Strange New World
The first thing she saw was an assortment of multi-colored blinking lights. They were reminiscent of a Hearth's Warming display on a cold winter’s night—all of the houses had such pretty lights! But that couldn’t be right. It was summer. And why were they spinning?
She listened to her breathing as she tried to bring the world into focus; the fog in her mind was thick, and she couldn’t parse through it. The last clear memory was leaving Sugarcube Corner with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. Other memories were vague echoes beyond what she could latch onto. Yet, there were unpleasant flashes of blue light and a feeling of falling.
She was lying on a bed. A hospital bed? That was it! She fell; somepony caught her with their magic. That would explain the flash of blue light. The lights weren’t spinning; her head was.
Slowly, everything stopped spinning and her eyes focused on the lights above her. They were blinking lights attached to a metallic, greyscale, and oddly angled object. It was much closer to her face than she liked. Her eyes crossed as she focused on the different lights. They blinked at different rates: two red lights flashed in quick succession, a large green light pulsed with a regular and predictable interval, and yellow lights appeared at erratic intervals.
The air was dry and stale. There was a continuous low-frequency hum. Where was it coming from? There were other strange sounds of metal scraping against metal and the unique sssszp sound fabric makes when rubbed against fabric. Someone else was nearby, just beyond her vision.
Her ears perked at the sudden voice of unidentifiable sounds and uneven cadence. She strained her ears. The sounds consisted of lots of ‘s’ sounds, ‘ey and ‘ow’ sounds, and a few others beyond her ability to distinguish. A second voice replied with similar sounds. This one spoke at a slightly higher intonation.
There were many languages she had heard over the years, but nothing was even close to this. No Yak, Griffin, or Zebra spoke like that. The language was completely foreign—alien.
She lay there completely still, barely taking in a breath as she heard two different creatures move about. Each footfall sounded too far apart for ponies. Even the tallest ponies had a rather short gait at a walk. There also wasn’t the soft clip-clop of hooves. Whoever or whatever was there weren’t ponies.
She chanced a look as the footsteps and the unusual voices grew faint.
She was in an unusual room. If she had to guess, it was a hospital room of some sort. In a tray next to her bed were a variety of funny-looking objects. None of them appeared sharp or dangerous. What function they served she couldn’t imagine.
That wasn’t the only unusual thing around her. The entire room was decorated with glass panels displaying yellow blocks and dots. There were a couple of other beds, but they were empty.
She slid off the bed, cringing as her hooves clicked on a metal floor. She moved about the space as quietly as possible. On the far side, she could make out another room with a window looking directly into the space she was in.
Shadows moved across the window, and she dove behind the bed she left. Her heart was pounding. She dared a peek over the top of the bed but froze as she heard the footsteps come back into the room.
Frantically, she searched the area around her. There didn’t seem to be a way out aside from the other room. Maybe she could teleport there? They were going to discover her any second! She knew she couldn’t. She had no idea what was in there or how big that space was. She was out of time.
She heard one of them speak. The footsteps were getting closer… She remained frozen as a towering two-legged creature stepped right in front of her. The creature spoke.
Wide-eyed, she slid along the side of the bed. But with nowhere to run, she lit up her horn, preparing to push the creature away should it get any closer to her.
“Stay away!” she screamed. “Don’t come any closer!”
To her surprise, the creature stood there with its hands raised and open to show it wasn’t holding any sort of weapon.
“It’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Just stay back!” She froze. Her horn fizzled out. Did he? Did he say something in Equestrian?
“We aren’t going to hurt you. Can you understand me?” he repeated.
“Y-yes,” she replied with a timid voice.
“Well good. There’s no need for fear. I’m here to help. My name is Julian Bashir. I’m a doctor here. Who might you be?”
Sweetie took a deep breath. It helped clear her mind a little. Some of the tension lifted from her body. She got a better look at who was standing before her. She was no expert in biology, but she was certain she was looking at a primate of some sort.
Julian Bashir, what an unusual name, had dark hair and pale skin. His face was round—oval-like and a little flat. He wore a black one-piece jumper with a horizontal blue stripe that went across the shoulders and there was another garment under that. So many clothes!
After a long moment of considering Julian Bashir, she answered, “I-I’m Sweetie Belle.”
“Sweetie Belle, what a pretty name.” He took a step closer.
Sweetie immediately tensed up. Julian Bashir noticed and stopped moving. He kept his hands up. “I was just going to grab my tricorder. That’s all. It’s not dangerous,” he said in a soft and calming tone. “My mistake.”
“What is this place?” Sweetie asked. “Why did you bring me here, and what is a tricorder?”
“Ah, I see,” he said quickly. “Perhaps that would be a better place to start. Let me start with your last two questions…
“We didn’t bring you here. We found you in the cargo bay in a heap of rubble. We haven’t a clue how you got there. I brought you to the infirmary to make sure you were alright. A tricorder is a scanning device that tells me a lot of scientific information. Mine is specially made for medical functions.
“As to where you are… you are in the infirmary aboard the space station Deep Space Nine.”
Sweetie blinked several times. “Space what?”
“Space station,” he repeated in a chipper tone.
“I’m in space?” It wasn’t believable. Such a thing couldn’t be possible, could it?
“It’s going to be a lot to process, so let’s take this one step at a time. Yes, you are in space. You are on a space station with many, many different species of beings and countless cultures.”
Sweetie took a deep breath as she looked at her hooves on the metal floor. It seemed insane. Every word of it was preposterous. Yet, there was no denying what she was seeing, hearing, and feeling. With a lack of any other explanation, she nodded.
Feeling some of the tension leave her body, she pulled herself off the side of the bed and floor, rising to her full height. She realized Julian Bashir wasn’t as tall as she perceived. Her head was level with the middle of his chest.
“That’s better,” said Julian Bashir. “May I?” He gestured toward the tray on the other side of the bed.
Sweetie nodded. Julian stepped closer, he reached across her, grabbing a rectangular object. Sweetie eyed it closely. As best she could tell it wasn’t made of wood or metal. The material was completely unknown.
The object unfolded into a slightly bent rectangular shape emitting a mid-pitch humming sound with blinking lights of all different colors.
Sweetie was startled at its sudden animation. With a deep breath, she prevented herself from stumbling backward.
“It’s a non-invasive scan. It won’t hurt you,” said Julain Bashir. He waved the device around in front of himself a few times. “I only want to check you over and make sure you are okay. It will only take a second.”
“W-what is that thing?” she asked. “Is it magic?”
Julian Bashir smiled. “This is the tricorder I mentioned. It’s not magical, but it might seem to be.”
“O-okay.”
Bashir moved the device towards Sweetie. She held her breath, tensing all her muscles. He moved it over her in a circular motion. Nothing happened. The device continued making its humming sounds. She didn’t feel anything at all.
“Very curious physiology,” Julian Bashir muttered. “Well, I suppose you are in good health. This thing has only presented me with more questions than answers. Want to see?” He turned the device around.
The tricorder displayed several different small glass panels not much different than the big ones on the walls. One of them displayed a bar graph, another a chemical compound, and the last panel displayed text, but she couldn’t read it.
“So… does that mean you’ve never seen anyone like me?” asked Sweetie.
“I, nor anyone else I know, has seen any species like you. You are unique, and that’s saying something considering everything I’ve seen. But, the great unknown is why I’m out here!”
“Well then let me be the first of my kind to officially say hello,” said Sweetie brightly. “I hope we can be friends and—”
Sweetie turned her head sharply to a sudden rumbling sound behind her. What she thought was some sort of window, split in half horizontally like two barn doors. Three more two-legged figures walked in. All of them were wearing similar clothing.
Sweetie looked to Julian Bashir as she inched backward. He wasn’t looking at her though. His attention was focused on the new arrivals.
The new beings eyed her curiously as they approached. One even said, “Oh wow what a beautiful creature!” Another asked, “Is that a unicorn?”
Sweetie gulped and smiled awkwardly. “H-hi, um… um.”
“It’s okay, Sweetie Belle. No one here is going to hurt you,” Julian Bashir said with a soft, calm voice.
“Doctor, what is going on?” The one who spoke was the tallest of the bunch. His voice was deep and his skin was darker than the rest. He wore a similar piece of clothing as Bashir, except the top part of his one-piece jumper was red.
“Sweetie Belle is the unique lifeform we found in the cargo bay,” said Julian Bashir. “She woke up before I could do any scans.”
“I’m Commander Benjamin Sisko, commander of this station,” the tall one said.
“Hello,” said Sweetie, doing her best to sound confident.
“Welcome to Deep Space Nine, Sweetie Belle. That is a pretty and unusual name. I’m Major Kira Nerys,” said the one next to Sisko. She was much smaller with short red hair. She had ridges on her nose making it appear squashed. “Where are you from?”
“Ponyville,” Sweetie answered. That was probably too specific, however. They probably wanted to know the planet. “Um, Equus.”
Everyone in the room exchanged glances of confusion.
“Hi, Sweetie Belle. I’m Lieutenant Jadzia Dax. Could you tell us the name of the star system that is in?” asked the one on the other side of Sisko. She was almost as tall as him. She had pale skin with spots on the side of her face and very long brown hair. She wore the same blue jumper as Bashir.
Which star system? Was there any other?
“Do your people travel among the stars?” asked Dax.
Sweetie shook her head. She had often read about such things in magic fiction novels. In reality, no pony could figure out the enchantments on a pod that could support pony life in space. And there was the whole matter of getting it up there. Pegasi could only fly so high, cannons could only shoot so far, and rockets were far too explosive.
“Well… we’ll just have to take this one step at a time, I suppose,” said Major Kira.
“Sweetie Belle, have you ever looked up at the stars and wondered if someone might be out there, far beyond your home?” asked Jadzia. She had a warm smile on her face that instantly put Sweetie at ease.
“Well…” Sweetie hesitated with a soft chuckle. “I once saw the city of Canterlot at night from high up in a balloon. It looked like stars were twinkling below me. Then I thought that maybe the stars above me were other cities looking down on us. But I was a silly foal.”
Sweetie looked away as her face grew warm. She didn’t know why she shared that story. It was ridiculous, and they probably thought she was ridiculous too. But this Jadzia Dax had a way of asking questions that put her at ease.
Dax smiled. “You weren’t silly to think so. In a way you were right. Each of those stars could be home to millions of civilizations. This space station is not far from one of those stars.”
“I think I understand,” Sweetie replied. “So how do we find my star from here?”
Jadzia Dax shook her head. “It won’t be easy, but we are scientists and explorers; all problems have a solution. I will start with what I know, look for clues, and work out from there.”
Sweetie nodded. It sounded like a plan Twilight herself would come up with. Maybe she would like to meet Twilight when they get back. Twilight would find all of this stuff very interesting.
“So, what do I do?” asked Sweetie.
“We will need to discuss that,” said Commander Sisko. “If you’ll excuse us for a moment.”
Sweetie’s heart plummeted as everyone walked off to the far end of the room. Commander Sisko seemed pretty serious. Maybe it was the tone of his voice or his big stature, but he was intimidating.
Sweetie’s ears twitched as hushed voices spoke quickly. She could barely make them out. The one with red hair, Major Kira, seemed the most animated and used her arms wildly while talking.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Sweetie quietly inched as close as she dared. She had no idea what they would do to her if they found out she was trying to listen in. But she had to know since it concerned her.
“... Clearly she’s from a primitive society, but we can’t ship her off to a starbase,” said Major Kira. “There are too many questions we need to answer here.”
“I agree with the Major,” said Bashir. “She was pretty frightened at first, but she’s coming around and dealing with her situation pretty well.”
“She doesn’t have the slightest clue, Julian,” said Dax. “I can tell she’s a child or maybe a young adult at the oldest.”
“All I’m saying is moving her would be a bad idea. Besides, the way she arrived is still a mystery, one of many, and I think keeping her here is the best thing possible,” said Julian. “Are we not going to address the elephant in the room? Or should I say unicorn?”
“Yes, I’m very curious about that,” Sisko replied. “They aren’t supposed to exist.”
“You know this species?” asked Kira in a surprised tone.
“On Earth, a unicorn is a mythical creature with magical powers; they’re supposed to be impossible to catch. In many Earth mythologies, they are described to look very similar to Sweetie Belle,” Sisko explained.
“Is she… real?” asked Kira.
“She’s really there,” quipped Bashir. He chuckled briefly before clearing his throat and continuing to talk. “She’s not a Changeling or anything else. As much as she might resemble a horse or unicorn, she is not from Earth or anywhere around here. Her physiology is very unusual from what I can get. The tricorder is having a hard time making sense of it. It simply has no frame of reference for her.”
Sisko sighed. “Alright, we’ll keep her here. Major, can you get her some quarters set up?”
“Commander,” said Julian quickly, “I’m not sure she should be left alone. At least not right away. There are too many things that could go badly for her. She still has no idea what’s out there.”
“Yeah, no doubt Quark will try and capitalize on this somehow,” remarked Major Kira.
“What do you suggest? She stays with someone?” asked Commander Sisko.
“She can stay with me,” said Jadzia Dax. “I don’t mind.”
“Very well,” said Sisko. “Dismissed.”
Sweetie quickly looked away. She did her best to seem very interested in a series of blinking lights on the wall. She didn’t have much time to dwell on being compared to a mythical creature or being primitive, however.
Sisko led the others back to where Sweetie was standing. “Alright, Sweetie Belle, we will do what we can to find where you came from and how to send you back there. Lieutenant Dax has invited you to stay with her until you are settled in.”
“Th-thank you,” said Sweetie. “Commander,” she added quickly.
Sisko smiled. “You can call me Benjamin if you like. You’re our guest after all.”
“How long will it take to find my home?” asked Sweetie, but she feared she already knew the answer.
“We’re not sure yet,” said Dax. She shared a look with Bashir that Sweetie couldn’t interpret.
“I'll be at Ops,” said Sisko. “Major, get an update from Chief O’Brien about the cargo bay.”
Kira nodded and then left the room with Sisko. They walked together then parted in different directions before leaving Sweetie’s sight.
Bashir walked forward holding another device. This one was rectangular and flat. These creatures liked their devices…
“So, um, I might as well get some biographic data while you are here,” said Bashir. “Sweetie Belle…” he mused. “Is Belle a family name?”
Sweetie frowned. “Family name? What’s that?”
“You know… a last name. My name is Julian Bashir. Bashir is a name everyone in my family has… if that makes any sense.”
It was a strange concept, but not completely different from the Apple family; however, that was a family choice to keep their names apple-themed.
“All of our names are unique,” Sweetie replied. “There are other ponies who have the name ‘Sweetie’ but I’m the only Sweetie Belle,” she clarified.
Bashir smiled. “Well in that case, miss one-and-only Sweetie Belle, what is your species called?”
“Pony,” she said brightly. “More specifically, I’m a unicorn pony.”
Bashir frowned. Then proceeded to tap the device in his hands. “And you’re from a planet called Equus?”
Sweetie nodded. “I live in Ponyville. It’s a small town in the kingdom of Equestria,” Sweetie replied.
“... as improbable as it sounds…” Bashir muttered under his breath as he continued to mess with the device in his hands.
“And we are not primitive,” Sweetie rebuked.
Julian stared at Sweetie for a second then nodded with realization. “Adding excellent hearing to this,” he said cheerfully. “You’ll have to excuse Major Kira. Sometimes she’s quite direct. What she meant was that your society hasn’t achieved interstellar travel yet.”
“So you overheard everything we said?” asked Dax. “I’m not mad. Eavesdropping is a time-honored tradition after all. We should have included you in the conversation.”
“Most of it,” Sweetie admitted. If eavesdropping was ‘time-honored’ she saw no harm in fessing up. “Something about not moving me somewhere else, and I resemble a mythical creature to you.” Sweetie’s face turned a light shade of red. “Also, I’m not a foal because I have my cutie mark. So you were right about me being a young adult. I’m five which is when most of us stop growing. We usually get our marks around three or four.”
“Five years old?” asked Bashir. He looked to Dax who simply shrugged in response.
“Yes…” said Sweetie with some hesitation. Was a year like a season in an era?
Julian shrugged and then tapped the device in his hands. “Five it is. But my scans indicate you are much older than that based on bone density. At least in our time. How you measure time might be completely different from us.”
It all seemed so reasonable. She was in a different place far beyond Equestria. No one here had ever heard of her planet so of course they would measure time and everything else differently. Except language…
“Hang on,” said Sweetie Belle. “If time is different, and everything else, then how are we speaking the same language? You haven’t even heard of my planet.”
“We use a device called the universal translator. It can interpret most languages,” said Dax.
“Device?” asked Sweetie. “So a machine?”
“Exactly,” said Dax.
“How can a machine do this? How can a machine do something magical unless it was enchanted?” Sweetie was astounded. The amount of magic to enchant a machine to interpret all languages all the time would be enormous. It must have been a collective effort to make.
“Well, it might seem magical, but it is not. It’s technology,” explained Dax.
“A famous author from my home planet once wrote ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,’” said Bashir.
Sweetie frowned. “That can’t be true because we have both. We have machines and we have magic. We enchant machines to do stuff with magic. Or we just use magic.”
Bashir and Dax exchanged a few glances, apparently contemplating everything she said. Maybe they didn’t believe her?
Sweetie sighed. “Watch, I’ll show you.” She approached a table with various objects on it. “Say I want to lift this one,” she pointed at a silver cylindrical device,” but…” Sweetie moved to the other side of the room, “I’m way over here. Well, I can simply move it to me.”
Sweetie focused her magic. A green hue of light formed around her horn. A second later the cylindrical device floated into the air and moved toward her.
Dax and Bashir watched, looking mildly impressed. Bashir waved that tricorder thing around and stared at the screen confused.
Sweetie put the object back where she pulled it from. “And,” she said to get their attention again, “say I need to get back over where you are quickly. I could run, or…”
With a bright flash of green light, Sweetie instantly appeared right in front of Bashir. “I can teleport back.” She beamed at them. Finally, they seemed impressed! “And us ponies can do many more things.”
Bashir was the first to speak after a long pause of silence. “That’s a very useful and interesting set of abilities you have. How far can you do that?”
Sweetie shrugged. “I’ve been able to go from my bedroom to the front yard. Some unicorns can go much farther. Princess Twilight has teleported her and her friends across town before.”
“This Princess Twilight sounds very powerful,” said Dax.
Sweetie gave an enthusiastic nod. “She is! She’s very smart and good at science and magic. She is one of the most important ponies in our history.”
“Is she your leader?” asked Bashir. “Of your country?”
“Not yet. We are still in the era of Celestia and Luna. We will someday be in the era of Twilight. For now, she is the princess of friendship. With her lessons in friendship, she has solved many of our problems, and now she runs a school where other creatures from other nations come to learn her lessons in friendship.”
“You know…” said Bashir. “I think I might like it there. Imagine a world where problems are solved this way. It sounds very civilized. For us humans, it took centuries of bloodshed for us to find another way. Even then…”
Sweetie frowned. “We’ve had our conflicts too. Equestria, and Ponyville in particular, has seen all sorts of attacks and attempted takeovers. But we always try to have it not come to that.”
“I’m with Doctor Bashir on this,” said Dax. “I like how your people approach things. Friendship first leaves less room for conflict and more room for understanding. Our organization has a similar philosophy.”
Sweetie beamed. Of all the places she could have ended up by accident… “On behalf of all of the ponies in Equestria, I extend my hoof of friendship!” She stuck her right foreleg out. Dax and Bashir stared at her. “It’s a custom in our country to tap hooves together—oh, right, no hooves. Sorry.”
“Actually,” said Dax, “put your hoof back out. How about this?” She curled her hand into a ball and tapped it against Sweetie’s hoof. “There.” Bashir quickly followed her action.
“Well now that that’s all settled, there’s one more thing. I should have asked it earlier… what is the last thing you remember before waking up here?” asked Bashir.
“Well…” Sweetie began. She racked her brain, but the details were fleeting. “There was a lot of blue light and…” She exhaled a ragged breath as her front leg shook. “Falling.” Her face felt cool as sweat formed on her cheeks. She could hear an intense roaring like the ocean in her ears as her vision darkened.
She pulled herself out of it with a hard shake of her head. “T-that’s all I remember.”
“Try to give it some time,” said Dax as she patted Sweetie’s shoulder. “You don’t need to remember it all right now.”
Dax’s hand was cooler than Sweetie was expecting, but her skin was smooth. It was a simple, yet, calming gesture.
“Why don’t I show you where you’ll be staying and maybe get you something to eat?” suggested Dax.
“Okay!” Despite feeling tired and overwhelmed, Sweetie was eager to see more of the station. She was officially the first pony in space! She has made contact with species from other worlds. No pony back home would ever believe any of this.
“If you will follow me,” said Dax.
The door slid open as Sweetie followed after Dax. She paused before leaving. It occurred to her that she hadn’t paid. In fact, how was she going to get anything at all? She had no money… would they even accept her currency if she had it with her?
“Um, Dax,” said Sweetie.
Dax stopped and walked a few steps to get back to Sweetie. “Please, call me, Jadzia.”
Sweetie made a mental note to get better at what all of these names meant later. “Um, Jadzia, I don't have any money for… you know anything,” Sweetie muttered. “We use a currency called bits… um, I have some, and my sister is pretty wealthy—”
Sweetie was cut off by a fit of giggles from Jadzia. “Oh, you’re just the cutest!” she said with a bright smile. “There’s no charge. It’s a service we gladly provide.”
“Oh,” said Sweetie. She was quite aware her cheeks were red again. “But what about food and—”
Jadzia held up a hand to quiet her. “Do not worry. All of your basic needs will be met.”
“Wow, so everything is free here?” asked Sweetie.
“Um…” said Jadzia. “Sort of. In the Federation yes. Here is a little unique as it's strictly not Federation.”
Sweetie looked from Jadzia to Julian, who was messing with another machine in the back. She remembered Sisko and his clothing with the red… “So is everyone in this Federation wearing clothes like that?”
Jadzia looked surprised and impressed. “Yes,” she said excitedly. “Very good reasoning. This is our Starfleet uniform. Starfleet is a scientific and military organization that is part of The United Federation Of Planets. The Federation is made up of many different species and cultures. We all work together.”
The Federation sounded pretty amazing. Maybe Princess Twilight would want Equestria to join it once she got home. What could be better than friendship across so many different worlds? That would be a new challenge for Twilight!
“This is only the beginning,” said Jadzia. “Shall we?” Sweetie followed her through the door. However, she was not prepared for what was beyond. Her ears were immediately assaulted by a cacophony of noise. She had adjusted quite well to the quiet setting of the infirmary with Julian and Jadzia. Now there were hundreds of these creatures.
“This is the Promenade,” said Jadzia. “It’s a big area to hang out, get food and drinks, and other recreational activities. It’s the heartbeat of the station. Quark’s is always a good time for food, games, and holosuites.”
“Holo what?” asked Sweetie distractedly. Her head was on a swivel as she looked in every direction. Some motion above caught her attention. She quickly looked up. There was a whole second level that overlooked them.
Jadzia smiled. “I’ll explain later.”
It was easy to spot more Starfleet people as they wore the same thing. The top parts of their uniforms were the only thing that changed, but there seemed to be only three colors. How boring! What if you didn’t like wearing blue, red, or yellow? Starfleet wasn’t the only people there. The Promenade was full of so many different species and colors. But… they all walked on two legs which was strange. Or, rather, that made Sweetie strange.
“Why aren’t there any other species with four legs?” Sweetie spun around as she heard something behind her. Two Starfleet people were laughing as they walked out of a shop. They were holding some sort of candy on a stick. They stopped abruptly when they spotted Sweetie and stared for a few seconds.
Jadzia cleared her throat to get Sweetie’s attention. “That’s a great question. Quadrupeds are rare, however we have encountered a few.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Sweetie saw the two Starfleet people saunter off. If their reaction was any indication of how these people would act, she was starting to feel self-conscious.
“None of them are part of your Federation?” asked Sweetie.
Jadzia shook her head. “None yet.
“Why don’t we go to the upper level so you can get a better view of all of this? And you can have a look out the window.”
“Okay,” said Sweetie. She did her best to maintain a level head. However, her heart was beginning to beat harder as she followed Jadzia through the Promenade. There were eyes upon her from all angles. She swore she heard some gasps too. Some openly pointed at her out of the corner of her eye. Sweetie stuck close to Jadzia.
She followed Jadzia to a metal spiral staircase. Jadzia ascended the stairs quickly. She moved with effortless grace; something Sweetie quickly found herself lacking. The stairs were unusually spaced: clearly not designed for ponies. She hobbled to the top, making an incredible amount of racket in the process.
Sweetie smiled awkwardly at Jadzia. “Sorry. I was having some trouble… I’ve never seen metal stairs like this,” she remarked.
“Did you hurt yourself?” Jadzia rushed over to look Sweetie over.
Sweetie looked down at her hooves but was relieved to see only light scuffing on one. “No. I’m fine. I’ve done worse to my hooves on loose cobblestones back home.”
“Okay, just making sure. We can take a different way back down.
“Anyway if you come over here, you can have a look outside…” Jadzia gestured to the oval-shaped windows along the wall.
Stars were twinkling and flickering in the window. As she got closer to the window she saw the many different sizes of stars. There were more stars than the clearest and darkest night in Equestria, shrouded in the vast empty blackness of space.
Sweetie pressed her nose to the window, peering down, into nothing. Her heart sank. She stumbled backward. “There’s nothing…” she gasped while holding her chest. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and looked out the window again. This time she was less dizzy peering into the abyss of infinity.
“This—this is amazing. It’s like Cloudsdale, except it's a city floating among the stars.”
“A city is a good way to think about it. A port city on the frontier,” said Jadzia.
A flash of bright light in the vast emptiness of space suddenly illuminated the Promenade’s upper lever. Sweetie nearly jumped out of her skin at the abrupt appearance. She took a step back from the window but kept her eyes fixed on what had just appeared. It was a whirlpool of cerulean and white light spiraling to a blinding, beaming, center. Only for a moment. Then it was gone.
Sweetie blinked several times, trying to clear the blurry afterimage of the blinding flash. “What was that?”
Jadzia hesitated before answering. “It’s one of the main reasons we are here. That is the Bajoran Wormhole.”
“I’m guessing a wormhole isn’t when a worm eats through one of your apples is it?” asked Sweetie with a puzzled look.
Jadzia chuckled. “No, but it’s sort of the same idea. Imagine you’re on a giant apple and you want to get to the other side. You could travel around the outside of it, and eventually you’ll arrive there. But if you were to find a tunnel, say one dug by a giant worm, you could cut through the middle and save a ton of time.”
Sweetie’s eyes lit up. “The shortest distance between two places is a straight line! Of course! A wormhole is a shortcut… through space?”
“Exactly,” said Jadzia. “The Bajoran Wormhole lets us travel to another part of the galaxy in minutes instead of what would normally take us two lifetimes to travel.”
“Maybe that’s how I got here… how do you make wormholes? Are they magical?” asked Sweetie. A small shimmer of hope was building up in her. If a wormhole was like a portal, maybe she could control it with magic… magic she knew nothing about. But she was willing to try!
Jadzia sighed. “Wormholes are usually natural phenomena, and they aren’t always stable or very safe to travel through. Except for that one there. The Bajoran Wormhole is the only stable one we know to exist.
“And no, it is not how you arrived here.”
Sweetie folded her ears back. “Oh… I thought I had something there.”
“Hey, it’s okay. I like that you’re making connections. You’re certainly thinking about this the right way, but wormholes behave differently than the anomaly that brought you here.” Jadzia set a hand on Sweetie’s shoulder. “Look, the reality is we don’t know what happened yet. Hopefully, there’s a lot of useful information in the station’s sensor logs. Just so you’re prepared, this may not be something we can solve quickly.”
Jadzia pulled her hand off Sweetie’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I should have asked before assuming this kind of contact was okay. It’s meant as a comforting gesture in our culture.”
Sweetie shrugged. “I didn’t mind. Us ponies do similar gestures. We are a touchy-feely type of species,” said Sweetie, but her mind was wandering. She imagined what her life would look like if she never made it home. How she would spend the rest of her life sitting at this very window waiting for something to change. It sounded dreary and lonely.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you…” said Jadzia, pulling Sweetie out of her circling thoughts. “What is that marking you have?”
“My Cutie Mark?” asked Sweetie. She pointed to her hindquarters. Jadzia nodded. “Every pony gets one. Eventually. It’s related to when we find our purpose in life. Each one is unique to the pony.
“Mine is a shield because of my devotion to helping other younger ponies find their calling. It also has a musical note to represent my talent for singing.” Jadzia looked somewhat perplexed at her explanation so Sweetie added, “I take it, you don’t get Cutie Marks?”
Jadzia shook her head. “That is a concept we do not have in our worlds. The closest thing we have are innate abilities, I suppose. Some of us are naturally better athletes, artists, fighters, et cetera. But those aren’t necessarily a calling or true purpose in life. I’ve never encountered a species that gets such a specific marking on their body related to it either.”
“You have spots,” Sweetie pointed out.
“True, but all Trill, my species, are born with them. They don’t indicate anything unique about us on an individual level.”
“Oh,” said Sweetie. “That makes sense. Well, I think they’re pretty.”
Jadzia smiled. “Well thank you. I think you’re pretty too.”
Sweetie blushed but said nothing. She turned her gaze back to the window. Maybe it won’t be so dreary here. As that familiar feeling of fatigue crept over her, it occurred to her that with the absence of the sun in the sky and no timepiece on her, she had no concept of time in this place.
Sweetie watched the people go about their business on their level and the level below. Some rushed by while many more leisurely strolled about in large groups. It was impossible to discern any pattern for what was happening.
“Everything alright?” asked Jadzia.
“Yeah,” Sweetie replied, suppressing a yawn. She continued to watch everyone move across the Promenade. The center was where most people congregated. It appeared to be a restaurant or a bar. Did these people drink cider?
“Is it…” Sweetie searched for the right word. Night wouldn’t make sense here where there's no sun. “Is it… late?” she asked. “I don’t know if I’m asking that right,” she added quickly, hoping she didn’t sound ridiculous.
“It’s evening time for us on the main shift,” said Jadzia.
“But… how? There’s no sun. How do you know what time it is? Do your timepieces work off the closest star?”
Jadzia nodded with understanding. “That’s a little tricky to answer in full, but here on DS9, we operate on the time of Bajor, the closest planet to us. They base their time on one full revolution, from morning to morning which takes twenty-six hours.”
“Is that a lot?” asked Sweetie. What in Equestria was an hour, and why only twenty-six of them?
Jadzia shrugged. “Most of Starfleet operates on a standardized twenty-four-hour clock so the extra two hours can seem like a lot for people just getting here.
“Does that make sense?” asked Jadzia as Sweetie’s eyes glazed over.
“Not really, no, sorry.”
Jadzia laughed. “It’s okay. You’ll get it. Sleepy?”
Sweetie was tempted to say no so she could see more interesting things, but fatigue was setting in with a vengeance. The Promenade was overwhelming and loud. Sweetie nodded her head.
“Okay, I can take you to my quarters then. Would you like to eat something first?”
Sweetie shook her head. “No, I’m not hungry.”
Sweetie followed Jadzia through one of those sliding doors into a tiny room. Her closet at the Carousel Boutique was bigger. The room was semi-circular and barren. What purpose this room served was beyond her.
“Promenade,” said Jadzia.
Sweetie frowned. What about it?
It was as if the tiny room heard her thoughts and it answered with a high-pitched hum and a slight vibration in the floor. Whatever was happening, Jadzia remained unconcerned.
The high-pitched humming noise dropped an octave in pitch before cutting out abruptly. The door slid open. Sweetie’s jaw dropped. They weren’t in the same place they were moments ago. The tiny room had taken them to the lower level of the Promenade.
Amazing, they even built machines to replace stairs!
Jadzia smiled and gestured to Sweetie to follow her. “My quarters are on this level down this corridor.”
Sweetie suppressed another yawn and followed close. “How many different species are there?” she asked, as she exchanged curious glances with an all-blue person passing by.
“There are lots. Deep Space Nine is an outpost. There’s a lot of activity and trade here,” said Jadzia.
“Like a coastal port city,” Sweetie remarked. “I can’t believe this was all done without magic.” Jadzia seemed to not have heard her. Her attention was focused on another Starfleet person approaching. This one had curly hair and wore a yellow uniform. He presented a sort of friendly smile as he approached.
“Lieutenant,” he said. “I was able to recover that piece of steel Julian found. It’s in science lab two.”
“Oh that is great,” Jadzia replied. “I will run the mass spectrometer over it tonight and get the results tomorrow.”
“Oh, good luck getting that thing away from Julian’s office.”
Jadzia smiled. “Let me worry about Julian.”
“Right, better you than me,” he replied. His eyes drifted from Jadzia to Sweetie Belle.
“Chief, you remember Sweetie Belle?” Jadzia gestured with a hand.
“Well hello… Sweetie Belle, is it? I’m Chief Miles O’Brien. I helped Julian recover you from the wreckage.”
“Oh,” said Sweetie. He seemed like a nice enough individual. “Thank you, Chief Miles O’Brien.”
“Blimey. So polite.
“I-I mean, you’re quite welcome. It was no trouble at all. And please, call me Miles.”
Sweetie smiled in response.
“I will get everything setup in the lab,’ Miles continued. “Once I’m done reconfiguring the processing relays the scanner can be connected with no problems.”
“Alright, I’ll join you in the lab in about…” Jadzia paused as she thought. “Say thirty minutes?”
“Right, see you there, Lieutenant,” said Miles. “Very nice to have met you propper, Sweetie Belle.” Then he strode off in the opposite direction.
“He seems interesting,” said Sweetie as soon as she was sure Miles was out of earshot.
“The Chief? Yeah, he is a very skilled engineer.”
“This place has a chief and a commander? Is he in charge of the commander?” asked Sweetie. After all, a chief was the leader of a village and a commander was in charge of a guard unit.
Jadzia laughed.
“What?” asked Sweetie, feeling a little sheepish.
“Oh,” said Jadzia, still giggling. “You’re so adorable.
“In Starfleet, chief is short for chief petty officer. It’s a rank. Commander Sisko is in charge of us all. Even the chief. Chief O’Brien does have a team of engineers working for him, but ultimately we are all under Commander Sisko.”
Sweetie blushed. No one had referred to her as adorable in a very long time. What did Jadzia even mean by that? Was she some cute foal to Jadzia? She pursed her lips knowing she’d probably get more of that judging by the reactions she had seen from others. Still, she found Jadzia very nice and helpful.
She followed Jadzia for what seemed like forever down a long corridor that always arced to the right like they were walking in a giant circle. Sweetie envisioned a giant ring going around the center where everyone worked or did social activities.
At last, they came to a halt at another door which slid into the wall, revealing a spacious room with several windows looking out into space. The room was easily bigger than Rarity’s bedroom and workshop combined.
“Wow, this is huge! Are all the rooms here like this?”
“No, but officers get nicer rooms. Rank has its privileges.” Jadzia winked.
Jadzia’s room, or quarters, as she called them, were mostly open in the center. The room was long and followed the curve Sweetie noticed in the corridor. The furniture went around the front wall, facing the windows, and there was a single glass table in front of one of the couches. The corner had a funny-looking desk with more blinking lights and some kind of glass screen. There was a door at each end of her room.
Sweetie was thankful for the carpeting. The softness was a reminder of how hard the rest of the surfaces she walked on were. She slid her hooves over the carpet enjoying the sensation.
“You can take my bed for now, Sweetie. I will sleep on the couch tonight,” said Jadzia.
Sweetie tensed up. She half expected Jadzia to laugh and show her another bed in the room or something. But she merely pointed to the door at the far end of the room.
“Um…” Sweetie fidgeted on the spot. “Are you sure?”
“Oh yeah, it’s fine. I’ve had more than one lifetime sleeping on couches,” said Jadzia with a smile. “Besides, it’s for tonight. I’ll rearrange everything in here tomorrow and get a second bed.” Jadzia stretched her arms over her head. “I’m tired too. I better get this scanner from Julian and set up the lab so I can turn in too.
“Let me show you the bedroom real quick.”
Sweetie was expecting another enormous room; however, it turned out to be the size of a bedroom she was familiar with. It was smaller, but not crammed. It was cozy. The bed was really wide with a fuzzy blanket. There was a nightstand on each side and another sliding door along one of the walls. Sweetie assumed it was a closet.
“I’ll only be gone for a little, but if you need anything, press the green button on the panel on the wall and say my name. Then you’ll be able to talk to me anywhere on the station,” said Jadzia.
Sweetie decided she was too tired to ask how such a thing was possible. She hopped on the bed. It looked so inviting and the blanket was soft like a cloud.
“Oh and if you need to adjust the lighting just say ‘computer’ then say the lighting level you want. Like this: computer, dim the lights.”
No sooner had Jadzia said that the lights dimmed to a soft ambiance.
“And if you want them completely off, just say so. Okay, be right back. Sweet dreams.”
The door slid shut after Jadzia stepped out. Sweetie Belle rolled onto her side, pulling one of the many pillows tight against her. The coolness felt nice. “Um computer,” said Sweetie feeling awkward talking to nothing, “lights out.” The lights went out in an instant leaving Sweetie in a dark room. The bed was so soft like hers. It was her bed. She’d wake up and find this was all a crazy dream.
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very interesting with the name and age, like many, i imagine ponies have human are and that belle is the family nickname.
I'm eager to see where this goes. Maybe your story can help me, I had a star trek mlp idea of my own but can't think of anything concrete, having only done a very small/brief star trek crossover before.
Also, at which point in depp space 9 is this set, if i may ask?
12037481
Hey thanks.
It's set roughly in the middle of season 3.
12037484
youö're welcome. My brief idea was a yoyager one back then, as the Borg are one of my favorites and the other idea...sort of Picard focused, mainly as this was the only strar trek media we saw life on earth actually/properly, but as such, i end up blank whn trying to think of a proper story plot.
By the way, given the setting of deep space 9 and the Dominion War, i take you got it already planned?
12037490
A Voyager crossover would be fun.
Maybe. Maybe not.
I have the whole story planned, and almost half of it written already.
12037494
your call, mine was brief as i struggle to get up with slice of life ideas without a base to use, which is also why i kinda struggle to get up with a proper plot for the Picard idea.
and okay. why i asked...how should i say , had a but of a silly support thought
Well, this is interesting.
Looking forward to seeing where this goes. I have a feeling when our dear Q makes an appearance Sweetie will hear his voice, scream 'DISCORD!' and glomp him in pure hope and happiness. Either Q is Discord, and he can help, or he isn't and we'll have a very confused and intrigued god-like entity.
I eagerly wait for the next chapter. 👍
This is very interesting! Some grammar issues here and there, but other than that, this first chapter does a fine job of establishing the setting and plot. Poor Sweets! I hope she finds a way home!
This reminds me of another Star Trek x MLP crossover tale I like, but it involves Sunset and (later on) Twilight being the main characters.
Also, the cover art is lovely!
Just the funny thought of Sweetie Belle walking up to Odo and saying "Your not a changeling."
And Odo replying with a roll of his eyes "And I guess you've seen a real changeling?"
With Sweetie ending it off with "Yeah, where are your holes?"
The things my mind find funny.
12037530
Hey thanks! I don't have an editor, so a few mistakes are bound to appear. Hopefully, they weren't too distracting.
If you love the cover art, there will be more art from Little Tigress in later chapters.
12037546
You never know who might pop in...
Oh. I can’t wait to see where it goes.
I have never interacted with Star Trek media before now besides half of one of the movies in 8th grade. What’s a good place to start with the franchise? I’m really excited to see where this goes.
12037618
Oh wow that is a tough question to answer lol.
The original movies with Kirk, Spok, and McCoy are pretty good (except one).
Star Trek the Next Generation is a good place to start with the shows. That first season is... not great. The second season is okay, but after that it gets good. The Next Generation launches Deep Space 9 in its sixth season. Deep Space Nine is my favorite Trek, and you don't really need Next Gen to understand it, but it lays a lot of groundwork for the Trek universe that DS9 exists in.
For newer Trek, I'd say Strange New Worlds is great! I hear Discovery is good too, I have not gotten around to watching it though.
12037629
I’m gonna start with Next Generaition and then watch Deep Space Nine. I’ll see if my local library has the DVDs. At this point I don’t see why I shouldn’t dive into every nerd fandom I find since I’m already collecting them like Pokémon.
12037638
That's a good way to go. It's very possible to start from DS9, but TNG was more designed as a starting point.
But Twi-Fi is right, that season 1 is a bit weak at times. It's not all bad, but it does have one of the worst Star Trek episodes of all time (Code of Honor, episode 4)
Other good starting points are TOS (for obvious reasons), Enterprise (but many consider it weaker overall), and Prodigy (accessible to a younger audience as well.
I'm gonna assume you meant "gesture" here.
Otherwise a pretty interesting opening.
12037671
yes lol
fixed.
Try not to conflate the Federation with Star Fleet. Everyone in Star Fleet wears the uniform (...mostly), but most people in the Federation are civilians. Even on DS9, there are Federation civilians, like Keiko O'Brien and Jake Sisko.
12037680
She is saying that... maybe I should make it more succinct.
12037683
Perhaps, "Most of us on DS9 do; as members of Star Fleet"
Or, "Members of Star Fleet do, while civilians can wear what they want."
Going to keep an eye on this one given all the crazy stuff the CMC got up to, brought up around Pinkie Pie,a nd if the School is up and running, Spikes got gaming night with Discord and theres Kirin fire mode, Changedlings, and Hippogriff water form to add to Spikes rapid size change MegaGreed form she will have seen?
At the very least, Twilights gravity spell in the Crystal Empire will have messed with gravitons which the Federation also has experience with along with all the ohter forms of energy and such, and the stations sensors shuldve picked up her teleport as well simply by a sudden displacement of her mass from one point to the other point making the local gravity generators have to ajust to compensate and rebalance the station. things in space are very sensitive to disturbances, such as the gravity waves broadcast by the Wormhole unless the gods within have decided they dont want it to?
Yay! Another Trek/MLP crossover! Looking to be off to a pretty good start.
Only one minor nitpick that I can see needs correcting: the 26-hour day is based on Bajor's rotation, a local year would be based on a planet's revolution.
12037858
Or "planetary cycle", because sometimes things are weirder than what's going with Earth.
Under no circumstance should Sweetie Belle be let anywhere near an orb.
They should fab her snap-on rubberized shoes. Decking and stairs are bad on hooves and that ladder was giving trouble even to actors.
You sure Sisko should be a Captain yet? Doesn't seem like it's during the war and he was a Commander for a long time.
12037945
I just looked it up. Sisko gets promoted at the end of season 3. This is taking place in the middle of season 3. So... woopsies.
It should be an easy fix though. Sisko isn't that prominent in the first few chapters.
Great story👍
Good first chapter, the story is very promising.
I look forward to the next chapter
I wonder how Sweetie will get along with Odo when she meets him. He was always my favorite character
Sweetie Belle looks really depressed in that picture. I hope she finds her way home.
You seem to have Sweetie Belle characterised quite well.
And a good DS9 fic is rare!
Off to a good start
Godddddd this has tapped into both of my current fixations of my goodness MEEEEEEEE
wonderful stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am just. Staring at the possibility of a Q appearance and sweetie belle just squinting and being like,,
"DISCORD?"
12037670
. Still its been a long time since I watched TNG or DS9. Both were great shows. I like how this is starting out. Looking forward to next chapter.
TNG started getting good once Riker got his goatee
12037494
Oh oh oh, I did a Voyager crossover! Two of them, to be precise. But the ponies were holodeck creations, gained sentience thanks to... someone. It's called shuttlepod down.
I even wrote a next generation crossover, where the Enterprise D visits Equestria in Knights Gambit. Seeing a DS9 crossover rocks!
For the love of god please do not let this story die and continue to update it frequently!
An interesting idea and a good first chapter.
Sweetie is such a good ambassador I can't wait to see what magic she can find in this alien environment. And yeah I bet Equis years are much longer.
12038398
Prayers for the story gods. May your muse never stray <3
12038398
The first 5 chapters are done, and chapter 6 is halfway done. I wanted to make sure I had a decent lead before publishing the first few chapters.
While the internal scans are possibly different especially the horn and a few other differences. In basic shape I'd think they'd compare Sweetie Belle to either earth pony or horse .
12038839 I read "Let's hope she can tell us" as "I hope she is sapient, can communicate with us, and knows what happened. However, I'm not sure about any of those.”
12037567 Nah, they're not too distracting. Still, here are a few minor grammar corrections (Color-Coded For Your Convenience!):
Sweetie Belle looks so sad in that cover art, I just want to give her a hug.
Here's to hoping everything goes well for our displaced Crusader.
>She was officially the first pony in space!
Luna: Cur??????
I know basically nothing about Star-Trek.
This will be fun.