Commander Twilight Sparkle sat with Captain Janeway and her chief of Security Lieutenant Tuvok in what she learned was called Tenforward. The Commander had just finished telling the aliens a little about who she is as well as her explanation of what she meant when she had met humans before and been to Earth, she didn’t give all the details as some were either personal to her or she wasn’t up to dealing with at the moment but they got the gist of the edited story.

Janeway looked somewhere between shock and sympathy. “I must say I am sorry your first encounter with our race was under such terrible circumstances Commander and I want you to know The Federation isn’t like that in anyway.” She told the mare.

Twilight nodded, she had removed her helmet near the start of the meal as she became more comfortable, and the fact eating was just more enjoyable when not wearing the helmet, though she still wore the armor, she was still in an unknown environment. “I know not all humans are like…..those humans. I made a lot of friends among your species and choose to judge on a case by case basis rather the assume everyone out of a race is evil.” Twilight said as she took a sip from a small glass of whiskey, she had chosen to drink her own stock of beverages rather then what was currently available on Voyager. “But I will assume that though you’re Federation is on the side of good, if it is as vast as you say then I’m sure it is safe to assume there are….shall we say bad apple within the cart?”

At the Janeway sighed. “Unfortunately you are correct Commander, while the Federation as a whole tries to do good there are those who go rouge and seek either profit or power.”

Twilight nodded. “Such is life Captain, good and evil will always exist as two sides of the same coin no matter what we desire.” She said simply. She knew she was an excellent example of that phrase.

“What fascinates me Commander is that you say your people have developed devices that allow you to create these rifts as you call them to other dimensions?” Janeway asked and Twilight nodded in the affirmative.

“Yes, we were forced to do it after I ended up in an alternate reality that, though very similar to my own, wasn’t mine. So the EDF designed a device to come rescue me, which was a good thing too as the barrier in my home reality is….strange.” She said slowly as she wasn’t sure how best to describe it.

“How so?” Janeway asked.

“Well…I’m not the only one who has ended up in other realities; it’s actually a lot more common then would be considered normal by any stretch of the word. EDF soldiers and personnel have randomly vanished and needed to be recovered, usually we get them back within a few days once we locate their signature, though for them it has been longer and always they seem to end up in realities where they must fight or apply their skills to survive against threats there. Heck onetime an entire base, buildings and all vanished and was recovered a month later, an eighth of the base personnel dead as they had spent over a year fighting in an alternate version of our country against an army that was occupying the nation and had turned the citizens into slaves.”

Twilight chuckled a bit and smiled. “The base personnel had had their bodies altered to match the realities as the ponies there were a cross between normal ponies and humans, as were all races, the occupying force thought that the EDF base would just roll over like that version of Equestria had, needless to say they got a very rude awaking when they attacked a scouting party.” Twilight said and laughed once more. “By the time we were able to recover them they had raised a massive army of freed slaves and pushed the Caribou out of most of the country, they still held a few places here and there but about 90% of the nation was back under pony control.”

“Your people sound very skilled at combat Commander Sparkle as well able to handle unfamiliar situations calmly.” Tuvok said.

Twilight nodded and sipped her drink once more. “I made sure they were trained well to handle anything that can be thrown at them as well as instill a sense of doing the right thing, even if the right thing does involve violence I think liberating a nation from a race of rapists even if it wasn’t their own homeland is a very good thing.”

“I’d have to agree Commander; it sounds like your people would be a good addiction to the Federation if they were in this universe.” Janeway said. “However I do wonder why it is you went from one different reality to ours and not back to your own.” The Captain said thoughtfully.

Twilight shrugged. “No clue I’ll need to ask Queeny when I get back.”

<<>>

“What do you mean you she didn’t come through and you lost her signal!” Queen Chrysalis, usually Major Chrysalis under normal circumstances, yelled as she shook the Researcher in charge of recovering lost EDF personnel from other dimensions, a light green earth pony by the name of Sunny Meadow, in her magic. She was holding the pony by the front of his lab coat a couple feet of the ground so she could yell in his face.

“I-I don’t know what happened! We found her signature and opened the rift, but it didn’t open on this end though we got a confirmation of a stable Rift being opened.” Meadow stammered out. He could not be blamed for his fear; anypony would be scared when facing an enraged Changeling Queen who was backed up by two very concerned sentrybots.

“Find her! If I have to spend more than a couple of days dealing with those nobles and they Tartarus-damned scheming I’m going to start tossing ponies over the edge of Canterlot.” Chrysalis said and her eyes narrowed as she looked at the cowering Researcher. “Starting with you.”

“I’ll help! Those annoying quadrupeds are always annoying the Commander!” Lunabot chimed in cheerily.

“Yes well I’m sure shouldn’t toss Dr. Meadow off the city as he is needed to run things here.” Celestiabot said being the voice of reason, though not against tossing nobles from the city, just the researcher needed to get the Commander back.

The Queen growled and dropped the pony from her magical grasp and giving him a shove back towards the control room. “Find her and get her back!” She order as the pony quickly rejoined his team in the control room as they scanned for the commander’s magical signature. The Queen nodded before turning and trotting from the large room to go and play politics with the foreign diplomates in Twilight’s place, even taking on her form so things run smoothly, Celestia and Luna were already aware of what happened so knew it would be the Queen attending disguised as Twilight but no one else knew for now so everything would run smoothly.

<<>>

“Though I’m sure they are doing everything they can to get me back.” Twilight said as she finished her drink with the three aliens.

Captain Janeway nodded. “If they are like you said then I do not doubt it.”

“Captain I was wondering if I might have a tour of your ship? If it’s not too much to ask, I have always been fascinated with space and well…” Twilight blushed very faintly. “And it’s been sort of a dream of mince to go into space since I was a small filly with my first telescope.” She said slightly embarrassed at admitting one of her fillyhood dreams.

Janeway smiled a nodded. “I don’t see why not, I’ll have someone show you around as me and Tuvok have duties we need to return to.” She said as her and the security chief stood. “I believe Mr. Parris is available.” She said before taping the badge on her chest. “Janeway to Parris.”

“Parris here Captain, what do you need?” Came the voice of a male human from the device, Twilight found these forms of radios odd as it allowed anyone to hear the conversation.

“Could you report to Tenforward, I’d like for you to give a tour of Voyager to a guest we have.”

“On my way Captain, didn’t know we had picked up anyone.”

“It’s a bit of a long story Mr. Parris but I’m sure our guest wouldn’t mind explaining it to you. Janeway out.” With that the Captain clicked the badge to close the connection.

The Captain and Security Chief waited with the Commander till another human entered wearing the same type of red and black uniform as Janeway. “Mr. Parris this is Commander Twilight Sparkle, She is the guest I’d like you to give a tour to.” Janeway said.

Parris looked at the Alicorn with a bit of surprise. “You can count on me Captain.” HE said and received a nod from Janeway.

“Very good, if there is any trouble me and Tuvok will be on the bridge.” She told the other human before turning to Twilight. “I look forward to speaking with you again Commander Sparkle.”

Twilight nodded. “Looking forward to it Captain.” She said and the two departed leaving the military mare with the human who she looked at. “So, I’ve notice there is not form of salute or anything of that nature between officer and subordinate?” She asked as she had been observing the aliens carefully since learning she wasn’t in any danger.

Parris shook his head. “No not really.” He said as he eyed the alien equine. “Got to say I’ve never seen an alien species quite like yours before.”

Twilight shrugged her shoulders. “Never seen aliens on my home world either.” She said as she looked at him. “I’m curious what it is you do on this ship, or is tour guiding your official job?”

Parris chuckled at that. “No, I’m the main helmsmen, though I guess right now I am the official tour guide as I’m not really on duty.” He said with a smile. “So tell me, what is it you do back on your home planet?”

“I am the founder and leader of the Equestrian Defense Force, which is the army we have to deal with any and all threats both foreign and demotic whenever the local forces are unable to handle the situation.” She said with pride and a slight smirk as Parris did a sort of double take.

“Wait if you are the leader of the army then shouldn’t that make you a general?” He asked as he started to head for the door with Twilight following.
“No not really, Equestria doesn’t really have a general rank though I suppose the ones that would hold that rank if it existed would be the other Princesses as we all answer to them and obey their orders.” Twilight explained as she switched to quadruped mode.

“Wouldn’t you answer more towards the king and queen?” Parris asked as they made their way through the halls of the ship.

“Equestria doesn’t have a king and queen, we have the Princesses who have ruled the land for centuries and have seen much. They know their way around a battlefield I am sure even if it has been sometime since they were forced to join.” Twilight said. “They mostly leave the fighting to the Royal Guard, the EDF or myself, though I have to tell you trying to run an army while also taking care of princess duties is a real pain in the flank.” She chuckled.

“What do you mean princess duties? Like running errands for them?” The human asked.

Twilight chuckled. “Right forgot, not home. My full title is Princess Twilight Sparkle, Former student to Princess Celestia the Element of Magic and Commander of the Equestrian Defense force.”

“Wait you are royalty?” Parris asked stopping suddenly and looking at the mare dressed in dark green combat armor with an SMG slung over her back.

“Yeah kinda.” Twilight said with a laugh. “But I am a solider first and prefer a hooves on the ground approach to leading. “She said and looked at the human. “Trust me, I much prefer leading soldiers into battle then I do playing politics with the nobility. Though I am enjoying this break from it as from what I’ve seen The Great Game isn’t here.”

“The Great Game?” Parris asked as he started to walk once more.

“The Great Game or the Game of Houses or simply The Game is what the political system in Equestria is called, I would explain it but it took me years to understand it myself and I had help. Just know it is extremely complicated and very dangerous, one misstep, one careless slip of the tongue and you could find yourself on the bad end of The Game, I’ve seen it happen to new Players more times then I’d care to remember and it is never pretty as The Game does not care about what happens to the Players, it just wants to be played and damn anyone who refuses to hell and Tartarus”

“You make it sound like it’s a living being.” Parris said as they reached a door.

Twilight nodded slightly. “In a way it is as it is always active and everyone within the nation is part of it even tough very few are aware of its existences.” She said as the doors parted to show a well lite room with several beds along the wall as the security officer twilight broke the wrist of sitting one while another human used some sort of hand held scanner on it. The injured human blinked in surprise at finding the mare there but calmed down when he saw Parris with her. However that was not what held Twilight attention, that was reserved for the human examining the broken bones and the fact her eyes displayed absolutely zero medical information about him.

The balding human picked up some small device and ran it over the injured wrist and Twilight watched both him and the action. The medical scanners in her eyes told her the security officer was there and had a broken wrist which was being healed rabidly by the device, but no matter how many times she looked at the other human they showed absolutely no information, medically he wasn’t there yet she could clearly see him.

“There we go Ensign, that should take care of it, though I do recommend giving it a day before you try doing anything that will put strain on it.” The Doctor said, for Twilight could tell he was a doctor. The Security nodded and thanked him before making his way from the infirmary.

“Hey doc, brought a visitor.” Parris said as he walked the rest of the way into the room with a very cautious Twilight following behind.

“Ah Mr. Parris it’s good to see you and your…”The Doctor trailed off as he looked at Twilight who was watching him carefully and starting to circle him. “Friend?” He finished as he watched the mare’s strange behavior.

“Something like that, Captain Janeway is having me give her a tour of the ship and I thought I’d start with Sick Bay since she already has seen Tenforward.” Parris said as he semi-ignored Twilight’s action.

“Ah well then I am honored you thought of me first when you—“ The Doctor was interrupted when Twilight leapt forward to try and tackle him, only to pass harmlessly through him and crash into the medical bed on the other side. Both being looked at her as she scampered to her hooved and shook her head furiously to clear if before spinning around and facing the Doctor with annoyance.

The Doctor watched as she approached him with determination and her right hoof shot out and harmlessly passed through him once more. “What the hell is this!? How can a Hologram interact with the physical world?” She demanded as she continued to jab at what was basically empty air staring at the space with both annoyance and determination, as if she tried hard enough she’d touch the Doctor.

The Doctor sighed in annoyance and stepped back out of her reach, only for her to follow him to continue poking the space he was in. “I can assure you I am a hologram and am only solid when I want to be. I am the Emergency Medical Hologram for Voyager and am the lead Doctor.” He said as he took another step to try and get away from the jabbing mare, who only followed with relentless drive to unravel the mystery.

With more exacerbation the Doctor transferred himself to another part of Sick Bay causing the Mare to franticly look for him till she spotted him on the other side of the room. “Found you!” She cried out and launched into the air to fly across the room towards her prey. She passed through him once more and crashed into the wall behind him. “You know what….screw it….i don’t care anymore as this is giving me a headache.” The mare said from the floor as Parris couldn’t help chuckling at her behavior.

“Take it there are no holograms on your homeworld?” He asked once he got himself under control.

The Commander shook her head to clear it before climbing to her hooves once more. “No we have no reached that level of technology yet.” She said and eyed the Doctor. “However I believe I think I will steer the EMSD towards it when I get home as they will be very useful.”

“Yes well seeing as you are done poking at me would you mind telling me who you are?” The Doctor asked.

“Commander Twilight Sparkle of the Equestrian Defense Force. Who are you?” She asked.

“I’m the Doctor.” The Hologram replied.

“OK and your name?” The Mare asked.

“…I don’t have one.” HE replied. “EMHs weren’t designed to have them or run for as long as I have and I have not yet decided on a name.”

“Oh…um…my apologies.” Twilight said.

“No need to apologies, I’m quite flattered you wanted to know it.” The Doctor replied. “I also must say I have never seen an alien species quiet like yours.”

“Yeah I get that a lot when I end up where I’m not supposed to be.” She said with a shrug. “Also my species is called Pony and my race is Alicorn as of fairly recently.”

“Pony? Really? What are the other races?” The Doctor asked out of curiosity as he started to collect his medical supplies to store them.

“Well of the Pony species there are four Alicorns, then there is the Pegasi, Unicorns and Earth Ponies.” Twilight said, this got the one human and one holograms attention.

“Pegasi, unicorn and earth ponies?” The Doctor said with surprise. “Humans have mythology concerning two of them and the name of the third is rather surprising.”

“Really?” Twilight asked in surprise.” Huh…and I hadn’t even mentioned the Horses, Zebras, Griffins or Changelings that also live on the planet in their own nations, well the Changelings are part of Equestria but the others all have their own nations.”

The other two being blinked. “Earth has Horses and Zebras but the other two are also part of the mythology.” The Doctor said.

“Really? That’s just the sentient species; I haven’t even mentioned the animals or the monsters that rom the planets like Hydras and Manticores among a lot more.” Twilight said producing more surprise form the aliens.

“Facinating. “The Doctor said as he grabbed a pad. “Would you mind if we talked about your planet? I think it would be very fascinating to hear all about it.

“As much fun as that would be Doc I still have to give Twilight here the tour of the rest of the ship. “Parris said heading off what he could tell would be a very long talk that he would be stuck sitting though.

“Oh! Yes! Right I still have to see the rest of the ship.” Twilight said and looked at the Doctor. “I can come back alter and we can talk.” She said and the Doctor nodded in appreciation. Twilight nodded back before following Parris from Sick Bay to continue the tour.

As they walked towards what Parris called Engineering the lights suddenly dimmed slightly and lights along the corridor started flashing red as an alarm blared. “Something tells me this isn’t a good thing.” Twilight said as she saw crewmen running up the hall before Parris badge beeped at him.

“Janeway to Parris, report to the bridge imminently.” Janeway said over it.

Parris taps the badge. “On my way Captain.” He said before he started to head for a turbolift. Not really knowing what else to do and also wanting to know what was happening Twilight followed him onto the lift.

“Commander you should head back to Sickbay or Tenforward for now.” Parris told her as the doors closed.

Twilight shrugged. “I’d rather finished the tour, and the next stop sounds like it’s the bridge.” She said. Parris sighed as it was clear there was no talking the Commander out of it so he told the left to take them to the bridge.

The lift doors opened to the darkened where the only light was the flashing red lights. Twilight didn’t spend a lot of time looking around it as she stood to the side of the lift as Parris made his way to a console in front. What drew her eyes was the front window, or maybe it was a view screen and what filled it.

Twilight wasn’t sure what it was besides a large green and black cube filling the screen. As if in answer a voice suddenly spoke from the speakers hidden throughout the bridge. “We are the Borg. Prepare to be assimilated. Resistants is futile.”

Author's Note

Well things just got bad. How will our good Commander handle the unstoppable Borg?

Tune in later for the next chapter and find out!

same place, same insane story!