Star Trek: Phoenix

by Dewdrops on the Grass

Season 1 Episode 3: "A Pebble In Time"

STAR TREK: PHOENIX

S01E03

“A Pebble in Time”

2361: Three years after Sunset’s arrival.

“No, no, Twilight! Twilight! Pull it back--oh crap!”

I dove behind the safety forcefield as the ball of telekinetic force destabilized, the magic lashing out like lightning; arcing against the walls and ceiling. T’Lona, safe behind her own forcefield, wrote notes down on her terminal. “Twilight,” she said. “Are you all right?”

Twilight dropped onto the padded floor, completely out of breath, a light froth forming on her coat. “S-sun… Sunset…” she wheezed. Her eyes closed.

T’Lona hopped to her feet and tapped her combadge. “Medical emergency, magic testing room.”

I rushed from behind the forcefield and dropped to my knees next to Twilight, rubbing a hoof through her hair. “Twilight? Twilight, speak to me. Are you okay?”

“Hmm?” she moaned, one eye cracking open. “I… whew… that took… a lot… out of me…so dizzy.”

A Tellerite nurse in Starfleet blue swept into the room and brought out a medical tricorder, giving Twilight a quick scan. “Just exhaustion and overuse of her horn,” she said as she put her tricorder away and brought out a hypospray. “This will help with the symptoms. But she should give her horn a rest for a few days.”

Twilight blinked her eyes open, then managed to rustle herself up to a sitting position on her rump. “That’s a bit better, phew.”

“Thanks,” I said, a relieved smile crossing my muzzle. “I’ll make sure she does.” The nurse nodded to me, then left the room. Instantly my smile dropped, replaced with an irritated scowl. “Twilight, how many times have I told you to watch your control? You put way too much power into that spell matrix way too fast. You could’ve gotten yourself killed!”

“I admit some severe concern as well,” T’Lona added, approaching so she could kneel down to check Twilight over. “That was quite reckless of you, Twilight. You are not normally so impatient.”

“Not to mention you could’ve seriously drained yourself of magic, doing that,” I growled. “Just because we recover our magic at the same speed on Earth that we did on Equus doesn’t mean you can use it in such a lackadaisical manner. We still don’t know why that is. For all we know there’s a limited source and we’re using it up every time we recover from spell use!”

Twilight shrank in on herself, her cheeks flushing. “I’m sorry. I didn’t… my attention slipped.”

My scowl softened considerably. “Are you still worried about that final for discrete mathematics?”

“...yeah,” Twilight muttered, glaring at the floor.

“Come on, sis, you’re brilliant with math. You’re even better than I am at it,” I said, my scowl faded entirely. “You’re going to do fine.”

Still flushing, Twilight hissed a sigh through her teeth and leaned against me for support. “I know you and Amina keep saying that, but… I’m still worried.”

“Well we can talk about it more at home.” I glanced up at T’Lona. “Thanks for supervising, Mother. I’ll make sure she gets home safely.”

“Very well,” T’Lona nodded in agreement. “However, Twilight, Amina and I will want to talk with you about this further this evening, after dinner.”

“Yeah. Sure.” Twilight snorted. She hopped up to her hooves and trudged for the door.

Giving T’Lona one last wave, I hurried to join Twilight as we emerged into the sunlight, the crisp autumn air of downtown San Francisco bringing relief to my overheated body. I’d gotten used to wearing clothes but sometimes it would be nice to feel a breeze against my bare coat once in a while. “Twilight, don’t be mad at T’Lona. She’s just doing her job as your guardian.”

“I know that, Sunset,” Twilight growled through gritted teeth as she started down the sidewalk for the nearest mag-lev station. “But ever since they officially adopted you, they keep trying to act more and more like my parents. They’re not my parents.”

Darting around a Bolian standing in the middle of the sidewalk staring at his PADD, I sighed and replied, “They know they’re not your parents, Twilight. We’ve had this conversation before.”

“And we’re going to keep having it because they won’t stop!” Twilight shouted, halting in place.

My hackles rose as onlookers all over both sides of the street glanced our way. “Twilight, you’re making a scene--”

“I don’t care!” she interrupted, slamming a forehoof down on the pavement. “I’m sick of it! Maybe you’re fine with them as your parents because you never knew yours, but I still remember mine! I remember what they look like, what they smell like! I still remember the last time my mom told me she loved me. I still remember the look on my dad’s face when he showed me the signup form for Celestia’s School!”

More onlookers crowded us, forming a circle around us, including at least one Starfleet lieutenant in gold with a phaser at his belt. His hand wasn’t anywhere near it, but he was eying us cautiously nevertheless. I flashed him a quick frantic smile and then wrapped a foreleg around Twilight and pulled her in. “Twilight. You are going to get us in trouble. We can talk about this at home, okay?”

She glared at me, her nostrils flaring. Steam from her breath curled up like a pair of smoke trails, giving her a momentary draconic appearance. She opened her mouth to speak, then shut it again and bowed her head. “Fine,” she hissed as she wriggled her way out of my grip.

The train ride to the transporter station left tension roiling between us like a pot left to boil for far too long. Twilight seemed committed to maintaining her anger, which left me more than a little frustrated. I understood where she was coming from, but it’s not my fault Mother and Mom care about us.

Heh. Mother and Mom. I still remembered the first time I called them that, not too long after Twilight and I agreed to join Starfleet. Amina burst into tears and hugged me so tight I almost passed out. T’Lona was more reserved, but she found her own way to demonstrate the same feelings. They both care for me deeply, and… I love them. Never thought something like that would happen.

Well, that’s not entirely true. There was… one time I thought it might. But I was wrong and it’s been years so it doesn’t matter.

Twilight continued to seethe during the queue to transport to Vancouver and the subsequent ride to our neighborhood. Nor did she relax even a hair when we entered the house. Instead she stomped up the stairs, threw herself upon her bed, then glared back at me. “Either come in or leave me alone.”

With significant trepidation, I stepped inside, allowing the door to swish shut behind me. I took a seat on the bed next to her. “Are you ready to be civil about this now?” I asked.

“Civil?” She scoffed. “Sunset, did you hear a word I said earlier?”

“Yes, I did, and this isn’t like you, Twilight,” I retorted, trying to keep my voice from rising in volume. I opened up the crook of my foreleg to invite her in. “Seriously, Twi. You don’t usually get this mad. What’s really bothering you? I know it isn’t just Mother and Mom, and it’s not that final exam either.”

For a moment, as she scowled at me, her forehoof twitching, I feared she’d do something awful like smack me with it. Fortunately she held off from that and slumped into my embrace. I could hear the beating of her heart against me. “I’ve been pretty down lately, sis,” she said after a few moments of silence.

“Yeah?” I nudged her cheek with my hoof. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

She nuzzled against my neck. “I… I didn’t want to make you upset too. You were a real grump when I first met you, you know? But ever since I arrived, you’ve become happier and happier. You… you found yourself. A family, a life. You like it here.”

Twitching my eyebrows at that, I frowned, letting it sink in. “I guess I have,” I answered. “I still meant what I said about Starfleet though, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“No, no, it’s not that, Sunset.” She groaned into my coat, then stared up at me with tired eyes. “It’s just… I’ve been enjoying things here and there. And I love you. You really are my BSBFF, just like how Shining is my BBBFF. But… well, I’m still not that happy. I mean, I like Amina, but she won’t stop trying to be my Mom. And I really like all the things I’ve been learning, but… there’s so much more about our home I wanted to learn that I can’t.”

I pulled her in tighter, holding her with both forelegs now. “For what it’s worth, I get it. I had a life before, but it… in retrospect, it really kind of sucked. But yours? Yours was great. And you still miss it.”

“Yeah. That’s it, in a nutshell all right.” She shifted so her back was against my chest, letting me rest my chin atop her head. “I mean, there’s some days where I all but forget about it entirely, and I lose myself in some new bit of science or math or history I get to learn. But then there’s other days, like today, where it’s all I can think about.”

“You’ve told Belle, haven’t you?” I prodded. “That’s why she’s our therapist, you know.”

“I have,” she admitted with a shrug. “And she’s been helping me work on it. She keeps telling me I need to let go, to accept where I am, and until I do I’ll never be happy.”

“She’s not wrong, you know.”

“I know.”

Twilight went silent after that, laying against me for a good long while before abruptly pulling away. “I’m sorry I shouted, Sunset. And I’ll, I’ll pay more attention to my magic.”

I patted her hoof. “You’d better.”

She smiled at me, then nudged her head towards the door. “I think I need to take a nap. See you at dinner?”

“Sure.”

Leaving the room, I made for my own when a page came through my PADD. “Sunset, would you please come to my office?” asked T’Lona.

“On my way,” I murmured as I pivoted on my hooves, trotting up the stairs. I rarely ventured to the third floor of the house, preferring to give Mother and Mom their space. That, and Mother kept her office far hotter than I liked.

As usual when I stepped inside, a blast of heat struck me, along with the humidity dropping to somewhere hovering around three percent, just like the conditions of Vulcan. I thanked my lucky stars she hadn’t bothered with gravity plating to increase the gravity as well. “I’m here, Mother,” I said.

“Ah, Sunset, good. Please come closer. I wish to show you something,” T’Lona said, indicating to the spare chair next to her desk.

I sat down and focused my attention on the terminal, which for the moment displayed a large number of equations, most of which weren’t immediately familiar. “What am I looking at?”

T’Lona faced me. “Do you recall when you and Twilight first discovered the time discontinuity between your departure from Equus and her own?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “We were pretty freaked out about it, but we didn’t have a lot of time to worry since we had to leave for Belle’s and shopping right afterwards. We told you the next day, I think.”

“You did,” she said. She raised a hand and pointed to a few sets of equations. “Ever since I have been attempting to calculate the conditions that could have caused this. Your speculations about the mirror allowed me to reexamine all the sensor readings from both arrivals, as well as the resulting analyses.”

“Right, right,” I murmured in understanding. “I remember you mentioned it. But then you never said anything afterwards. That was over a year and a half ago. It took this long to figure it out?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” T’Lona answered in that slightly adjusted tone that I knew carried a note of disappointment. “Between my usual duties and the need for use of a more powerful computer core than we possess for our home, I was forced to keep my work on this sparing. However, in the process, I did make a discovery.”

My eyes widened. “A… discovery.”

“Yes.” T’Lona directed the terminal to switch away from pure equations and brought up a familiar readout of sensor data, one I’d examined thoroughly myself more than a few times once I learned how to properly read and understand it. “Previously, we had detected no trace of chronitons or any other particle that suggested passage through time. However, recent work emerging from the labs on Vandor IV from a doctor Paul Manheim suggested further examination was in order, and in the process I discovered trace amounts of a related particle, one usually only detected in the presence of the event horizon of a singularity.”

“A black hole, you mean?” I wondered, my brow furrowed in thought. “Wait, are you suggesting the time discrepancy is because of relativity? That when one or both of us went through the mirror, we passed close enough to a black hole that we were subjected to relativistic effects?”

T’Lona arched both eyebrows. “Precisely. I am impressed, Sunset, by your rapid conclusion. That is indeed what I have discovered. It appears only your own travel was affected, not Twilight’s. While we still have no true concept of how the mirror operates, and thus this is merely a hypothesis we are unable to test, it is nevertheless logical.”

“Okay,” I said, internally feeling a mote of worry releasing its hold on my heart. “So we probably don’t have to worry that twenty years is passing on Equus every six months here or something like that. I was just unlucky and arrived on Earth ‘later’ than I should have.”

“Indeed. I would consider that a reasonable conclusion at this time.”

“And, and,” I continued, my speech becoming more rapid, “w-we can be sure Twilight didn’t have the same thing happen to her. So she came through instantly.”

“Correct.” T’Lona pushed herself away from the desk, then shifted in her chair to face me, and brought a hand up to stroke my hair. Just a few quick strokes, but from Mother that was akin to a massive rib-shattering hug. “I realize this has been worrying you for some time, and I apologize for not being able to tell you this sooner.”

I smiled softly and bowed my head to her. “That’s okay, Mother. I’m not upset. I’m just glad to hear this news.” Then I raised my head, my grin turning wry. “I don’t suppose there’s been any other news when it comes to Equus.”

T’Lona slowly shook her head. “No, I am afraid nothing has been reported by any exploratory vessels. In truth I suspect it really will be up to you, once you and your sister enter Starfleet, to find your home planet.”

“That’s the idea, at least,” I said. My smile dropped off as I returned to a neutral expression. Whenever I was in Mother’s presence I found my emotions calmer, less expressive. Far less so than they had been three years ago when I first arrived. She was a good influence on me. Kept me from having my temper explode. “Was there anything else?”

The left corner of her mouth quirked infinitesimally. “No, Sunset.”

---

2362: Four years after Sunset’s arrival.

“And first place in this year’s wider Vancouver Area Science Fair goes to… Sunset Shimmer, for her brilliant experiment with unusual energy fields!”

The crowd of mixed students and parents broke into applause as I all but galloped from my seat at the end of the furthest row from the auditorium stage. Moving through the throngs of students, I hopped up the stairs onto the stage, joining my fellow fair winners, all of whom--save Twilight, in third place--glared harsh daggers at me. Especially Savil, a Vulcan a year ahead of me. Of course, he wouldn’t dream of showing his emotions publicly, but I’d learned enough about reading Vulcans by now to see how mad he was about coming in second place.

He could deal with it. I needed to make as many waves as possible if I was to get an opportunity to take an entrance exam for Starfleet Academy in two years. And judging by Twilight coming in third despite barely being old enough to participate, she definitely was trying her best as well. Of course I knew she was. She’d kept her project secret, refusing my help, but between the two of us Twilight practically dedicated her life to the goal of joining Starfleet.

Sometimes that worried me. She hadn’t had many more bad days like she used to, but… I was afraid she still hadn’t properly let go, like I had. I wanted to find Equestria, yes, but… I can accept where I am now as my home.

At least she was happier than she used to be. That was something, anyway.

The principal in charge of the fair, a human with pale skin and ginger hair named Alexis Goldsmith, approached me carrying a plaque. It was small, about the size of her hand, but it featured my name, my face in brass, and my place in the contest. “Congratulations, Sunset,” she said as she handed it over, allowing me to take hold of it in my magic. “I was hoping the judges would pick your project.”

“With respect,” Savil spoke up, giving us both a cold gaze, “I would like to officially protest the legitimacy of Shimmer’s project. It is based upon her own unique abilities, an aspect of science thoroughly unexplored.”

“Savil, we can discuss this after the ceremony,” Goldsmith said in a no-nonsense tone.

He tried to hide it, but I could see him seethe in response to that. “As you wish.”

While Goldsmith proceeded to give a speech about the fair, Twilight stepped over to me, carrying her own smaller placard. “Nice job, sis,” she said, grinning.

“Hey, you’re the one who should be congratulated,” I replied. “I loved that holographic diorama you made of Sol. Even I learned something from it.”

“At least her work was grounded in something understood by the greater scientific community,” Savil barged in with his own whisper.

“No one asked you, Savil,” Twilight scowled.

After the ceremony, Goldsmith led the three of us back to her office, having us take a seat. Despite knowing I wasn’t in trouble, my heart skipped a beat at the thought of being in the principal’s office. I’d never had a reason to step hoof inside one for punitive purposes, but that didn’t stop me from flashing back to experiences in Equestria, hearing Princess Celestia chastise me over some expression of my temper. “All right, Savil,” said Goldsmith, smiling at the Vulcan. “I understand you have some concerns.”

“I do,” he stated, giving me a momentary glare. “I believe Sunset Shimmer’s project is faulty, flawed, and features irreproducible results outside of her own abilities. It is thus tainted by bias and should be rejected.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Twilight shouted, stomping a hoof on the floor. “I could perform every spell, ritual, and feat she did.”

“So you claim,” Savil replied, his tone turning subtly snide. “However, as her sister, you are also biased.”

Twilight’s eyes blazed with fury as a lavender glow encompassed her horn. “I’ll show you bias--”

“Twilight, that’s enough,” I ordered, using my own magic to clamp down on hers.

Hurt replaced the fury. “But, Sunset, I was just--”

“I know, sis,” I interrupted with a soft smile. “I get it. But I can defend myself.”

Goldsmith cleared her throat, reminding us of her presence. “Twilight, while I recognize your faith in your sister, if you threaten another student like that again I will see you for detention, is that understood?”

Twilight bowed her head immediately, her posture slumping. “Yes, Ms Goldsmith,” she muttered.

“Savil,” Goldsmith said, turning to the Vulcan. “I hear your concerns, and they were similar to my own when Sunset’s project first debuted. That is why the judges had every result independently verified through computer simulations and testing in a holosuite. Sunset and Twilight’s abilities have been studied for years now. The very fact that they are so unusual is why her project was nominated for the top spot.”

“I see,” Savil replied, his face impassive like stone. “So there is little chance my protest will result in an overturn.”

“Unlikely, yes,” Goldsmith said with a nod. “I will have the committee look into it one last time, but I would be very surprised if anything changed as a result.”

Savil stood from his chair, nodded to the principal, then left the room. It took me only half a second to decide to go after him. “Hey, Savil, wait!”

“Can I help you?” he inquired, arching an eyebrow at me.

I deliberately opted not to smile at him, instead maintaining a lack of expressed emotion. “For what it is worth, I thought your project was great. I’d have picked it for top spot.”

He considered that for a moment, then nodded once, quickly. “Thank you for the compliment.” Then he turned and rushed away, as quickly as he could while still maintaining the appearance of walking.

I sighed and plopped myself down on my rump, leaning against the wall. “This is why I don’t want to bother going to school in person anymore,” I muttered. “Too much crap to deal with.”

I’d made friends at school, of course. It took a while, but I did. Casual friends, people I’d talk to while at lunch or during free moments in class. But I never bothered with visiting anyone at their home. No sleepovers or weekend lunch dates or anything like that. Not many wanted to be close enough to me to actually do anything like that, and to be honest I liked it that way. Sure it meant I was a little bit more lonely, but I still had Twilight.

Besides, I couldn’t take the time. I needed to focus. I had two more years before I could take the entrance exam. Three before I could attend the Academy proper.

That night, I filled out the application for the exams. It would take a good year before I’d know if I would be able to take them, but I made sure to include every aspect of my academic excellence, including my victory at this science fair. The wait would be excruciating, but well worth it. I just had to make it in.

I just had to.

---

2363: Five years after Sunset’s arrival

The towering triple fudge devil’s food cake with cream cheese frosting tantalized me with its sugary smell. The lit candles topping it, however, demanded attention first. So I took a deep breath to fill my lungs, then blew out as hard as I could. All sixteen candles doused themselves instantly.

Amina and Twilight broke into applause. “Happy sixteenth birthday, sweetheart!” Amina cheered.

“What’d you wish for, Sunset?” Twilight asked, beaming.

I laughed and shrugged. “Just wished for my sister to have good luck with her new school year.”

“Awww… thanks, Sunset,” Twi said, snuggling up to give me a hug.

“Curious,” T’Lona commented as she retrieved a knife to slice the cake with. “While I am well aware it is a tradition it does intrigue me that Sunset persists in perpetuating it from year to year despite being well aware such wishes accomplish nothing.”

“Oh, don’t be a spoil sport, T’Lona,” Amina chuckled, patting her on the arm. “It’s just a bit of harmless fun.”

“I am well aware.” T’Lona handed me the cake knife. “When you get to my slice, I would like very little.”

I smiled back at her as I took up the knife. “I remember, Mother. Just means there’s more cake for the rest of us.” With deft strokes I produced four slices of cake, choosing the largest one for myself, of course, with one of the frosting flowers. I made sure to have a glass of milk alongside as I sat down at the couch to gorge myself.

“So, Sunset, should we consider you an adult, now that you’re sixteen?” Amina said as she took a bite of cake.

Before I answered, I popped a piece of cake in my mouth. The chocolatey flavor exploded on my tongue, overflowing with rich, creamy goodness. “Mmm…”

“Sorry, Mom, she’s stuck in a cake coma,” Twilight laughed.

Everyone, Twilight and myself included, froze. As one we all stared at Twilight, who covered her mouth with one hoof. T’Lona was the first to speak. “What… what did you say, Twilight?”

Tears filled Twilight’s eyes as she abruptly rushed out of the room, galloping up the stairs. We heard the door to her bedroom swish open then the thump of her landing on her bed.

“Oh dear,” Amina said, before unleashing a few curses in a language I didn’t comprehend. “I’d better go up there and talk to her.”

“No,” I said, holding out a hoof to stop Amina from getting out of her seat. “Let me go, Mom.”

A worried frown tugged at Amina’s mouth. “But Sunset, it’s your birthday…”

“I know. Just trust me, okay?” I gave her a reassuring smile. “I’ve got this.”

“Very well,” T’Lona said, nodding to me. “Good luck.”

Taking a moment to compose myself, I slowly walked up the stairs, pausing outside Twilight’s room. As I expected she’d locked the door, so I touched the panel on the wall. “Hey Twi, it’s me, Sunset. May I come in?”

“Go away,” came the immediate, tear-choked response. “I want to be alone.”

No you don’t, Twilight. I tapped the panel again. “All right, well, if you’re sure…” I deliberately turned around and started to walk away, one step at a time.

I got about four steps before the door swished open behind me. A smile briefly crossed my muzzle before I schooled it away as I went inside. Twilight had the lights off, buried underneath her blankets, her horn glowing. I sat down on the bed next to the outer edge of blankets and waited. It took a moment, but she pulled the blankets up and let me scoot over to sit with her under them. “Hey.”

She had a book cradled in her forehooves, one I’d noticed she frequently turned to whenever she was distraught. It was an Earth novel, from its twenty-first century. A story about a lost child who was taken from her home only to grow up and forget her parents. Apt, if depressing. She stared at it for several long moments before she looked up at me. “I called her Mom,” she whispered.

“I noticed,” I replied. “We all did.”

“I called her Mom, Sunset!” Twilight repeated, her voice low and heavy, shaking with every word. “I… I did the thing I swore I’d never do. I called her Mom.”

I inched over so I could wrap a foreleg around her. “Hey, Twi, it’s okay if you think of her as a mom. It’s not a bad thing.”

“Isn’t it?” Twilight breathed. “I’m… I’m betraying my original family by doing it! I… I… I swore I’d never, that I’d never…” She swallowed, and allowed her tears to fall. “I can barely remember them now, Sunset. I don’t even remember their names anymore!”

“You mean, your birth Mom and Dad, right?”

“Yes, Sunset!” she growled, briefly flashing with anger before it fizzled away. “Of course I still remember Shining Armor. I’ll never forget his name. But… them… I don’t remember now. I think Mom had a white coat and purple mane, and Dad… blue?” Her face fell into her hooves as she cried fresh tears. “I don’t remember...”

“Hey.” I pulled her in so I could stroke her face with my hoof in an attempt to brush away her tears. “Hey, look, it’s okay. You’re not betraying them, not even a little. Everything you’ve said about them says to me they’d just want to see you happy. If you can accept Amina and T’Lona as parents… don’t you think that might make you feel a little happier? You’ve been a lot happier lately, I know that much.”

“I… “ she sniffled, and looked into my eyes. “I don’t know Sunset. I just… I finally listened to Belle’s advice, a while ago. I let go. Or at least I thought I had…”

“I think you did,” I said back, trying to smile. “I think if you hadn’t, you wouldn’t be as happy as I’ve seen you lately. I’ve known you for almost five years now, sis. For a long time, you were fairly miserable; you rarely smiled or laughed unless you were spending time with me. And even then, well… we’ve had our arguments. But lately? The past few months? You’ve been much, much happier. Mom could see it in you. She told me she did. Even Mother saw the change.”

She managed to smile back, even if it was watery and dull. “I guess I have, huh? It’s been nice. I really do like it here on Earth, with all this knowledge, the technology… the magic you’ve taught me… it’s really good. But, I don’t want to forget Equestria either!”

“And you won’t. I’ll make sure of it.” I switched my smile up to a cocky grin. “Hey, I haven’t even come close to slowing down on my goal of joining Starfleet, and I’ve been accepting this place as home for years. You can accept this as home without forgetting where you came from. I did it. You can too. Besides… it’d be nice to finally make the sister relationship official, wouldn’t you say?”

She laughed at that, a single laugh, bittersweet at the edges, but with plenty of warmth inside. “It would. It really would. And… you know… Amina and T’Lona aren’t that bad, as parents go.”

“Glad to hear it.” I brushed the corner of the blankets up, exposing us to the air. “Ready to come back down and have some cake with your family now, then?”

She bit her lip, then nodded. “Yeah. Just give me a second to clean up. I’ll be down right after you, okay?”

“All right.” I left the room to give her space and trotted back down the stairs, finding Amina and T’Lona waiting for me, their cakes untouched.

Amina, gripping her hands together on her lap, gave me a strained, worried frown. “Well?”

In response, I took a few steps back from the stairs and waited. After a moment of thick tension swirling about the air, we all heard the slow, steady clomp of Twilight’s hoofsteps descending the stairs. Then she appeared, a tiny smile on her muzzle. “Hey.”

“Twilight, are you well?” T’Lona inquired. “Amina and I are… concerned.”

Twilight closed her eyes and bowed her head, taking a few deep breaths. Then her eyes opened again as she focused squarely on T’Lona, her smile now wide and warm. “Yes, Mother. I’m fine.”

T’Lona’s eyes widened just a tad as she gazed at her. “I see… it is very good to hear you say that, Twilight.”

“Twilight?” Amina breathed, her mouth stretched open in shock. “Are you… are you sure?”

Twilight trotted over, brought up her forelegs and gave Amina a heavy, emotion-fueled hug. “I’m sure, Mom. I’m sure.”

Amina broke into a stream of tears, showering Twilight’s dress as she held tight to her second daughter. “I’ve… I’ve wanted to hear that from your mouth for a long time, Twilight. I don’t even know what to say. I’m… god, I’m so choked up inside.”

“How about, I love you?” Twilight proposed.

Shaking like a leaf barely clinging onto its branch in a windstorm, Amina let out a few choked laughs, then muttered, “Yeah. I love you too, Twilight.”

I couldn’t resist any longer. I joined in the hug. “And I love both of you,” I said with a happy laugh burbling forth from my chest. Then I glanced up at T’Lona and waved her over. “Come on, Mother.”

T’Lona arched her eyebrows, cocked her head to the side, then approached. “As you wish,” she said, carefully embracing the three of us, though she shied away from getting too close. “I care a great deal for all of you as well.”

Eventually we all released each other, smiles plastered on our faces, save for T’Lona of course. But she was smiling on the inside. “So, should we get back to the cake?” I asked.

“Yes, definitely,” Twilight replied. “We’ve got two things to celebrate now.”

We dove back into the cake with gusto. I watched with amusement as Amina gobbled hers up and went for a second slice, so giddy she could barely sit still. “So, Sunset,” she said, eyes sparkling. “You never did answer my question.”

“Oh, right.” I swallowed a mouthful of milk, then continued, “Um, well, yeah, in Equestria I’d be an adult. No idea what I’d be doing right now, but… I’m not that ready to be an adult on Earth just yet. If I don’t have to be, I mean.”

Amina smiled and patted my hoof. “No, we’re not about to shove you out the door or anything like that, dear. I was just curious. Besides, you’re going to have a busy year ahead of you. I was going to wait till later to share this with you, but since today’s an even happier day than we all expected…”

My heart skipped a beat as I watched her stand up and make her way over to one of the desks, picking up her PADD. “What is it, Mom?”

In response, she brought her PADD over and turned on the screen, then handed it to me. “Go ahead. Read it.”

I took it and shivered, then read aloud, “To Sunset Shimmer. We are pleased to inform you that due to your stellar test results on the preliminary exam, your application to take the Starfleet Academy entrance exam…has been accepted!” I squealed in delight as I kept reading. “You will take your exam on Stardate 40985.2 at the Academy facility on Denobula. Should you successfully pass these exams with a sufficiently high score you will be accepted for the Academy the following year!” I dropped the PADD and bounced in place. “Yes!”

Twilight whooped and hollered, bouncing around me. “Yes yes yes yes yes! Gooooo Sunset!”

“Congratulations,” T’Lona said. “It is well deserved.”

“Dunno why they need to send you all the way out to Denobula when you’re living on Earth, though,” Amina said, her smile pulled into a half frown. “It’s not like you’re some kid on a starship out on the frontier.”

“Oh who cares?” I said, my voice rippling with happy giggles. “I get to take the exam! Besides, apart from that one visit to Earth Spacedock I’ve never left the planet. I could use some time in space.”

“She does make a fair point, Amina,” T’Lona said. “Though one of us should accompany her. We should look into chartering passage.”

“That shouldn’t be hard,” Amina replied as she picked her PADD off the floor and brought up some information. “Since we’re Starfleet, we can skip the civilian traffic. There are starships that pass along that route all the time. Let’s see… Yes, it looks like the Tokyo, the Kilimanjaro, and the Kyushu all pass through on their regular patrols. They’re all New-Orleans class so the trip from Earth to Denobula won’t take too long. No more than a week. MIght take longer to get back though. Question is, which one of us should go with her?”

“I believe it should be me,” T’Lona answered immediately. “Your duties require you to stay planetside, while I should be able to continue my assignments while off-world.”

“Oooh, can I go with you?” Twilight said, her tail swishing happily. “I want to get some time in space too.”

T’Lona cocked her head to the side. “At this time I see no reason to object.”

Twilight beamed. “All right! Sisters together!” She held up a hoof for me to bump.

I didn’t hold back, bumping it with gusto. “Sisters together, you bet. I’ll definitely want the moral support.”

“Well that’s an easy decision then,” Amina replied, setting her PADD down. “We can put in the request in the morning. We’ve still got plenty to celebrate tonight.”

“We sure do,” I said, laughing.

---

2364: Six years after Sunset’s arrival

I sat back in my chair in our cabin aboard the Kyushu, allowing the soothing rumble of the ship’s engines reverberate in the otherwise silent room. Resting on my lap was my PADD, one of a good five or six I had scattered about a nearby table, full of information for me to study. I’d reached my limit for the morning, and good thing too, since we were scheduled to arrive soon.

Setting the PADD in my lap aside, I got out of the chair and walked over to the window. Stars streaked by, pulled into long white lines like rice noodles by the effects of the warp drive. From my position on the rear of the saucer I could see the warp nacelles glowing, the bussard collectors at the front pulsing with crimson. In my mind’s eye I could see the warp field they formed, bent around the ship, pulling it from normal space into subspace, allowing the ship to pass through space at speeds once thought impossible.

I wished I could get down inside those nacelles, see their operation first hoof from inside. Or maybe get a good solid look at the warp core. Sadly, while the ship’s captain was happy to have T’Lona, Twilight, and myself aboard, he’d restricted Twilight and me from any vital areas, including Main Engineering. “You’re not in Starfleet yet, Ms. Shimmer,” he’d said with an understanding smile.

It frustrated me, but I understood. I would have done the same thing in his position. At seventeen now, I… I could understand the decisions many of the adults in my life had made while I was growing up, far better than I once did. The distance, time, plus T’Lona and Belle helped me gain a perspective on my life before arriving on Earth that I just didn’t have back before.

Like Celestia. I can now admit that she’d been right when she told me I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t. And I proved it by going after that mirror. I proved everything she had said, with my actions revolving the mirror.

And yet, I didn’t regret it either. Not now, not after everything I’d learned, the connections I’d made. If I had to, I’d have done it all over again.

As I stared out the window, I heard a subtle change in the engines, my ears turning to face them. “Three… two… one…. Now.” Right on cue, the ship dropped out of warp, a white flash briefly filling the entire window before being replaced by a still starfield. I could see a few other ships moving about on impulse in the distance, a couple Starfleet, others civilian. On the far side, just barely within view from my window, I saw a slice of a planet, blue waters, clouds, continents and all.

Doors whisked their way open, revealing T’Lona and Twilight. “Ah, Sunset, there you are,” T’Lona said. “The Kyushu has entered standard orbit over Denobula. They are prepared to transport us down whenever we are ready. Your exams begin in two hours. We will have enough time to check in to our accommodations and take a quick meal.”

“All right,” I said. Gathering up my duffel bag, I tossed my PADDs into it, zipped it up, and placed it around my shoulders. “Let’s go.”

We stepped outside, making our way towards the turbolift. “Ooooh let’s hurry, Sunset, I wanna get down to the planet!” Twilight said, bouncing with every step. “I can’t wait to see all the Denobulans in person!”

“You have met many Denobulans on Earth before, Twilight,” T’Lona said, nodding politely to the few officers we passed by on our way.

“I know, Mother, but this is their home. It’s different!”

As we stepped aboard the turbolift, T’Lona ordered, “Deck Eight.”

“She’s not wrong, Mother,” I added as the turbolift sped along its way through the ship. “And this is the first planet either of us have been to besides Equus or Earth, so… I’m pretty excited too.”

“Did you know one of the most famous Doctors in all of Starfleet came from Denobula?” Twilight said, grinning as she rattled off facts. “Doctor Phlox was the CMO aboard the Enterprise NX-01, an Earth Starfleet ship, before the Federation was founded. He helped keep their mission going strong right up until Captain Archer helped bring the Federation together in 2161!”

I saw T’Lona pull one of her Vulcan almost-smiles as she patted Twilight on the head. “Yes, I am aware of Doctor Phlox’s identity. He was crucial to many discoveries, including ones that benefit all Vulcans.” She held up her hand and spread it as demonstration. “I would not be able to mind meld today without his contributions, among many others.”

T’Lona and Twilight continued to chatter about Phlox and other famous Starfleet Denobulans while I tuned them out, preferring to focus on relaxing my mind for the task ahead. I continued this focus right up through transport down to the surface.

I’d thought cities on Earth were packed. But Denobula boasted a population of over twelve billion on a single continent, and it showed. Massive throngs of Denobulans passed us by, filling up the city streets in great, if orderly, crowds. More people were visible from every window on every structure, whether it was a simple two-story house or a good hundred story or more skyscraper. Many more vehicles whizzed about the air than on Earth, sometimes so fast I could barely process they’d passed by.

It was a bit too crowded for my taste. Fortunately, the hotel booked for us was far less crowded, and we were able to drop our belongings off at our room and then eat in the adjoining restaurant with little difficulty. Though I stayed away from trying any new dishes, requesting something more familiar. Last thing I needed was to sour my stomach right before my exams. Especially since they included some sort of psychological test involving my greatest fears.

But eventually, the time came. I was escorted into a room with many other fellow applicants, all of whom wished each other good luck, and the exams began. At first, it was fairly simple, compared to what I expected. A series of mathematical problems, many of them vector based geometry, a few dealing with subjects such as intermix ratios for a starship engine or warp field calculations. Nothing I couldn’t handle, and I felt I aced those easily.

Then came the historical, social, and cultural tests. These I found a bit more difficult, not in the sense of lacking knowledge, but just in the way many of them were framed, tricky problems that often worded themselves in a deceitful manner, attempting to lead someone to the wrong conclusion. Seeing through those proved a bit tough at times, but I made it through, and felt that by the end I’d aced them as well, if without as much ease.

Third were practical exams, based around a series of tasks to be performed on a starship, with instructions provided. They were difficult in form, but I found this easiest of all so far. So long as I followed instructions I encountered no issue, with only one forcing me to improvise when they deliberately withheld a vital piece of equipment. Judging by the expression on the judge’s face, however, I’d made a very good choice when it came to that improvisation.

Finally came the one I worried most about, the psychological test. They took me out of the main classroom, down a corridor and through a pair of large double doors into another corridor. Then down into a small office, where they left me to wait. What sort of test did they have in mind? I’d heard rumors, of course. That they frequently involved substantial stress placed on the test taker, to judge their fitness in critical situations. Well I wasn’t about to freeze up, no matter what they threw at me.

I sat there, alone, for what felt like hours. No instructions came through on the terminal, no one came by to give me some oral exam or anything of that nature. Attempting to leave the room just met me with a locked door. Anxiety trickled down my spine, but I refused to waver. I was sure something sooner or later would show itself.

And then a voice came through the comm system. “Sunset! Sunset, we’re in trouble!”

My heart leapt into my throat before I forced it back down. “Twilight?!” I said, slapping the panel near the door to trigger the comm. “What’s going on? Where are you?”

“Mother and I are in huge trouble! We’re trapped! Help us, Sunset! Hurry!”

Wait, if they’re trapped, how is Twilight communicating with me? I frowned, certain something about this was a trick. But could I really risk it? So I tapped the panel again and said, “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Are you in the same building?”

“Yes! Generator room, on the lowest level! Sunset, please! There’s a radiation leak; I don’t know how long we can last!”

“I’m coming.” Then I tapped at the panel again to try to unlock the door, only to hear a dissenting beep. “You stupid… augh, no time!” I broke open the panel and messed with the circuits, forcing the door to swish open.

As I stepped out, two officers, including Lieutenant Commander Morox, the Denobulan in charge of issuing the exams, stood up from a table in the hallway. “Shimmer, what’re you doing? You’re supposed to be conducting your psychological exam,” he barked.

“I realize that, sir, but my sister contacted me via comms. She said she and our mother are trapped in the generator room, which is leaking radiation,” I said, eager to get moving.

Morox eyed his fellow officer, then looked at me, his frown deep and twisted. “Ridiculous. Why would they be down there?”

Biting back my instinctive retort, I said, “I don’t know, but they are. They need help, sir.”

“Then you’d best let trained Starfleet officers handle it, Shimmer. You’re not ready for something like this,” he retorted at once, his tone harsh and angry. “Get back in there and back to your test. Now. I will see to this myself. Sherman! With me.”

Both officers left immediately down the hallway dead ahead and hung a left. Inward, I was pissed. Those words... not ready… they echoed through my mind, drilling their way inside my ears like wriggling worms, bringing back the memory of the last thing Princess Celestia said to me. The desire to ignore his orders, to rush forward and save my family burned fiercely within me, not so much like fire as like the heat of a star.

And yet I wavered. I wavered because the responsible part of me, the intelligent part me, managed to just barely keep the rest of me in check, long enough to think. Was I supposed to follow this order to the letter, and stay? Was it all a trick, to see if I’d abandon my duties for family the instant they seemed to be in danger? Or was the danger real, and the test about whether or not I would act to save them even though it risked my own chances at getting into Starfleet?

I didn’t know. I couldn’t know. That was the point. Oh this acted on one of my worst fears all right. The thought of losing my family, the only family I’d ever truly known as a proper family… that scared me to death.

No. Screw it. I am Sunset Shimmer, damn it. I’m not going to abandon my family. They needed me. If this was a trick… then it was a trick and I fell for it. I could always try the exams again next year. But if this was real…

I galloped down the corridor. Alarms blared like mad the closer I got. As I neared the turn, a loud explosion boomed through the whole building, nearly shaking me off my hooves. People screamed and ran for exits as I passed them by, getting closer and closer to the generator room.

And then I entered Hell.

At least that’s what it felt like. Fires raged all over the room, hot fiery steam pouring out of a pipe in the ceiling. The atmosphere inside was choked with smoke and debris. On the far side of the room, beyond a lot of ruined panels and consoles laid an open fusion reactor, its core glowing an ominous green, indicating a shielding failure. Radiation, all right.

Worse, I spotted Twilight and T’Lona, stuck under a fallen beam. Their eyes were closed shut. They weren’t moving.

Morox was also there, struggling to lift a table out of his way so he could get to the reactor. Sherman laid near the door, blood streaming down his face from a nasty cut on his temple. “Shimmer, damn it!” Morox roared. “I told you to stay in that room!”

“Sorry, sir, but you need help!” I eyed T’Lona and Twilight, gulped, then ran forward and used my magic to hurl the table he was lifting out of his way. “Go ahead to the reactor, sir. I’ll get them out of here.”

He scowled at me for a moment, then nodded. “Fine. Work fast. They’ve already taken massive amounts. They might not survive much longer.”

Nodding, I took a brief moment to lift Sherman out past the doorway into the corridor, then made my way over to the beam. This one proved harder to dislodge, forcing me to strain heavily, sweat pouring down my face and stinging my eyes. More than once I broke into a coughing fit from the smoke. But then I managed to lift the beam enough to shove it to the side. “C’mon, c’mon, Twilight, Mother, wake up!” I shouted as I used my magic to carefully lift them and carry them out.

Then I had to shield them with a spell as another explosion rocked the room, scattering debris everywhere. Morox cried out in pain as he bounced off the wall. “Shimmer!” he gasped. “Get out of here now! This reactor’s about to blow. It’ll take half the city when it does!”

“What? No!” I immediately set Twilight and T’Lona down, then surrounded them with a protective bubble. “Forget running. We have to stop it!”

As I rushed over to the reactor, Morox hissed at me. “Shimmer, no, you’re not… not trained. You’re just going to get yourself killed!”

“I’m the only one here who can do it, sir,” I growled back as I used my magic for another shield around myself. It was enough to protect from the heat, but the radiation would quickly penetrate it. I had to work fast. Wishing I had a tricorder or some other scanning device, I made due with a quick visual inspection. It didn’t take long for me to spot the issue: there was a failure in the fuel feed lines, dumping so much fuel that it overloaded the cooling systems. No wonder it was about to explode.

I moved back and forth around the reactor as I performed a quick and dirty bypass of the fuel line, using my magic like a welding tool. Then I forced open all the emergency coolant tanks, the ones not already used up, and flooded the reactor with it. Then I did my best to seal it shut, and only then picked up Morox and my family and moved us all out of there.

And then the instant I passed back through the doorway, the alarms ceased. I stood, gaping in confusion until the whole room shattered and faded away into static, replaced by black walls lined in a gold grid pattern. My family disappeared, as did Sherman, and only Morox remained. “What… the hell?”

“Simulation complete,” spoke the computer as a large pair of double doors framed by an arch, the same ones I’d passed through on my way to the office, split open, revealing an unharmed corridor outside.

A relieved laugh escaped my throat. “That was all the psych test, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was,” said Morox, back to the smiling officer he’d acted when I first met him. “Normally we wouldn’t involve family members like that, even in a holodeck simulation, but your Mother presented the situation to us, and we found it to our liking. I admit, I am especially impressed by your workarounds with the reactor. I predicted a different result.”

“Then… then I passed?” I gasped.

Morox’s smile stretched to the point of contorting his face in a manner I found a little disturbing. Then, thankfully, he dropped it. “Yes, Sunset. Flawlessly. You made the best decision at every step of the way. You acted to help people in need, to offer up solutions when you had them, and did not let a superior officer browbeat you into following orders blindly. In other words, you used your head. While nominally we do expect you to follow orders, on occasion, in the right moment, violating one is the best action. As it was here. Well done.”

He held out his hand for me to shake. “I am proud to officially announce you will be attending Starfleet Academy beginning with the spring semester, next year. Congratulations, Cadet Shimmer.”

Beaming for all I was worth, I took his hand in both forehooves and shook it vigorously. “Thank you sir! Thank you!”

---

2365: Seven years after Sunset’s arrival.

I dropped my duffel bag on the single twin-sized bed, with the sparse amount of belongings I’d been allowed to bring. My freshly replicated Cadet’s uniform hugged me tight, still brimming with that fresh from the replicator smell. In the room, on the opposite side, my roommate unpacked her possessions and stored them away in regulation order. I quickly followed suit, making sure everything was in tip-top shape.

Last thing I needed was to earn some demerits or be reprimanded on my first day.

We’d been given a small amount of time to ourselves before we were to report in for our initial class assignments, so as soon as I finished I took a moment to observe my roommate. She was human, her skin tanned from long hours working in the sun. Blonde hair cropped regulation short ran down her head ending just above her shoulders, though judging from the way it hung it used to be far longer. Light green eyes looked back at me from a face filled with freckles. “Howdy there,” she said, offering up a hand. “Name’s Alma. Alma Smith.”

“Sunset Shimmer,” I said, shaking it politely. “Good to meet you.”

“Likewise, Shimmer,” Smith said, giving me a curious look. “Beggin’ your pardon, but Ah’m not sure Ah’ve seen your species before. Can Ah ask?”

I chuckled wryly. “You wouldn’t. I’m an Equestrian unicorn. There’s only two of us in the entire Federation, me and my sister.”

She snorted at that. “Unicorn, huh? Ah was gonna say, you look like one.” Then she gave me a warm smile. “Well, Ah think we’re gonna get along splendidly then.”

Before I could say a word, a whistle blew through the comms, summoning us to reveille. With a wordless shrug to Smith, I left the room and made my way swiftly with my fellow cadets to the meeting hall.

There, an officer with the sternest bearing I’d ever seen shouted at us for a while about duty, honor, and so on. I listened closely, but with a distinct grain of salt at all times. Amina had warned me about how overblown the Academy could get, especially towards its first year cadets, when it was at its most strict, militarily speaking. This was to drum out anyone who couldn’t handle continuous on-going pressure. It wasn’t fun, but I could understand the necessity. Being warned ahead of time allowed me to school myself against it, using several techniques T’Lona taught me to stay calm and level-headed.

Many of my fellow cadets weren’t so lucky. Smith in particular acted a little too frightened, especially when the officer screamed in her face thanks to her attention wavering. Of course since she was standing next to me, and I was a good two or three feet shorter than almost every other cadet, he moved on to me next, railing about how special I must think I was just because I had abilities no one else did. He accused me of expecting special treatment because of my species, because of Mom, etc, etc, while I didn’t let it get under my skin at all. He was just doing his job.

Eventually he moved on to another target and then distributed our class lists. We’d be given all the same classes for the first two semesters, and then at the end of year one we’d get to pick our primary career path. I already knew which one I was aimed for: engineering. It was just far too fascinating a subject for me to pass up, and I knew I could parlay that into an eventual command position. It wasn’t the fastest way up the food chain, but I wasn’t interested in command for command’s sake.

Though I did want to command my own ship eventually. How else was I going to find Equus?

Fortunately, once inside an actual class, things swiftly went from screaming and irritating to fascinating and educational. I thought I knew a lot coming into the Academy, but I learned very quickly how much more I had to learn. I took to the subjects with aplomb, diving my way headfirst into everything and rarely surfacing other than to say hello, or to study with Smith. She’d told me she was headed for a science role, with a focus on xeno agriculture, since she’d worked on a farm for much of her life. That surprised the hell out of me when I heard it, given I knew Earth didn’t really need farms anymore, and said as much to her that evening, after dinner.

“Ah know, but it’s been in mah family for hundreds of years. It’s not a huge farm, just an apple orchard and some fields of corn and potatoes, but it’s ours. We maintain it more for our own sake than anythin’ else, though most of our produce goes towards local restaurants that prefer to use real ingredients over replicated stuff. You know, the closed minded types.”

“Wait,” I said, shaking my head in confusion. “I was getting the impression you hated the idea of replicator food.”

“What?” she snorted. “Why would Ah be like that? Ah like it just fine. We had a replicator on our farm and used it just like anybody else. But we still grow food ‘cause we like to. It’s a good skill to keep around. Mah brother decided to take that skill and use it as part of a colony, but Ah wanted to join Starfleet instead. Ah’m hopin’ mah little sister will too, when she’s old enough.”

At that, I smiled. “My sister’s going to join Starfleet. She’ll be taking the entrance exam in a couple of years.”

“Where’re you two from, anyhow?” So I told her our story, and when I was done she nodded in understanding. “Well, Ah hope you do find your home planet one of these days.”

“Thanks.”

The next few weeks passed swiftly, full of constant hard work and stress. More than once I found myself barely able to sleep, my head stuffed so full of facts and figures and calculations. It invaded my dreams too, till practically all I could do was eat, sleep, and breathe Academy life.

Fortunately about a month in we got our first bit of leave time, allowing me to go home for a weekend to Vancouver. I’d seen Mom in passing a few times at the Academy, but never for very long. So when I came home, the first thing she did was wrap me in a warm hug. “Oh it’s good to see you, Sunset,” she said. “I’ve been hearing nothing but good from your professors.”

Hugging her back, I replied, “It’s been pretty rough, but I’m handling it.”

“The first year is always the most strenuous,” T’Lona said, coming over to place a hand on my shoulder. “You will find that everything becomes much easier to take from the second year on.”

“Yeah, that’s what you told me before. I remember.” Giving Mother a quick smile, I brushed by them both and headed up the stairs. “Hey, Twilight, you in?”

Twilight’s door opened and she all but barreled me over. At fourteen now she was as tall as I was. Not quite the adorable little tiny filly she’d been when we first met. “Hurray, you’re home!” she cheered, smothering me with her hugs. “I missed you so much, BSBFF.”

“Ack, okay, okay, Twilight, I get it, you can let go of me,” I laughed, pushing her away. “It’s not like I’ve been that far away.”

“Oh, I know, it’s just, I’ve been so excited,” Twilight said, all happy smiles. “I can’t wait to hear you tell us all about your first month.”

“Well, let’s go get dinner and I’ll share, okay?”

“All right!”

Of course at dinner I managed to scare Twilight with a few of my stories. “Wow, it sounds… really hard,” she said, shivering at the description I’d given of the screaming officer.

“It’s not so bad so long as you know it’s coming,” I said with a shrug. “That’s why I’m telling you now, to give you the heads up. How’s your magic practice been going?”

“Fine,” Twilight said, clearly happy to be on a different subject. “I’ve been experimenting lately with some new effects. If I can get them working into a proper spell matrix I’ll write it down and send it to you.”

“Sounds good.”

Amina chose that moment to interject, “So, Sunset, I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of looking into your planned schedule for the summer and fall. It looks like you should have a class with me on solar dynamics.” She winked, beaming at me. “Of course, don’t expect me to take things easy on you. In my class you’re the same as any other student.”

“I’d be offended if you treated me any differently, Mom,” I replied, popping a piece of potato in my mouth. Then I frowned. “I’m going to have to call you ma’am and Commander while there, aren’t I?”

She narrowed her eyes at me, for a moment taking on a stern expression. “I hope you weren’t expecting to be familiar with me while on duty, Cadet,” she said.

Stiffening in my chair I barked, “No ma’am.”

She burst out laughing, and laughed even harder when she saw my glare. “Oh honey, I’m sorry, but you were asking for that one.” Then her gaze softened. “But yes, you’ll have to, I’m afraid, same as any other parent/child relationship at the Academy. While you’re on duty, we’re officers first, and family second.”

“I figured, but it was worth asking,” I replied with a sigh. Shoving another forkful of potatoes in my mouth I chewed for a while, then said, “You know, the hardest thing about the Academy hasn’t been the studies, or the shouting, or the discipline. It’s been the lack of this. This comfortable atmosphere. I’d forgotten how relaxing it is here.”

Twilight glanced at me, worry crossing her face. “It’s going to be really hard for me the first few weeks there, isn’t it?”

“Maybe,” I said, “but I know you can do it. If I can, you can.”

“I hope so.”

---

2366: Eight years after Sunset’s arrival.

If Mom and Mother were right about one thing, it was how much easier the second year of the academy proved when compared to the first. By now all the worst aspects were routine, and every officer backed off from the abuse by a few notches. Oh, there was still the occasional yelling, but it lacked the harsh, crushing vibe of the first year yelling. As if I’d passed some unspoken test and received their approval.

They swapped roommates out on me, of course. I knew they would, since we’d have a different roommate from year to year. This time I was partnered up with an Andorian, named Nyraa. She was aggressive, adversarial, and looked upon me like an insect scuttling across the floor to be crushed under her heel. At least at first.

And then I cleaned her clock in Close Quarters Combat, or CQC, training. At least the first time, when I was allowed my magic. She pointed out it was an unfair advantage, and rightfully so, so she challenged me to several more matches, without my magic. Those came far closer, and she won a couple. But I still managed to beat her overall.

That won her respect. We’d never be friends, but we managed to get along, and that was good enough for me. Besides, by this point, I’d been given the privilege of nightly communiques with home, so I used those to keep in touch with Twilight. I knew sooner or later she’d take the preliminary exam, and I wanted to hear how that went as soon as possible.

One other thing they had me do, since I had apparently impressed them, was act as a liaison to two of the first year cadets. The first was Amelia Wattson, a dark skinned human with brunette hair, hailing from somewhere in the North American Midwest, albeit with a hint of Boston in her accent. She spoke passionately about engineering work, and knew as much or even more than I did about the subject despite being new. She impressed me with her knowledge, but she was a bit clingy, especially to the second cadet, Jacqueline Cadeneza. Cadeneza, a light skinned, blonde haired woman with a severe looking face first struck me as almost Vulcan-like in how cool and calm she was, an introvert.

And then I heard her crack her first dirty joke, and I knew I’d like her.

Like Mother, she was a xenobiologist, or at least, that’s where her studies and interests lay. So for the sake of helping her out, since it was part of my liaison duties anyway, I introduced her to Mother. T’Lona swiftly built a rapid rapport with Cadeneza, and frequently when Cadeneza got leave time she’d take it to visit T’Lona. Which had the unusual effect of making it look like I’d brought her home on one of my own visits, prompting Twilight and Amina both to tease me about having a girlfriend.

Which was ridiculous. Like I had time for that kind of crap.

Unfortunately, while Cadeneza built a solid rapport with T’Lona and me, when it came to Twilight… the two frequently butted heads. At least that’s what I heard, since I didn’t see them in the same room very often. For whatever reason, Twilight particularly disliked the jacket Cadeneza insisted on wearing whenever she wasn’t at the Academy. I don’t know why. It was just a leather jacket. But it might’ve had something to do with Cadeneza’s combative tendency to drink booze whenever she was seen wearing it.

Personally, I preferred to spend the time I had as a liaison with Wattson. It wasn’t anything personal against Cadeneza, but Wattson’s knack for engineering meshed with my own goals, and she helped me vastly enhance my understanding of a number of different subjects, which landed me a high enough grade to choose a few elective classes the following year.

Halfway through the year we finally heard back from the result of Twilight’s preliminary: she passed. She’d get to take the entrance exam next year, though they were sending her in the completely opposite direction, to Tellar for some bizarre reason. I wished her the best of luck with it, and somewhat wished I could go along.

Near the end of my second year, I was assigned to a special project on an old freighter trawling its way through the Sol system. I spent several weeks aboard maintaining the engine and performing all sorts of grunt engineering work. As hard as some of it was, I loved it. I even managed to squeak some extra efficiency out of its impulse engines. The ship would never go to warp again, but it sure could run around the neighborhood.

Of course right at the end of that journey, they had to bring us home in a hurry. The entire planet went on alert as some sort of alien invasion ship appeared. A lot of my fellow cadets lost family members in a battle at a nearby star called Wolf 359-- I was especially saddened to hear the Kyushu was destroyed there, a part of me hoped I could’ve been posted to that ship upon graduation.

These aliens, the Borg, were thankfully defeated by the U.S.S. Enterprise. The ship was forced into drydock at McKinley station for repairs, allowing a few lucky cadets like myself to go up and perform repairs on the hull. Made me wish I could’ve stepped hoof onboard.

---

2368: Ten years after Sunset’s arrival.

My third and fourth year felt blended into one long journey. Most of the third year was spent planet-side, embroiled in more classes, with the occasional practical assignments to help maintain Earth’s power grid or do repairs and maintenance aboard Earth Spacedock. I continued to help liaison Wattson and Cadeneza, though I saw them far less often than I had the previous year.

A few of my fellow cadets dropped out after Wolf 359, too afraid or too saddened by the loss of their family to continue. But I persevered, seeing no reason to slow down, let alone stop. Nor did my sister, given she passed her entrance exam with flying colors. She’d start her first year at the Academy in the fall after I graduated. We’d just barely miss attending together by that little.

Fourth year at the academy brought with it some extra privileges, including the chance to join Red Squadron, an elite branch of cadets who focused on being the best of the best of the best. In other words, they took the cream of the crop and filtered it out to have only the highest of highest quality. However they also took their obsession with duty and Starfleet so far they came across as… cocksure and egotistical, reminding me far too much of myself pre-Earth. So I rejected their offer, deciding I’d find my own way without their help.

They weren’t the only squadron so full of themselves they got into major trouble. A group of cadets that called themselves “Nova Squadron” pulled something that got one of them killed, while they all covered it up. I heard the details from Amina, who attended the hearings. She recommended I get to know one of the cadets involved, a Wesley Crusher.

So I did. He turned out to not only be a prodigy, but was just an overall nice guy all around. In fact, he was one of the nicest I’d met at the Academy. I ended up mentoring him in some of his classes after the disaster, since he’d be staying behind an additional year. He didn’t need a lot of mentoring, but I think he accepted it anyway just to find some friendship after the mistake he made. I was more than happy to oblige. We promised to stay in contact after I graduated.

And graduation came fast. Between the various assignments they had me performing throughout the Sol system on ships and stations, and all the classwork I still had to do, it passed so quickly that when I blinked, and it was over. I’d made many friends and acquaintances throughout my time at the Academy, and turned more than a few heads besides.

Finally, one fateful day found me sitting in a crowd of my fellow cadets, wearing our dress uniforms, eagerly awaiting our names. The superintendent, Admiral Brand, called us up one at a time and announced our specialization and our initial posting. Our families watched as well, of course, but they were separated from the cadets. I still caught Twilight, T’Lona, and Amina’s attention and waved to them every now and then. I watched as cadet after cadet walked up to the stage, got pronounced an Ensign, and their assignment happily announced to all. Every one was accompanied by a diploma placard, a handshake of congratulations, and applause from us all.

And then, finally, the very last name was called. “Cadet Sunset Shimmer!” The crowd fell silent as I got up out of my chair and trotted up to the stage, promptly standing at attention once I arrived. “First of all,” said Admiral Brand, “allow me to congratulate you not just on graduating, but becoming the valedictorian of the 2368 Academy year!”

Allowing myself a small smile, I promptly said, “Thank you, ma’am.”

She smiled back. “You’ve earned it.” She pulled out a case from the podium, one she’d used for every cadet up to this point, and pulled out a single gold pip. I bent my neck out of the way, allowing her to remove the 4th year cadet insignia, replacing it with a proper officer’s pip. “No longer are you a Cadet. You are officially a Starfleet officer, Ensign Sunset Shimmer!”

The crowd broke into thunderous applause, but none were louder than that of my family. Even T’Lona demonstrated an excess of noise, albeit through forceful hand clapping rather than shouts of praise.

“Now, as the valedictorian, you do get to choose from several possible assignments,” the admiral continued, looking at me expectantly.

“Yes ma’am,” I said. “After looking them over, I’ve chosen the New Orleans-class U.S.S. Rutledge.”

She considered that for a moment, then nodded in approval. “A good choice, Ensign.” Then she gestured to the mike. “If you would, please.”

Ah. Right. The speech. I stepped up to the podium and up onto a step stool so I could look over it. Then I began my speech. I’d filled it with a lot of the usual buzzwords. Honesty. Loyalty. A dedication to Starfleet’s code of ethos, fond wishes for those who’d attended to look forward to serving on a starship or starbase properly, and so on and so forth. But I gave it my own touch as well, adding a little bit of my story, my sister’s story, how we’d been taken from our home, and welcomed by the Federation without hesitation. Why that meant we wanted to pay back the kindness done to us, by serving the Federation in turn, so we could find our way home.

“Home is what matters, everyone,” I said. “Whether that home is a house on a street, a cabin aboard a starship, or just the people around you… you never, ever want to forget your home, where you came from, where you go at the end of the day. My sister and I, we found a home on this planet. With our adopted parents. But we’ve also never forgotten where we came from. Someday, we’ll find it again. And until we do, we’re going to serve Starfleet and the Federation to the best of our ability. Because the Federation gave us a home, when we didn’t have one anymore. So we never want to forget that, and never will. Congratulations to all of you for graduating, and best of luck with your new assignments.”

I descended the stage to the sound of applause, then joined the crowd in cheering when the Admiral ordered us dismissed. I immediately went to join my family. “I’m so proud of you, Sunset,” Amina said, brushing a hand against my face. “Or should I say, Ensign Shimmer?”

“Sunset’s fine, Mom,” I said with a light chuckle. “I’m looking forward to taking some time off. I’ve heard enough of Shimmer for a while.”

“Excuse me Ensign,” spoke Admiral Brand, startling us all into whirling to see her standing behind us. Everyone, even Twilight, stiffened to a form of attention. “I would like to have a word with you privately.”

Glancing briefly at my parents, I said, “Yes ma’am,” then allowed her to lead me into the Academy proper, ducking into the first available conference room. “May I ask what this is about?”

The Admiral smiled at me. “Easy, Ensign, this is a bit of good news. I just received a personal communique from Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge, the chief engineer about the Enterprise. He likes to put through inquiries whenever a new Academy class graduates, and when I told him about you, he was very intrigued.” She pulled a PADD out from her pocket and handed it to me. “Take a look.”

Taking hold of it in my magic, I glanced down at the PADD and read aloud, “To Ensign Sunset Shimmer, from Lt. Cmdr. La Forge. After careful consideration of your performance at the Academy, you are hereby being offered a posting on the U.S.S. Enterprise, to start on Stardate 46001.1!” My eyes widened in shock as a happy giggle escaped me despite myself. “Ma’am, is he serious?”

“Very much so,” she chuckled. “I know La Forge pretty well. He doesn’t mess around. If he wants you, he wants you. You don’t have to take it, of course. But if I were you, Ensign, I wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to work aboard the flagship of the fleet. Besides, this would give you an extra week with your family. I’m sure you’d appreciate that as well.”

It was a no brainer. No better experience than working on the Enterprise. Grinning like a loon, I nodded to the admiral. “Yes ma’am. I’ll take the posting. I’d be an idiot not to.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear it.” She took the PADD back from me, stuffed it under her arm, then gestured for the door. “Dismissed, Ensign.”

I rushed out the door, so excited I could barely contain myself. It took me a moment to find my family, as they’d wandered off in the direction of a nearby hole-in-the-wall diner that we all enjoyed. “Mother! Mom! Twilight! Wait up!”

“Ah, there you are, Sunset,” T’Lona said, eying me curiously. “May I ask what the Admiral wished to see you about?”

“It was about my first assignment,” I answered, my muzzle still split in a massive grin. “She had another posting to offer me at the last minute.”

Amina eyed me curiously, one corner of her mouth quirking up. “Oh? And what’s that, Sunset?”

I stopped in place, shifted my grin to one basted in smugness, and brushed back my mane. “The Enterprise, of course.”

“What?!” Twilight gasped, a happy smile crossing her face as she jumped in place. “Are you serious? The Enterprise? With La Forge, a-and Data, and Picard?”

“The very same!” I replied with a wink.

T’Lona, both eyebrows arched high enough to disappear under her bangs, replied, “That is most impressive, Sunset. I am surprised to hear you received such an offer.”

Shrugging casually, I started off again, prompting the others to follow. “Well, Commander La Forge asked for me personally, apparently. Guess I’ve made some waves. I start on Stardate 46001.1.”

Amina let out a pleased laugh as she wrapped an arm around my body and squeezed me tight, almost knocking me off my hooves. “Oh, Sunset, I’m so proud of you, I can barely stand it. I knew you’d turn some heads!”

“So, what, you’re just gonna sit around the house for three weeks?” Twilight teased.

“No, I’m going to sit around the house and eat cake in a week when we celebrate your eighteenth birthday, sis,” I replied.

“Oh, right,” Twilight said, a nervous laugh escaping her. “I almost forgot about that.”

“I believe you are attempting to deceive us, Twilight,” T’Lona said immediately, with that single arched eyebrow that was her way of expressing some amusement.

I broke out laughing as Twilight shrank in on herself, her cheeks florid red. “Oh, leave the poor girl alone, T’Lona,” Amina said, batting at T’Lona’s arm. “It’s the first birthday she’s been able to celebrate with Sunset since Sunset started the Academy. She’s allowed to be excited.”

“And speaking of the Academy, I’m looking forward to hearing how your first days go in a few months,” I added. “I know I’ll be some distance away, but I’ll be supporting you as much as I can.”

“I know you will, sis,” Twilight said, her smile drooping. “Doesn’t mean I’m not worried though.”

“It’s fine to be worried,” Amina said, giving Twilight a small hug. “But you passed the exams. You’re just as smart and talented as Sunset is. I know you’ve got this.”

“She’s right you know,” I said. “Hell, I expect you to surpass me. You’re smarter than me, Twi. You always have been.”

Twilight looked away, though this time her expression was bashful. “You’re just saying that.”

“Hey, you remember how often I messaged you late at night asking your second opinion on something,” I laughed.

“But you were usually right,” Twilight pointed out, now looking right at me. “You were rarely wrong.”

“Maybe,” I shrugged, “but I was wrong occasionally. I don’t know if I would’ve done as well without your help.”

She reached over to give me a strong hug. “Well I was happy to do it. Anything for my BSBFF.”

I hugged her back. “Love you, sis.”

“Love you too.”

Author's Note:

In case it wasn't clear from the conversation that T'Lona and Sunset have, time is passing normally on both Equus and Earth. So everything will be synced with the main MLP timeline. Why did I do this? Because MLP is so nebulous about when Sunset was Celestia's student, I had to pick some kind of year to nail down when precisely she existed, and since I wanted the sisterly relationship, I needed to keep them close in age. Hence Sunset gets delayed on the way to Earth while Twilight has no such thing happen.

Because of the nature of this AU, the normal Equestria Girls alternates cannot exist. However, I still wanted to acknowledge them in this story, with one character(And only one character.) It took a while for me to decide, but I ultimately settled on Alma Smith, AKA a version of Applejack. Why? Well, there are many reasons, and most of them are spoilers, so I shan't say.

I do need to emphasize she is based upon Applejack but is not Applejack.

As for why Sunset is an engineer, this is an extension of headcanon I've had for Sunset for some time. This has manifested in a similar way in other stories of mine, such as In Harmony's Wake, where she had bachelor's in mechanical engineering. Basically, I took the way in which she chose to test everyone's magic pre-Friendship Games and ran with that as an approach that said she liked the practical aspects of magic and technology. She likes to see how it works, make it work, that sort of thing. Hence, engineer.

Doctor Paul Manheim is a reference to a season one TNG episode called "We'll Always Have Paris." You can read more in the link to Memory Alpha.

Why so much love for the New Orleans class? Because it's one of those kitbash designs that never got to really be seen in the show, but that's super super cool. Just take a look at this:

So cool. You know how they accomplished those three pods with the studio kitbash model? They were dollar store highlighters, painted grey. If you can do that and make something look good, you know you've got a great design.

One other thing you may be noticing is that this story has been establishing a lot of original characters. While a few of these are the one-offs you'd expect, many of them will have important parts to play in the future, and we're getting to see them a bit at a time. Don't worry, it's all intentional.

And for those who are worried that Sunset's posting to the Enterprise means this is going to turn into one massive "And Sunset was there too," story, don't. It doesn't. Like I said before in the comments, this is Sunset and Twilight's story. Her posting to the Enterprise won't last forever.

Comments

[WanderingPony]

Geordi's a good one to be getting your first full practical tour in. Making the Enterprise pull things it could never have been imagined doing by it's designers is one of those hallmarks of the chief engineers of the various Starfleet bearers of the name, and I swear if any of them had been Phylosians, they'd have grown a root structure directly into the warp core to know it better. Besides, if there's anyone in Starfleet more familiar with exotic energy redirection, they're probably on the same crew right now as Sunset's getting to.

I wish her well on the lower decks!

[Mister Morden]

Hmmmm, so Sunset is going to be the officer and Twilight ends up as the Science/Engineering branch? Or is Twilight's ability to take charge and lead going to blossom in the academy?

I enjoyed this chapter, it spanned a lot of time but I liked that it didn't get bogged down and let us see the highlights. Looking forward to more.

[reader238]

I'll be honest my only concern for both Twilight and Sunset at this point is what color their uniforms will be

[Fetch]

Alma Jacqueline Smith. Alma to her friends, AJ to her family.

46001.1 (6th season TNG, 1st season DS9)
So, Sunset shall see Deep Space 9. At least through the Enterprise's window while Picard and Sisko have a chat. And she'll be able to talk to Wesley again. And with her being in Engineering, I hope she can become friends with Barclay. That guy could use some more non holographic company.

[Sentinel053]

Awesome also is the image of the New role as you posted from the original studio model fo From Star Trek online otherwise it’s awesome

[BlackOpsElf]

Excellent story so far!

Is Amelia Wattson a HoloLive reference?

[Xawine]

Q: Well look at the time need to visit my favourite Mon capitan.

[Blue Horizon]

10778364
Ironically, no. When I designed the base of Wattson's character, I actually used Wattson from Apex Legends as a base. Then picked Amelia as the first name cause it sounded really good and I always liked Amelia Earhart...

And then a few days later, I totally remembered that Amelia Watson exists. XD

[Vic Fontaine]

10771903
at the point our two ponies arrived on Earth, we're into the later seasons of TNG. So the whole Wolf359/Borg thing has already occurred.

[zimmerwald1915]

Sunset gets her own ship before Riker does, doesn't she?

[Kasharo]

10778341
And she'll be talking to Wesley's mom, too!

Oh, and maybe an encounter with Q?

Anyways, an excellent chapter - now I'm even more psyched to read the next one. We get to meet Geordie again, and where he is, Data shouldn't be far away!

[MagicS]

Been enjoying this so far, good story. Really picked up this chapter. Also glad at the era it takes place in since this is my favorite time period of Star Trek and TNG is my favorite show. Like how you made things coincide with Wolf-359 too.

I thought Amelia Wattson was a hololive reference too but apparently just a funny coincidence. Liked seeing the Applejack counterpart as well.

[KR Chrome]

A great chapter with tons of development. Sunset is now an Ensign and a few years Twilight will be one too. Now, wonder what crazy adventures Sunset will have. Oh, an idea. Q turns her into a humanoid. That should be fun. I also believe Sunset has studied their logs. The Enterprise has had a lot of crazy adventures.

[Uncle Mike]

Huh. I was halfway expecting Sunset to go for the Command track right out of the Academy. OTOH, an ensign on her first cruise couldn't ask for a better posting than the Enterprise. And, she doesn't necessarily have to stayin the Engine Room, any more than Twily would have to stay in the Science track.

[Forthwith]

Well, that’s not entirely true. There was… one time I thought it might. But I was wrong and it’s been years so it doesn’t matter.

That doesn’t sound like it doesn’t matter, but better to live with the family you definitely have in this instance, I suppose.

“Okay,” I said, internally feeling a mote of worry releasing its hold on my heart. “So we probably don’t have to worry that twenty years is passing on Equus every six months here or something like that. I was just unlucky and arrived on Earth ‘later’ than I should have.”

...I accept this handwave. Very unlikely things happen every day, and it’s only under a magnifying lens that they seem particularly odd.

“With respect,” Savil spoke up, giving us both a cold gaze, “I would like to officially protest the legitimacy of Shimmer’s project. It is based upon her own unique abilities, an aspect of science thoroughly unexplored.”

That’s not an entirely unreasonable objection. Throwing magic into a children’s science fair is a bit overkill, although I’m certainly not going to be the one to stand in Sunset Shimmer’s way, of all ponies.

“Sorry, Mom, she’s stuck in a cake coma,” Twilight laughed.

Oh no. The M word. Or, well, one of them.

“Isn’t it?” Twilight breathed. “I’m… I’m betraying my original family by doing it! I… I… I swore I’d never, that I’d never…” She swallowed, and allowed her tears to fall. “I can barely remember them now, Sunset. I don’t even remember their names anymore!”

Hey, you can have more than one set of parents, Twilight. Also, you don’t even remember your mother’s name? It’s, you know, half the same as yours. That seems like a hard to forget detail. I’ll give it a pass since you were eight at the time, but it seems like the kind of thing someone would have written down somewhere. Maybe ask your therapist?

Besides… it’d be nice to finally make the sister relationship official, wouldn’t you say?

That would be the best birthday present, even if it only really means something for tax purposes. After all, they’re already sisters in their hearts.

“Dunno why they need to send you all the way out to Denobula when you’re living on Earth, though,” Amina said, her smile pulled into a half frown. “It’s not like you’re some kid on a starship out on the frontier.”

That’s a good point. I smell intrigue.

“She does make a fair point, Amina,” T’Lona said. “Though one of us should accompany her. We should look into chartering passage.”

Ah, good. It’s dangerous to go alone. Take her. The obvious way to sidestep basic evil plots is to not travel solo.

vector based geometrically

I suspect you want geometry here.

Judging by the expression on the judge’s face, however, I’d made a very good choice when it came to that improvisation.

I wonder if this is one of those ‘succeeded at an impossible task’ situations.

And yet I wavered. I wavered because the responsible part of me, the intelligent part me, managed to just barely keep the rest of me in check, long enough to think. Was I supposed to follow this order to the letter, and stay? Was it all a trick, to see if I’d abandon my duties for family the instant they seemed to be in danger? Or was the danger real, and the test about whether or not I would act to save them even though it risked my own chances at getting into Starfleet?

Yeah, those kind of mind game tests are the worst. If you don’t recognize them for what they are, then fair enough. They sort people well enough according to their response. But people who are quick witted enough to spot them always end up in that awkward state of trying to guess the intentions of someone you have very little to no information about. Which, I suppose, is a valuable leadership skill to have if Sunset wants to rise up the chain of command and get her own starship.

Nodding, I took a brief moment to lift Sherman out past the doorway into the corridor, then made my way over to the beam. This one proved harder to dislodge, forcing me to strain heavily, sweat pouring down my face and stinging my eyes. More than once I broke into a coughing fit from the smoke. But then I managed to lift the beam enough to shove it to the side.

After (only briefly) double checking the previous chapters, it’s not been made clear yet if Sunset can teleport (but she does know at least the basic facts about it, as does Twilight). Given her response to this situation, I’m assuming not, but it’d be good to know one way or another for sure for future reference in action scenes.

As I rushed over to the reactor, Morox hissed at me. “Shimmer, no, you’re not… not trained. You’re just going to get yourself killed!”

She’s a half-trained unicorn one step removed from a physical goddess on the power scale. She’s hardly useless. This feels very much like a test scenario rather than an incompetent jerk officer despite the faint smell of intrigue in the air.

I growled back as I used my magic for another shield around myself. It was enough to protect from the heat, but the radiation would quickly penetrate it.

Hmm.... Heat and radiation are kind of but not really the same thing, just nasty energy transfers. A shield protecting from one should probably protect from the other, although radiation does come with more bang for your buck in most cases. I’m not sure if I’d say the radiation would ‘quickly’ penetrate the shield. It would probably go straight through it, either poking little holes or outright ignoring the shield, or else it’d have to batter the shield until it couldn’t withstand any more abuse, in which case Sunset could just case another one. In the former case, I guess it would depend on how your magic system works on the subatomic level, which...is probably not an important detail in the middle of an action scene. I guess the easiest answer here is the shield just functions as stated because that was how it as designed, but then one has to wonder why it would fail against radiation when someone as powerful as Sunset is casting it, but...meh, whatever. This is just unnecessary nitpicking outside of the interesting physics question on how magic interacts with less exotic matter.

I moved back and forth around the reactor as I performed a quick and dirty bypass of the fuel line, using my magic like a welding tool. Then I forced open all the emergency coolant tanks, the ones not already used up, and flooded the reactor with it. Then I did my best to seal it shut, and only then picked up Morox and my family and moved us all out of there.

Couldn’t you just cast a cooling spell? I mean, as far as mundane utility goes, that ranks pretty highly even in a place like Equestria where the weather is managed. I guess you lived in Canterlot, which must have been relatively chilly in summer at that elevation, but still.

There, an officer with the sternest bearing I’d ever seen shouted at us for a while about duty, honor, and so on. I listened closely, but with a distinct grain of salt at all times. Amina had warned me about how overblown the Academy could get, especially towards its first year cadets, when it was at its most strict, militarily speaking.

Oh. Right. Sometimes I forget Starfleet is a paramilitary organization. Even after settling down and getting herself in order, Sunset probably wouldn’t do well in that sort of environment long-term unless she’s more or less in charge of wherever she ends up. Not that she can’t put up an act, of course, but she doesn’t really take orders well. Then again, Starfleet attracts scientists as well (which both pony sisters easily qualify as), and they tend to have a healthy disrespect for authority, so it must not be that bad overall.

I already knew which one I was aimed for: engineering. It was just far too fascinating a subject for me to pass up, and I knew I could parlay that into an eventual command position. It wasn’t the fastest way up the food chain, but I wasn’t interested in command for command’s sake.

Oh? Given how she’s gotten her act together, that makes sense, but jumping from engineering to command is probably going to be harder than Sunset expects. There’s not a whole lot of crossover between the two. Still, she’s right that it’s interesting stuff.

It’s not a huge farm, just an apple orchard and some fields of corn and potatoes, but it’s ours

[...]

Mah brother decided to take that skill and use it as part of a colony, but Ah wanted to join Starfleet instead. Ah’m hopin’ mah little sister will too, when she’s old enough.

This Smith character sounds suspiciously like space!Applejack.

“I figured, but it was worth asking,” I replied with a sigh. Shoving another forkful of potatoes in my mouth I chewed for a while, then said, “You know, the hardest thing about the Academy hasn’t been the studies, or the shouting, or the discipline. It’s been the lack of this. This comfortable atmosphere. I’d forgotten how relaxing it is here.”

Aww...

And then I cleaned her clock in Close Quarters Combat, or CQC, training. At least the first time, when I was allowed my magic. She pointed out it was an unfair advantage, and rightfully so, so she challenged me to several more matches, without my magic. Those came far closer, and she won a couple. But I still managed to beat her overall.

I mean, the small pony kind of needs the advantage. A buck is going to hurt, but...well, how much do Equestrian ponies weigh? I’m kind of assuming they’re comparable to humans from their architecture, but they could be a great deal heavier. Regardless, why would you ever expect the magical pony to fight without magic? The lack of hands is otherwise relatively limiting.

“First of all,” said Admiral Brandt, “allow me to congratulate you not just on graduating, but becoming the valedictorian of the 2368 Academy year!”

Of course. No doubt Twilight will secure it in her own time as well.

“To Ensign Sunset Shimmer, from Lt. Cmdr. La Forge. After careful consideration of your performance at the Academy, you are hereby being offered a posting on the U.S.S. Enterprise, to start on Stardate 46001.1!”

Nice. I was expecting a time skip before she and Twilight ended up there together, but this works just as well.

And for those who are worried that Sunset's posting to the Enterprise means this is going to turn into one massive "And Sunset was there too," story, don't. It doesn't. Like I said before in the comments, this is Sunset and Twilight's story. Her posting to the Enterprise won't last forever.

Ooh, is Twilight going to graduate just in time to benefit from fully justified nepotism when Sunset gets her own ship?

---

Anyway, fun chapter as far as time skips go to ramp us up to the meat of the story. I’m looking forward to Sunset and Twilight’s wacky space adventures together.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

I would see Aj as a security engineering person. because she is good at fixing things and she and Dash were the heavy hitters in the group.

Susnet as a nengineer headign to command makes sense. she was more of a hands on person. Twilight easy science

[Dewdrops on the Grass]

10778433

I suspect you want geometry here.

Yup. Fixed, thank you.

Hmm.... Heat and radiation are kind of but not really the same thing, just nasty energy transfers. A shield protecting from one should probably protect from the other, although radiation does come with more bang for your buck in most cases. I’m not sure if I’d say the radiation would ‘quickly’ penetrate the shield. It would probably go straight through it, either poking little holes or outright ignoring the shield, or else it’d have to batter the shield until it couldn’t withstand any more abuse, in which case Sunset could just case another one. In the former case, I guess it would depend on how your magic system works on the subatomic level, which...is probably not an important detail in the middle of an action scene. I guess the easiest answer here is the shield just functions as stated because that was how it as designed, but then one has to wonder why it would fail against radiation when someone as powerful as Sunset is casting it, but...meh, whatever. This is just unnecessary nitpicking outside of the interesting physics question on how magic interacts with less exotic matter.

So, you're not wrong. This is where I'm running into the problem that Star Trek isn't, in any real way, hard science fiction. It's very soft sci-fi, fairly close to outright science fantasy. As a result, I'm trying to treat things like the shields they summon with magic as working in a similar fashion to what we see on Trek. And on Trek, radiation "overloads" shields after a while and then penetrates. And the reason I'm trying to treat the magic shields in a similar fashion is so I can avoid Sunset and Twilight being too overpowered. I'm trying to give their magic some limits, so it's not the all-in-one solution that it could be otherwise.

Couldn’t you just cast a cooling spell? I mean, as far as mundane utility goes, that ranks pretty highly even in a place like Equestria where the weather is managed. I guess you lived in Canterlot, which must have been relatively chilly in summer at that elevation, but still.

I'm going to rule that a cooling spell powerful enough would take so much magic that it would drain her to dredges. Is that an unnecessary limitation? Maybe. But again, I'm trying to keep it from being OP, while still allowing it to be useful.

Ooh, is Twilight going to graduate just in time to benefit from fully justified nepotism when Sunset gets her own ship?

Maybe.
10778364
As Blue said, no, it's just a funny coincidence.

Thank you everyone else for your enthusiasm! It makes me happy to read.

[Forthwith]

10778475

So, you're not wrong. This is where I'm running into the problem that Star Trek isn't, in any real way, hard science fiction. It's very soft sci-fi, fairly close to outright science fantasy. As a result, I'm trying to treat things like the shields they summon with magic as working in a similar fashion to what we see on Trek. And on Trek, radiation "overloads" shields after a while and then penetrates. And the reason I'm trying to treat the magic shields in a similar fashion is so I can avoid Sunset and Twilight being too overpowered. I'm trying to give their magic some limits, so it's not the all-in-one solution that it could be otherwise.

Ah. Makes sense. I’m coming in with a fairly light Trek knowledge, so you’ll have to forgive me for not having the same level of encyclopedic knowledge there that I do for MLP.

[Dewdrops on the Grass]

10778488
No worries. It was a reasonable point to bring up. And consistency between universes is hard to do, when you involve two entirely different types of physics like I'm doing in this one.

You can imagine how much more crazy things would get if this was a harder sci-fi series I was using, like The Expanse.

[tkepner]

I was forced to keep my work on this sparing

Did you mean "work on this sparingly"

[Blue Horizon]

10778506
In this case, no.

It may seem weird to have an adjective like that at the end of a sentence, but that is both grammatically correct and the original intention.

[Sunset_Shimmer83]

I'm curious if you had plans for a deeper look into Sunset and Twilights thoughts of Wolf 359

[Sunset_Shimmer83]

10778323
Sorry but I just had to say I love your username. So nice to see another fan of babylon 5

[tkepner]

10778525
Yes, on second look at it I realized I had read it wrong. Oops. Sorry I bothered you.

[RolkFlameraven]

About the only bad thing about this is O'Brian is leaving right as Sunset is coming aboard.

I really want to know what Gordie sees when Sunset uses magic.

This is season six, right? So True Q? Depending on what Discord is to the Q that episode could open some doors. Or close them.

Sunset is going the Janeway track? I think it works very well for Sunset. Twilight is, of course, going the Spock route. While this does mean Sunset is going to be in a Gold uniform, it is the gold the dies less, so there is that.

Shame she missed out in knowing Thom Paris' cover identity in Nova Squad ( I know this isn't, technically, canon. But there are hints).

[Blue Horizon]

10778533
Yeah, no, I get you.

That threw me for a loop the first time I read it. Since you rarely see 'sparing' used like that out right.

But, yep, issa all good!

[zimmerwald1915]

10778540
I thought Janeway went from science to command rather than operations to command.

[DMDash71]

Sunnybuns is an engineer. I figured she might take that track.

This story is excellent so far. Keep up the great work!

[Dewdrops on the Grass]

10778529
Not particularly. There's not much of a reason to do so. The truth is, while events that occur canonically will happen around Sunset and Twilight, they won't be delving deep into them too much. There is one exception to this coming in the future, and that one only occurs because it is necessary to set up things later on.
10778540
Season six, yes. So there's a few specific events she could be involved with, but not as many as you might think, especially not as a junior officer. Also technically Janeway rose through the ranks as a scientist, not an engineer, but otherwise it's the same idea.
10778533
No worries. It's a bit of an odd word choice, but T'Lona's a Vulcan, so she sometimes phrases things a bit differently.
10778377
She might, if she can get a ship of her own prior to late 2379. Which is definitely possible.
10778359
I believe it's a render based on the original studio model, not from Star Trek Online. I'm hesitant to source things from there because as good as Online is about sticking to Trek canon, there's a few things weird they do too, like the higher tier ships/advanced versions and such. I know it's because at its core Online is an MMO and you need progression in an MMO, but still.
10778326
Gold for Sunset, Blue for Twilight. And if Sunset manages to land a command, she'll switch to Red.

[The Voice in the Water]

Go Sunny! Glad to see things are looking up for you and Twily. Of course, being on the enterprise means you're going to be on the front lines. And that means the occasional visit from Discord Q.

Wonder how one paracausal being is going to react to another.

[Immolation]

>Sunset is an Engineer
>She's boarding the Enterprise shortly before or at the start of Season Six of TNG
>Relics was the 4th episode of season six of TNG

We're gonna get Scotty and Sunset interactions, aren't we.

[RMWarPony]

If you f follow cannon Wesley is a Weiner if you follow alt history Wesley is know as "THE CRUSHER' A hard ass that makes a Vulcan look like Pinkie
Sheldon is correct Wesley is the Jar Jar Binks Of NeXT gen

[RolkFlameraven]

I always forget that Janeway was science track first as I always remember her and B'Elanna bonding over engineering matters.

One thing I am sad to note in this chapter was a shocking lack of Boothby. Sunset had always been better under pressure, so he will hopefully show up for Twi.

[Sunset_Shimmer83]

10778572
Well at least sunset didn't request a post on Voyager

[SuperSonicHeroes]

Nice to see Sunset and Twilight have been doing well over the years. Sunset’s time in the Academy is over already, and now we will get to see a bit of her on the Enterprise with the Next Generation crew.

It makes sense for Sunset to be an engineer. She was Celestia’s student and likes to get her hands dirty with experiments and tests.

[RolkFlameraven]

10778642
We a a few years out from Voyager being launched, so that is still a chance. Doubtful, but a chance.

I can see both Sunset and Twilight being brought in by Barclay to help him in his project to get back in touch with her though.

[Commissioner Sun]

YEEEEEE, That was bloody worth it, ahAHHHH, BLOODY AWESOME!

[The Chronicler]

10778670
I am sure that if Twilight isn't there to pick up the Element of Magic, somepony else will.

[superfun]

I’d made friends at school, of course. It took a while, but I did. Casual friends, people I’d talk to while at lunch or during free moments in class. But I never bothered with visiting anyone at their home. No sleepovers or weekend lunch dates or anything like that. Not many wanted to be close enough to me to actually do anything like that, and to be honest I liked it that way.

Heh. Just like me.

I get the feeling that, in the highly likely event that Sunset encounters Q, he'll be a key part in helping Sunset and Twilight find Equestria again, whenever that happens.

[Frazikar]

I discovered trace amounts of a related particle, one usually only detected in the presence of the event horizon of a singularity

Hmmmm, knowing that there's a black hole gives some pointers to possible locations (astrography?) of Equus (once the time dilation effects are taken into account). Just plot out the neighboring black holes at Sunset's arrival and Twilight's arrival for those locations... (still going to have some nasty margins of error) ...

[Teraunce]

This'll be interesting bringing Equestria into the Federation. Nice chapter and timeskip.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

10778488
till the JJ abrams trek. Star Trek tried to keep reasonable science. they actually had consultants often to help with things on that.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

10778642
she might. remember she has at best 2 years before the Enterprise has her plot death in Generations and there is a refit in there since the bridge gets upgraded between All good things and Generations so she might be transfered out before Generations for if there she might be able to prevent the Enterprises full destruction.

but would be a double kicker that she ends up on Voyager it goes to the Delta quadrrant and then finds Equss in that part of the galaxy.

yes i know i have evil thinking there.

[Fetch]

*Datalink established to Memory Alpha*
Stardate of NCC-1701-D delivering Captain Benjamin Sisko to Deep Space Nine
*working*
*Stardate 46379.1*

Oh, and I checked one other thing. On 46001.1, the Enterprise was in orbit of Devidia II (Time's Arrow)
Stardate mentioned at end of episode is 46001.3
However, on 45959.1, the Enterprise was in Earth orbit (start of Time's Arrow).
What a way for Sunset to start her Starfleet career: Working in engineering while the chief engineer and the second officer are trying to figure out a mystery that now has the ship going to Devidia II.

[RolkFlameraven]

10778763

The Delta Quarant is always a possibility, but from the information we have now I'm leaning more towards it being the Gamma or Beta quadrants. But a lot of that is going off where the Iconian gateways have been found. The Delta is possible, but as this is Sunset and Twilights' story, not Janeway and crews, the Gamma or an as of yet, unexplored part of the Alpha or Beta Quadrant seems to make more sense.

The system being under some kind of spell for protection works well in either Quadrant though. One needs to hide from either the Borg or the Dominion somehow.

[44burn]

10778670
Or they could arrive back home before the summer sun celebration

[Josiador]

Huh, EqG Applejack is here. That indicates this is indeed another dimension, so no matter how hard they scour the universe they'll never find their home planet. Ah well, if any ship is likely to randomly end up in an alternate universe again, it's the Enterprise.

I really like how you're not dillydallying on anything not important, just getting right to the action.

Fun fact, Wolf 359 exists in MLP space. It's canon.
2.bp.blogspot.com/djwyZ7MMwReGd6RYOcCP3i5f4Mv6q9bllJbyGZ_UFbpbj4PFJiRh7kAez-UV8WNgcZTiJ7RcEzQoyOf3JO4fn090kItqj3uJSAqe8c8-4cFrsAKoNxcNOET-SFFNTQHEqUyCc6x5uuA=s1600
Will you do anything with this information? Probably not.

[Lord Headcheez]

If Q is Discord in this canon, things could get real fun real fast!

[kuriboh1233]

I feel dumb as hell. I completely forgot that Holodeck were a thing. While reading through Sunset's test I'm wondering how and why they set up for explosions and stuff to go off for it. Then Holodeck turns off and I face palm.

[Secundum]

I wonder if the return of Nightmare Moon will be what allows them to find Equestria...After all, a bunch of moving stars would be hard to miss...