investigate."
"And what chances dost thou expect for success?" The Princess of the Moon asked.
"That it'll be detected at all? Finding the same drop of water in the ocean again would be more likely. But if a Starfleet vessel is in the area, their automatic passive sensors will pick it up as an artificial signal, and they'll stop to investigate, especially since it'll be on a Starfleet frequency."
And with that, with the help of Luna and Celestia, Twilight aimed her magic at the stars. It was an amazing sight to see. Twilight was bathed in an aura of mixed gold and cobalt blue, the surge of magic given to Twilight had caused her eyes to turn completely white, with a stream of brilliant raspberry colored light shot out of her horn into the heavens. She was able to keep it up for almost twenty minutes before all parties involved agreed to stop to rest. After that, we all agreed that we'd only try again for ten minutes in the future at the same precise time every night.
I had set the shuttle's long range sensors to detect anything that might be construed as a response, and to notify me if any was found. We tried every night for six days with no response. But on the seventh, boy, did we ever get a response.
I couldn't believe my luck as I looked at the message on my PADD, translated from morse code.
Distress call received
USS Enterprise responding
Reply with status
Standing by
Not only had I beaten the astronomical odds of contacting someone, it was the God-damn Flagship of the Federation! But my excitement gave way to worry when I realized what that could mean. I had gone missing near the Tzenkethi DMZ. For the Enterprise to be in that area, relations with them must have taken a nose dive. I shook it off and ran to tell Twilight.
We kept the responses short to prolong how long we communicate. We sent them my Starfleet serial number with the word stranded, along with the phrase 'planet in subspace pocket - hypothesis'.
Lieutenant Scott
Sensors confirm hypothesis
Investigating methods of traversing to subspace pocket
Stand by
We didn't receive another message until three days later when they informed us that a Trill scientist by the name of Lenara Kahn had traveled from Trill to assist, apparently, she was prominent in the Trill Science Ministry and had experimented in creating artificial wormholes. She was confident that her theories would prove useful here, postulating that, like her previous attempt at creating a wormhole using a subspace tensor matrix interacting with a magneton pulse, could be targeted at our specific subspace layer and create a stable, traversable wormhole.
Two nights later, we got our answer.
Twilight watched in wonder through her telescope as a cloud of red energy appeared out of the aether, and through it flew the majestic Sovereign-Class Enterprise.
"How big is that thing?" She asked.
"How tall is Equestria's tallest building?" I responded.
"Forty-Five floors, the Unification Tower in Manehatten"
"Well, the Enterprise would equal about Twenty-Nine of those." I told her, eliciting a whistle of amazement.
"Enterprise to Lieutenant Scott, this Captain Picard. " My comm badge suddenly sounded, I had never activated my comm badge so fast in my life as I rushed to respond.
"Captain! You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear those words." I said with enthusiasm inundating my voice.
"I can imagine. Our sensors show that you're currently in a population center."
"Yes, I am. The citizens of Equestria have taken care of me since I crash landed near one of their smaller settlements a little over five years ago. I've been living with them ever since."
"Five years you say? I guess that adds to the greater mystery."
"Sir?"
"According to Starfleet records, there was a Lieutenant Scott who had his shuttle damaged in the area where we detected your signal five years ago, but he was rescued. Unfortunately, he was killed in an unrelated shuttle accident last year." Picard explained. "So, you can imagine our surprise when you gave us your ID."
"I'm... dead?" I said, trying to process that revelation.
"I'm sure there's some explanation for that, but we can discuss that later."
"Yes, sir."
"Now that we're here, can you ask permission for us to beam down an away team? Despite the circumstances of this encounter, I feel that a proper first contact is in order; if only to thank them for the hospitality they have shown to you."
"You're most welcome to visit us, Captain," Twilight chimed in with a little too much excitement. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle. If you give us some time to prepare for your arrival, the Princess' and I would be glad to receive you." She said, with a little more poise to her voice.
"Thank you for your offer, Princess. Contact us again when you are ready, Picard out."
"Well done Princess," I said with all the sarcasm I could muster to tease her.
"James?" Twilight asked, to which I responded with a smug look. "Shut up." She told me, sticking out her tongue followed by a giggle as we descended from the observatory tower of Canterlot castle.
Thankfully it was still early in the evening, Luna having only raised the moon an hour prior, so a rushed semi-formal reception was arranged in the castle's vast throne room. Arranged in a semi-circle around the center of the room stood Princess' Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Twilight, as well as the Ambassadors of all the other nations that inhabited this world: Steel Talon of the Griffon Confederacy, their kingdom having recently underwent a democratic referendum, giving way for a Constitutional Monarchy to arise. Next to him stood the Foreign Affairs Minster of Saddle Arabia, Aldebaran, who was idly chatting with Ankia, the graceful Zebracan Ambassador, and Representative Owethu from the Zibraca Diamond Dog tribes. Standing with his arms crossed in front of his chest was the imposing Stout Heart from the Minotaur Republic.
Donning my uniform for the first time in years, I nervously adjusted my collar. Getting a permissive nod from Celestia, I tapped my comm badge.
"Scott to Enterprise, you are clear for transport."
In a swirling cascade of light, four figures appeared before them.
"Captain Picard, on behalf of the representatives of the nations gathered here, welcome to Equus," Princess Celestia said, bowing her head in greeting, with everypony else following suit. Mirroring the gesture, the away team from the Enterprise returned the bow.
"Thank you for your warm welcome, Princess. I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise. With me is my First Officer, Commander Worf, my Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Beverly Crusher, and our Contact Specialist, Lieutenant T'Ryssa Chen."
With formal introductions concluded, everyone was escorted to the castle's dining hall where an assortment of refreshments were prepared.
"I always find it better to conduct diplomatic business over food," Celestia stated. "Especially cake." She continued with a smile, making a beeline for her favorite dessert.
"I have a feeling our son would agree with you, Princess," Crusher said, wrapping an arm around her husband's waist.
"Oh yes, Rene does have quite the sweet tooth," Picard said, continuing his wife's train of thought. "Tell us, what has Lieutenant Scott done to afford such company?"
"Well before Lieutenant Scott's arrival on our world," Cadence began. "Members of all of our nations were falling ill, some dying of strange ailments." She continued.
"Some of us suspected the other, which lead to increased tension between our nations," Steel Talon added. "But when it was revealed that no nation was being spared, we kept the knowledge from the public to prevent panic while the situation was investigated."
"Shortly after James arrived, one of my friends fell victim as well, who was left in a coma. Showing concern for Rainbow Dash, James, with the help of his tricorder and his shuttle's computer records, was able to find the true cause of all these problems." Twilight explained.
"It was the same solanogen-based lifeforms that the Enterprise-D encountered," I said, addressing Captain Picard directly.
"They are without honor, attacking like thieves in the night." Stout Heart declared.
"On that, we are in agreement," Worf said, giving the Minotaur an approving glare, apparently each sensing the other's warrior pride. "I too was once a victim of their cowardice."
"The vile creatures were in league with one of Equestria's most vexing foes, one long thought imprisoned," Luna said, continuing the conversation. "With the help of these Solonae, Lord Tirek was able to escape his prison, promising them a place on our world free from the dimension from whence they came. Through abductions and experimentations most heinous, he was able to gather enough strength to take his revenge upon our land."
"Tirek once sought to steal all the magic, the very essence of every living creature on our world, and rule with an iron fist, and for that he was imprisoned. When he began again, he was swift and brutal." Celestia explained, her voice grim. "Nopony was spared, young or old, and he nearly succeeded."
"With the help of the citizens of Ponyville, your Lieutenant did battle with Tirek, and slew him like the demon he was," Stout Heart said loudly, giving me a hard slap on the back. "The tales of the battle are glorious, and will be told for generations to come!"
"Great gallantry and selflessness was shown that day. To James Scott, a debt we owe, one such we cannot repay." Ankia said in rhyme, getting nods of agreements from all of Equus' leaders.
"That's quite the tale, one I look forward to hearing, Lieutenant," Picard said in a diplomatic tone, but his eyes showing concern.
"Shortly after that meeting, James was told by Captain Picard that a hearing, such as this, in all likelihood would be held," Twilight said in conclusion. "My friends and I are here today to speak on his behalf."
"Do you believe that he is guilty of what he is being charged?" The Admiral asked.
"Having read your laws and previous cases regarding this situation, he is, according to the letter of the law. But past cases have shown that exceptions have been made according to the spirit of the law, and for when it benefited the Federation, the Capellans for example." Twilight answered, impressing the Admiral greatly. "Your Prime Directive was put in place to protect both yourself and the civilizations that you come in contact with, and for good reason, interference in the past has been met with disaster. In this case, however, I believe that an exception should be made since the results have been nothing but positive." She continued. "James saved our world from a race of beings that without his knowledge aiding us, we would have known nothing about and been left with no warning.
"And now that our world is aware that there is an even larger universe out there, a transformative effect has taken hold. Even now, as we speak, in an unprecedented show of unity not seen in a thousand years, leaders of our nations are in negotiations to draft a constitution for what will become Equus' representative body to the galaxy. Our world is heading into a scientific golden age. Now that we know we aren't alone, new fields of research are opening up. Unaided, we're starting to develop the technology needed to start our own space exploration program, and we will succeed.
"One of the core values of our society is Harmony through Friendship, and now that we know we aren't alone, I think we all could do with more friends."
"Very well said, Princess. Thank you for your time." The Admiral said, dismissing the Alicorn. "I believe that I have heard enough to make a judgment on this matter. This hearing is adjourned until tomorrow, 0930." He said, ringing the small bell.