Far Beyond Equestria

Her heart was pounding. She was certain everyone in the infirmary could hear it. She let out a slow shaky breath as she walked around the bed. She shivered as she looked at the stallion. His coat was a deep brown, almost chocolate color. His mane and tail were tar-black; Sweetie saw streaks of gray mixed into his mane.

“What happened to him?” asked Sweetie. She finished her walk-around and sat on her haunches.

There was a long deafening silence before Julian stepped forward. “We think he showed up during the last tetryon bombardment. He was found floating in space not far from the station.”

Sweetie’s jaw fell open as tears welled up in her eyes. Pangs shot through her chest. She couldn’t imagine a worse fate than being whisked away to nothingness one day.

She took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself. “I-I don’t know who this is.”

“That’s okay,” said Julian. “What can you tell me about him?”

“Well…” said Sweetie. She took a few more deep breaths. “He’s an earth pony. He looks about middle-aged. He doesn’t look as strong as some of the farm ponies, and his hooves look too well-maintained for him to be a farm pony.” She looked at his hindquarters. “His cutie mark is a pickaxe. So maybe he did something related to mining. Or he was a geologist. Or maybe a cave explorer… I don’t know. Cutie marks are hard to interpret when there’s no magic flowing from them.” Sweetie hung her head.

Julian put a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you,” he said. “What does earth pony mean exactly? I see he doesn’t have a horn like you do.”

“The name might be outdated,” said Sweetie. “Traditionally, these ponies were stout and strong. They had the natural ability to make crops grow in places that were barely suitable for them. They have great intuition on soils and crop planting rotations.

“Now? Earth ponies do a variety of occupations. Most of them do not work with crops or farming anymore. They cannot channel magic like a unicorn. They sort of feel things through the earth.” Sweetie sighed. “I guess. I’m not an earth pony. It’s hard for me to understand it.”

“Thank you,” said Julian. “Normally the next steps would be to perform an autopsy unless your people have any special burial requirements.”

Sweetie shook her head. “I don’t know… those things depend on where he came from. Usually, ponies are buried in the ground so they can return to the soil. But he is not on Equus so…” Sweetie shrugged.

“We can keep him in the morgue until we find your home,” said Julian.

“Benjamin,” said Jadzia. She had a pensive look on her face. “It’s possible more of Sweetie’s people are out there. Each of those holes in subspace has the potential to do what happened here, twice.”

“One thing is certain, Lieutenant. Chief O’Brien will have to rethink his tetryon lightning rod,” said Odo.

“I think I have a solution for that,” said Jadia. “We could build a tetryon collector. The next time there’s a build-up it can be collected in a shielded room.”

“Very well,” said Sisko. “I will speak with the chief on building that. Meanwhile, I want you and Major Kira to look into these subspace holes and figure out the most likely places Sweetie’s people might be displaced.”

“What should I do?” asked Sweetie.

Sisko shrugged. “Whatever you like.”

“I can help,” Sweetie insisted.

“Major Kira and I will be looking at sensor data and star charts. It’s not very interesting, but you are welcome to hang out,” said Jadzia.

Sweetie hung her head dejected. “No, that’s alright. I will probably be in the way.”

“Sweetie, when we find a location, I promise I will take you with me so you are there to meet any more of your kind. A familiar face might make their transition easier.”

“Okay,” Sweetie said. She returned to the Promenade where she wandered. She spotted Miles working in the distance. He had a panel open with several cables and hoses exposed. Figuring she could help, or at the very least, learn something, she approached. Anything to get the image of the earth pony stallion out of her mind.

However as she approached she realized the area Miles was working in, and her eyes were drawn to the ceiling. Her body trembled as she stopped in her tracks.

“Hello, Sweetie,” said Miles. “Can I help you with something?”

“N-no. I was just curious about the repairs,” said Sweetie. She quickly wiped cold sweat away from under her forelock.

“Oh, well come on over. I will show you what some of this stuff is.” Miles gestured with his hand.

“I think I’ll watch from here,” said Sweetie.

“You’re way over there. You aren’t going to see much being ten feet—I understand.” Miles walked right up to Sweetie. “I assure you it is quite safe. Safer! I increased structural integrity.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Come on. I promise you it will be alright.”

Sweetie allowed him to nudge her forward. She walked until she was in almost the exact spot before the ceiling collapsed on her and Julian. She looked up. Everything looked solid. “I’m sorry. I’m being foalish. I know it’s fine. Nothing is exploding or shaking.”

“No need to be sorry. It was a traumatic thing to happen. You aren’t the only one. Quite a few people aren’t going to the upper level right now. Some of them were trapped up there for hours. It’s because of you that Julian was able to get to them in time.”

Sweetie felt some relief with those facts. She was starting to wish people would stop bringing up how her saving Julian was heroic. She didn’t need the constant reminder that they were both seconds from death. She was glad he was okay after all of that; she wished she could say the same for the others and the earth pony stallion.

“If this is making you uncomfortable, I can show you something else,” said Miles.

Sweetie exhaled releasing some of the tension in her body. “I think I will be alright.”

She turned her attention to what Miles was doing. Now that she was looking properly, she saw he actually had several panels on the back wall open. “This looks… complicated.” Not only were there hoses and wires everywhere but there were steel pipes and several little gadgets that lit up and glowed different colors. “What can I do to help?” She grinned at him.

Miles chuckled. “I appreciate the enthusiasm, but—” Miles held up a finger. “Actually, there is something you can help me with.” He walked over to one of the open panels in the wall. “Up in there is a bundle of fiber optic cables I can’t reach. Instead of me pulling apart this upper section of the wall, maybe you could use your ability to get it. It would save me hours of work.”

Sweetie smiled. “Sure,” she replied as she approached. ‘What’s a fiber optic cable?”

“They are cables that send information using light instead of electrical impulses,” said Miles. “If you look up in there you should see a thick black cable going into a circuit board.”

Sweetie stuck her head inside the wall and looked up. She lit her horn for extra light. She had no idea what a circuit board was, but she did see a thick black cable. “Is that it? It’s got a rectangle piece on the end that’s against that flat green thing.”

“Yes,” said Miles. “Okay, you will have to gently pull it back towards you to disconnect it. Then you should be able to pull it down.”

Sweetie focused her magic on the cable and pulled. It didn’t move. She pulled harder, but it remained unfazed.

“Stuck?” asked Miles. “Give it a yank. Don’t worry about breaking it. I’m replacing it anyways.”

Sweetie gave it an aggressive tug. The white piece flew out of the board and hit the wall with a clank. Sweetie grabbed it again and then pulled it down and out. As the cable came out she could see several clear thin little strands sticking out where the black casing of the cable had broken.

“Good job, Sweetie!” Miles patted her back. He picked up the cable and pulled it tight. With a small device in his hand, he held it up just before the broken part of the cable. A blue light came out of the end and cut the cable clean.

“Wow, what is that thing?” asked Sweetie.

“Laser torch,” said Miles. “This one isn’t very powerful. It’s great for cutting things like this. He inspected the white end of the part he cut off. “Nice job, you didn’t damage this connector. See if you can get it open and remove the cables inside so I can reuse it. I will mend this cable in the meantime.”

Sweetie examined the connector, but she didn’t see a way to open it. It looked solid, and it was made out of a material she couldn’t identify. She tried to pull the cable out from the back, but it wouldn’t budge. She was about to give up when she noticed a small tab on the corner. She had completely missed it, but she could see it was a clamp of some sort. Carefully, she pulled on the tab. To her utter surprise, it popped open. “Wow!” she exclaimed. Dozens of clear wires slid out, leaving the connector empty.

Miles looked impressed. “Very good! You might be an engineer. You figured that out quickly.”

Sweetie smiled. She was happy to have been helpful.

“Alright, watch this,” said Miles. He had the cable and a new cable inside a square device with many blinking lights. “This is going to fuse the fibers together.” After a second of it humming and beeping, Miles opened it revealing a single cable. It looked like it had never been broken. “Next, I will put the connector back on the end.”

“This is fun,” said Sweetie as she watched him set up the device again. A few seconds later the connector was back on.

‘Glad you think so,” said Miles. “Now for the fun part: putting this thing back. Now look carefully.” he showed her the end of the connector. “See how it's shaped. It will only go in one way. So don’t force it.”

Sweetie nodded. She grabbed the cable and returned to the wall. ‘Which way does it go?”

Miles shrugged. “I’m not sure. You’ll have to feel it.”

Sweetie looked up. She could see where it went. She could see the tall part was vertical, but which way? She pushed the connector against the opening. Nothing happened. She flipped it around but it still didn’t connect. Frowning, she flipped it around again, and it clicked into place.

“Brilliant,” said Miles. “Okay, you see those hooks in there? Along the wall. Just put the cable through those so it doesn’t hang there.”

Sweetie did that with ease. Miles inspected her work and seemed pleased. “What did that go to anyways?”

“It’s part of the holosuite imaging system,” said Miles as started putting panels back in place.

Something in Sweetie’s memory clicked. “Oh yeah, Jadzia never explained to me what that was.”

“I have to test the system after I put this stuff away.” Miles beamed. “You’re in for a treat.”

Sweetie eagerly followed Miles to the upper level. The first thing she noticed was the desolation. Sweetie had viewed the upper level as a place to retreat from the chaos of the Promenade and look out the window. But now it was eerie and quiet.

They crossed one of the bridges into Quark’s. Below Sweetie saw the gambling machines, and she remembered she had a free spin on them.

She followed Miles into the most unusual room she had seen yet. It was very large. It was completely empty. Sweetie would have figured it a large storage room if it weren’t for the yellow grid of paint against completely black walls.

“What in Equestria is this place?” Sweetie asked as the door behind her closed.

“You’ll see,” said Miles. He pushed some buttons on a console next to the door.

Sweetie was not prepared for what happened next. The room flickered and then disappeared completely. Instead, she found herself standing in an open field. In the distance rolling green hills gave way to tall blue mountains looming above. The sky was blue and the sun was beaming down upon her.

Sweetie stood there, transfixed. Everything felt real. The grass was damp and had that earthy smell. There was a softness in the ground and birds were chirping in the distance. She spun around. There were only rolling hills and tall trees in every direction.

“H-how?” she asked. Her first thought was the room somehow sent her to a different location. But it felt more like the room transformed into a different place. But was that possible? The place she was in was much bigger than the room.

“It’s a holographic projection,” said Miles. “The computer is creating all of this.”

“Projection? This place is bigger than where we just were. And I can smell the earth, feel the grass, and take in the sun. It almost feels like being… home.”

“The amount of space hasn’t changed. It’s all carefully concealed. The wall is still here.” Miles’ hand snapped against an invisible barrier. The air around it vibrated. For a second Sweetie caught a glimpse of a wall. It disappeared and the endless hills returned.

“This is amazing! Can it recreate my home?” asked Sweetie Belle.

Miles shrugged. “It probably can. You have to tell the computer how to generate it. I can help you do that if you want.”

“I-I don’t know if I should,” said Sweetie. “This is incredible, but it’s all an illusion, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” said Miles with a nod. “It’s very good at tricking you. It can create many possibilities and characters. You can play out your favorite novel here. It can also be used for some less than reputable reasons. Most of which Quark will sell to you.”

“You mean sex?” asked Sweetie.

Miles’ eyes went wide. “You certainly aren’t as innocent as you seem.” He laughed. “Yes, mostly stuff like that.”

“Innocent? I’m not a little filly.” Sweetie looked around. She was prepared to stay in this fantasy forever. Feeling the sun on her back was something she didn’t realize she missed. She turned back to Miles and smiled. ‘What else can this thing do?”

“Loads. Us engineers use it to test all sorts of ideas out to make sure they will work. We can feed lots of data into the computer and have it run various simulations to get percentages of outcomes. It’s been used to commit crimes, and it’s been used to solve them.”

“How does anyone not get addicted to this?”

“They do,” said Miles. “Holo addiction is a real thing. I knew a guy who had it.”

“This is magic beyond anything I could ever imagine—sorry technology. We have nothing even close to this.”

“It’s quite impressive, yes,” said Miles. ‘We didn’t always have this. Technology like this took humans thousands of years to invent.”

“Still,” said Sweetie, “This is beyond our comprehension. Princess Twilight is probably the smartest pony living, and I doubt even she could understand this.

“Like we understand projections. I can do that.” Sweetie’s horn lit up. A projection of a yellow pony with a red mane and tale appeared, floating and rotating slowly. “But making an entire setting like this? And doing it without magic? No way.”

Miles studied the slowly rotating pony. She had a beautiful long-flowing mane with a pink bow behind her head. “Is this Princess Twilight?” asked Miles.

Sweetie shook her head and dropped the projection. “That’s Apple Bloom. She’s…” Sweetie looked down feeling a pain in her chest. “She’s special to me.” She sighed. “I don’t think I can project Twilight. Projections like this come from a special place in a unicorn’s heart.”

Miles gave an understanding smile. “Computer, end program.”

The black and yellow grid room returned leaving Sweetie feeling deflated.

“When I get some holosuite time, you are welcome to join me and see what other programs are like. But now I must inform Quark his holosuites are working again.” Miles patted her shoulder. “I know it’s a lot to take in. I’d love to show you how all of this works, but small steps. Learn the basics.”

Sweetie nodded. “The computer can replicate food, various items, and entire realities,” she muttered. “The holosuite and the replicator are similar aren’t they?”

“You keep impressing me, Sweetie. Yes, they work on the same principles. The holosuite uses patterns to create projections of real things. It uses forcefields to make those things tangible.”

Sweetie gave a weak smile as she followed Miles out of the holosuite. She thanked Miles for everything, and not wanting to talk to Quark, she teleported back to the Promenade.

As her luck would have it, Sweetie appeared right in front of a familiar-looking red-robed man. Her sudden appearance didn’t seem to phase him in the slightest. Sweetie flattened her ears in case he was going to grab her again.

“The Prophets told me I would find you here, and here you appear,” he said in a soft voice. “I am Vedek Oram. It is time for you to talk with the Prophets. They will guide you home. Come, child, and hear what they have to say.”

“Prophets?” asked Sweetie with a confused expression. “Why do they want to talk to me? And who are they?”

“All will be revealed in due time,” said Oram.

Sweetie sighed. She didn’t feel Oram was threatening but there was something mysterious about him that she didn’t like. “Well, if they know how I can get home, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to hear them out.”

“Join me in the Temple,” he replied.

She followed Oram across the Promenade. The Temple was one of the larger doors on the Promenade. The temple itself was dimly lit and smelled of pine. It wasn’t as big as Sweetie thought. It was cozy with many candles to light the room. In the center, a tall box with purple glowing gemstones sat on a table.

“The Orb of Prophecy and Change,” he said. He opened the box. “The Prophets await.”

Bright purple light emanated from within as a spinning crystal was revealed. Sweetie gazed at it intently as it spun and captivated her. And then purple light consumed her as she shielded her eyes.

When Sweetie opened her eyes, she let out a gasp. The Bajoran Temple was gone. She was standing in her bedroom. She did it. She was home! “Wow,” said Sweetie. A tear ran down her cheek. “I never thought I would see this place again.”

Her math textbook and her half-finished homework lay on her desk. A half-empty cup of tea and a bag of cough drops sat on her nightstand. Her room was spotless. Like she had never left.

A soft clunk on her bedroom window snapped her attention to it. She peered out it, spotting a yellow mare with a red mane and tail. Her pink bow tied back all of her mane. Sweetie’s heart fluttered as she threw open the window. “Apple Bloom,” she said in a soft voice of longing.

“Sorry, your parents said you were sick. I wanted to see how you were doing,” said Apple Bloom.

“Sick?” said Sweetie. She looked back at her nightstand. She quickly stepped back and touched her tea mug. It was still warm. “This is the past,” she muttered.

“Come down here for a little. I have something to show you,” Apple Bloom called out.

Sweetie stepped back to the window. She looked out at the setting sun. She knew what was going to happen in a short amount of time. She teleported next to Apple Bloom.

“Apple Bloom,” she said. Her voice was almost a whisper. She pulled her in, hugging her tight. She buried her face into her thick mane, deeply inhaling.

Apple Bloom returned the hug. “Jeez, Sweetie, you’ve been sick like what, four days? Why are you acting like you haven’t seen me for half an era?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Sweetie replied. After Apple Bloom released her embrace, Sweetie held on tight. “I-I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to lose you ever again.”

Sweetie’s ears twitched as heard a familiar high-pitched noise. She pulled Apple Bloom tighter except as she pulled, Apple Bloom vanished. Ponyville vanished. “No!” Sweetie cried. “No, not here!” Sweetie stood in nothing. Stars twinkled far off. She took a step. Then another. She couldn’t tell if she was going anywhere or if her legs were simply swinging back and forth.

“Here is a relative term, my primitive friend,” a voice said from behind her.

Sweetie spun around. Quark was standing there with a smug grin. “You!” she said. She took a few steps toward him. He vanished.

“Over here,” he said.

Sweetie turned around and started towards him again. Only for him to vanish and reappear to her right. “You’ll have to be to quicker than that.”

“What do you want?” she asked. “Why did you bring me here?”

“Oh, so demanding. Information is a premium here.” Quark wagged his finger. “Besides, I didn’t bring you here. You are here.”

“I don’t want to be here,” said Sweetie.

“Yes, but you are here,” Quark replied. “Over there,” he pointed to a star, “is where you want to be. Celestia’s sun with loving light makes bright for me each day.”

Sweetie frowned. “How do you know what?” she asked.

“You know it,” Quark replied. “And you know that star is out there just beyond what you can see. The path is laid before you. You must choose to walk it.”

Quark morphed into a bright purple crystal that started to spin. Sweetie stared as it and the stars around her spun faster and faster until it was a bright white light. Slowly, the light faded, and Sweetie found herself back in the Bajoran Temple. Vedek Oram closed the box, cutting out the light from within.

Sweetie stood there panting. Her mind was racing. “Wha—”

Vedek Oram held up his hand. “What you saw was between you and the Prophets. The Prophets do not want me to know what you saw. My task is complete.”

“So… I can go?” asked Sweetie. She started walking slowly to the door. When Oram didn’t object she left as quickly as she could.

Not wanting to deal with the crowded Promenade, Sweetie teleported to the other side. She ignored everyone’s reaction and walked down the corridor, leaving the noise behind her. After a few turns, she arrived at Jadiza’s door. She pressed the button and went inside.

The room had changed. It was smaller. The open wall where Jadzia’s bedroom was now had another wall coming out at a right angle. There was a threshold with a curtain for a door in the middle of the new wall. The living area felt cramped. Jadzia’s desk had been moved to the other new wall, putting it right in front of the couch.

Her new bedroom was cozy. Her bed looked similar to Jadzia’s. Maybe smaller. She had a wooden nightstand next to it. There wasn’t much room for anything else. Her saddlebags were hanging from a hook in the wall. Sweetie took her medal off and put it in the bag. She plopped on the bed and stretched out.

As Sweetie stretched her stiff leg, her mind wandered. The orb said there was a path before her and she had to choose to walk it. Was that the path home? Or did these Prophets have something in mind for her? Why did they show her the last time she saw Apple Bloom?

A pain shot through her chest at the thought of Apple Bloom. She was close to Sweetie when she got pulled into the anomaly. Did it get her too? It got a different pony from who knows where. He wasn’t so lucky—Sweetie sat up her heart was pounding.

She got to her feet. She took to nervously pacing Jadzia’s room. “How do I call again?” she asked herself.

Right after asking the door opened and Jadzia walked in. “Sweetie, I’m glad you found your way back. Do you like your new bedroom?”

“Jadzia!” Sweetie exclaimed, ignoring Jadzia’s question. “It got Apple Bloom too! She was only a few hoof-falls away—”

“Slow down, Sweetie. What are you talking about?” Jadzia crossed her room, taking a seat on the couch.

“The anomaly thing,” said Sweetie as fast as she could. “Whatever it’s called. It grabbed her and sent her somewhere too! It grabbed that other stallion from a different town.”

“Even if that’s true, there isn’t much we can do,” said Jadzia. She held up her hand as Sweetie’s eyes went wide. “Look, I know this pony is close to you—”

“We have to find her!” Sweetie shouted.

Jadzia sighed. “And where do you suppose we look?”

“I don’t know. Anywhere. Ask those Prophets where to go!”

“Sweetie, come here,” said Jadzia. She wrapped her arms around Sweetie’s neck when she got close. “We’re doing all we can. Major Kira and I found a location to check out. There’s a planet not too far from here that was hit by the anomaly.”

Sweetie took a deep breath. “Are we going?”

“Yes,” said Jadzia. “We leave tomorrow morning.” She held up her hand when Sweetie opened her mouth to object. “Tomorrow is the soonest we can depart. Commander Sisko’s orders.”

“Okay,” said Sweetie with a sigh.

“And I want you to keep in mind that we still do not know how this anomaly works. It’s entirely possible your friend is fine.” Jadzia patted her back and released her hug. “Now, who is this Apple Bloom?”

“Well, she’s a pony I met when we were fillies. She was being picked on for not having a cutie mark. Me and my friend Scootaloo didn’t have our cutie marks yet either. We met at a party and decided to form a club where we tried everything we could think of to get our marks.

“That’s how it started anyways,” said Sweetie.

“So you three tried different activities, sports, or something? asked Jadzia.

“Yep. We tried so many things. We were determined.” Sweetie giggled. “We were three little terrors.”

Jadzia laughed. “I can imagine. So is Apple Bloom a close friend or is there something more?” asked Jadzia with a prying eye and a wry smile.

Sweetie blushed and looked away. “It’s complicated. I don’t know if you want to know.”

Jadzia smiled. “Oh, I want to know all about it.”

Sweetie’s heart was pounding. “I always thought she was beautiful from the first time I saw her.”

“Aww,” cooed Jadzia. “What is she like?”

Sweetie thought for a moment before answering. “She’s strong. She has the fortitude of a pony three times her size. She could kick a barn door clean off its hinges without much effort, but she moves with the grace of a dancer. She’s honest to a fault and extremely stubborn. She’s got a temper and a little fire in her. She has a scent that really gets me—” Sweetie clapped a hoof over her mouth. “Well… you know.” Sweetie smiled with a nod.

Jadzia smirked. “I think I get the idea. She sounds like someone I don’t want to cross.”

“A wise pony said, ‘Strength and brute force will knock down any door, but a gentle knock and a warm smile will open the world for you.’”

“Very interesting. Who said that?” asked Jadzia.

“Apple Bloom,” Sweetie replied with a smile.

Jadzia nodded. “Okay, now I think I understand why you like her so much. She has a sharp mind.”

“She’s much smarter than she realized,” said Sweetie. “She has a lot of self-doubt because she doesn’t do well in some of her classes.” Sweetie shrugged. “I help her when she lets me. But…” Sweetie sighed. “She’s stubborn.”

Jadzia chuckled. “Maybe she feels unintelligent from your tutoring? You are her peer, right?”

“Yeah… probably. I try to not make it come off like I’m better than her because I’m not! I know academics, sure. I care about her.”

“Care?” asked Jadzia. “Is that all?”

“No,” said Sweetie. “It’s more than that.”

Jadzia wrapped her arms around Sweetie. “What is it then?” she whispered in her ear.

“Love,” Sweetie replied. “I’m hopelessly in love with her.”

“Oh, but love is not hopeless.” Jadzia ran her fingers through Sweetie’s mane.

“It is if you don’t know how she feels about you,” said Sweetie. She deflated in Jadzia’s arms. “It doesn’t help that I’m too scared to tell her how I feel.”

“Sweetie, you have to tell her. You can’t keep this bottled up.”

“I plan to.” Sweetie nodded. “When I get back, I will hold her tightly and kiss her and tell her I love her. I will shout it from the rooftops!” Sweetie giggled. “Now I’m starting to sound like my sister… I miss her too.” Sweetie sighed.

“That’s the spirit. But… maybe you should find a different way to tell her that doesn’t scare her away,” suggested Jadzia.

Sweetie giggled. “Nothing scares her. Nothing. I’m the one who's scared.”

“I think you’re incredibly courageous. You have more in you than you know. The way you saved Julian…don’t count yourself out.” Jadzia rubbed Sweetie’s back.

Sweetie’s heart swelled with pride as she thought about everything she had accomplished at DS9 in such a short amount of time. Maybe she really overcame something? Maybe she was stronger here because she had to be.

“That feels nice,” said Sweetie in a sleepy voice. “I love these messages you do.”

“So you love Apple Bloom who is female…” Jadzia trailed off as she continued to rub along Sweetie’s barrel. “How common are same-sex relationships where you are from?”

Sweetie shrugged. “Pretty common, I guess. I’ve never heard it called that, but… well literally that’s what it would be if we were to get together in a relationship.”

“So your people don’t have a name for that sort of thing?” asked Jadiza.

“No? Not that I know of. Ponies who love are beautiful,” Sweetie replied simply.

“I see… so if you like mares there’s no title associated with that?” asked Jadzia.

Sweetie frowned and turned her head to look at Jadzia. “What are you getting at?” she asked. “We don’t have a word for it. And I don’t only like mares. I like ponies with certain qualities. Their sex has nothing to do with it.”

Jadzia’s eyes went wide. “I see. Now that is interesting.”

“It is?” asked Sweetie. “Isn’t that how everyone here is?”

Jadzia shook her head with an emphatic no. “Most people here are only attracted to the opposite sex.”

“Well that’s boring,” said Sweetie. “Why does that become a limiting factor?”

“That’s the way a lot of us are. Not all of us, but most. It might seem boring or limiting to you, but not even considering someone’s sex might be a bridge too far.”

“That sounds like my friend Scootaloo. She’s only attracted to stallions. During estrus she won’t even consider doing anything with a mare… but she’s in the minority for ponies. We don’t have a word for it. We just accept that certain ponies are like that. Besides, she has a great colt friend.”

“You like him too?” asked Jadzia with a laugh.

“Oh yeah,” Sweetie. “He is smart and funny and charming and… really good-looking. I’d love to go on a date with him, but Scootaloo isn’t one to share.” Sweetie shrugged.

Jadzia stopped rubbing Sweetie’s back and gave Sweetie a questioning look. “Share? Ponies aren’t monogamous?”

“What’s that?” asked Sweetie.

“You only have one sexual partner at a time…” said Jadzia with a dumbfounded look on her face. “You really have no concept of that?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” asked Sweetie as Jadzia chuckled. “I love Apple Bloom, and I hope she likes me. If we got together we would then decide if it’s only us or if we want other ponies to be with us as well.”

“And you wouldn’t be jealous if Apple Bloom was with someone else sometimes?” asked Jadzia.

“Yeah probably,” Sweetie admitted. “But if that’s what she wanted, then I would find a way to make that work for us. Or maybe I’d join in…”

“Well… that’s different,” said Jadzia. She resumed rubbing Sweetie’s back. “It’s certainly not the norm… but you make me laugh when you say, ‘Where’s the fun in that?’”

Sweetie giggled. “Yeah, I guess that is a funny way to say that.”

“Oh, Sweetie…” Jadzia sighed. “Your world sounds peculiar. I can’t wait to see it for myself one day.

“This Apple Bloom,” Jadzia prompted. “What does she look like? With a good description, I think the computer can generate an accurate picture of her. Then I can add that to your room. What do you think?”

Sweetie sat upright causing Jadzia’s hand to slide away. “I can do better than that. I can show you how she looks.” Sweetie’s horn lit up. A cone of green light radiated out from the tip. Sweetie decided to project her at full size. She aimed her spell off to the side of the coffee table. A second later, a yellow mare with a red mane appeared. She wore her mane long with a small pink ribbon tying it together at the bottom.

“Oh wow, that’s a great, um, spell,” said Jadzia. “And she is gorgeous. Is she really that tall?”

Sweetie nodded.

“Stunning. And her marking is similar to yours,” Jadzia noted while looking at Sweetie’s hindquarters.

“Yeah, Scootaloo has a similar one too. The three of us are unique that way. We got our marks at the same time and for the same reasons.

“So that is Apple Bloom, and this is my sister Rarity.” The image of Apple Bloom flickered and a pure white mare with a purple mane and tail appeared.

“Your sister is very beautiful,” said Jadzia. “That mane, wow, that color is vibrant! How long does it take her to get her mane styled like that?”

Sweetie rolled her eyes. “Far too long.”

Jadzia laughed. “I think it’s incredible. And she has three diamonds for a marking, what does that one mean?” asked Jadzia.

“Rarity’s special talent is finding gems. She has a special spell that only she knows; it tells her where gems are located. She’s good at cutting and shaping them too. She uses the gems for her fashion creations. It’s one of the things that sets her clothing apart: gem sequins.”

The image of Rarity flickered and then disappeared. Sweetie exhaled. “That spell is difficult to do,” she said with a somber tone. She put a hoof on her chest. “It hurts in here to cast it. And this is the second time I cast it today.”

She went on to explain her day helping Miles fix the holosuite and her orb experience.

“I know Oram said it was between me and the Prophets, but I have to tell someone. It felt so real. Apple Bloom felt real: her voice, her touch, even her scent.” Sweetie leaned against Jadzia again.

“It was a memory,” said Jadzia.

“It was the last day I saw her. But things happened differently. I was able to say different things to her.”

“Yes, but it was all based on your memory of her. Everything you know about Apple Bloom was used. That’s why she felt so real,” Jadzia explained.

“But Quark…” said Sweetie. “I only spoke to him once.”

“I think that was an actual Prophet you spoke to,” said Jadzia. “From what Benjamin has told me, they take on the form of others from our memory.”

“Who are they exactly?” asked Sweetie.

“To the Bajorans, they are the Prophets. They are their gods. To us, they are the wormhole aliens. They exist in a different dimension and have no concept of time like we do.” Jadzia yawned and stretched. “Major Kira can explain them better.”

They sat in silence for a while. Sweetie enjoyed the comfort of leaning against Jadzia. The crazy new world she found herself in seemed less scary this way.

“Oh yeah,” said Jadzia, breaking the soothing silence. “Do you like your new room?”

“Yeah, it’s nice,” Sweetie replied in a sleepy voice. “I’ll miss snuggling with you though.”

Jadzia chuckled. “Well, maybe sometimes you still can. But I need my space too. Remember, it’s not something I’m as accustomed to.”

“I understand,” said Sweetie.

Jadzia picked up her flat-panel device. She frowned as Jadzia tapped it with a finger, and it made a beeping sound after. “What is that thing?” she asked. She was tired of calling everything a device or gadget.

“This is a padd,” said Jadzia. “You can use it for reading reports, books, scan data, all sorts of things. Right now I’m going to use it to show you some basic computing. I think I’ll start by showing you how machines use logic to make decisions.”

Jadzia tilted the padd so Sweetie could see the screen. There were several shapes connected by lines with arrows. Inside each shape was a series of characters. Sweetie had seen them before, but she had no idea what they meant.

“So here at the start we have an objective to find—”

“I can’t read this,” Sweetie cut across. “If all of these symbols are for words, I don’t understand them.”

“Uh-oh. Did we not get your writing system into the universal translator?”

“No. It never came up.” Sweetie shrugged. “It figured out my spoken language pretty quickly. Our writing system is pretty simple: we use characters to represent sounds and we use special glyphs to represent emotions.”

“Curious distinction,” said Jadzia. “Is there a reason it’s like that?”

“Um, I’m… not sure actually. We can write out words like ‘happy’ or ‘sad’, but the glyphs are sort of more meaningful, I guess. I think they might be a holdover from an older writing system.” Sweetie shrugged.

“Well here’s an interesting challenge,” Jadzia said with a pensive expression. “How do we get your writing system in the computer? You won’t be able to write on the padd with hooves—how do ponies write?” Jadzia asked.

“With our mouths. And magic,” said Sweetie. The shocked look from Jadzia warmed her heart. “I can show you with pen and paper.”

“This could be interesting,” said Jadzia. She nudged Sweetie off her and walked over to the replicator. She returned with a few sheets of paper and a skinny black metallic pen and placed them on the table in from of Sweetie.

“So,” Sweetie began, “before unicorns are good at magic we write with our mouths like the earth ponies and pegasi. Our pens are also thicker, but I think I can show an example.” Sweetie picked up the pen in her mouth. It was a little tricky, but she managed to write decently enough.

Jadzia studied Sweetie’s technique closely, and the writing on the paper after. “I can safely say I have never seen anything like that in all of my lifetimes. What does it say?”

“My name,” Sweetie replied, feeling pleased with herself. “This character here represents the ‘swuh’ sound, and this little dot with the line here means ‘eet,’ and the dot with no line means ‘ee.’ Sweetie. And these two lines mean ‘buh,’ and this last character means ‘el.’ Belle.”

“This is how I normally write now.” Sweetie gripped the pen with her magic and quickly wrote the same characters out in much neater penmanship. “I have more practice like this now,” she muttered. She wrote another character on the paper. “This is the glyph for happy. The long flat line is Equus, the circle is Celestia’s sun, and these three little circles represent the element of laughter. Now this says Sweetie Belle happy. So…” Sweetie quickly wrote more characters after the glyph. “Now it says Sweetie Belle is happy to be teaching her friend Jadizia how to write in Equestrian.”

“This is a beautiful language. There’s an elegance in how these characters are simple yet mixed with complicated glyphs. How complicated does this system get?”

“It’s not much more than this. The glyphs are the hardest part because there are so many of them. I only showed you one glyph for happy. Celestia’s happiness is different than Celestia’s glee or Luna’s joy. They are all similar, but not exactly the same, and you have to know certain historical events to understand some of them. I don’t know them all, and I’m not sure any pony does. Sometimes we have to look them up.”

“That does sound complicated now,” Jadzia mused. “I wonder how the computer will interpret this. Can you write out a few sentences so it can get the idea of the syntax?”

Sweetie flipped the paper over and began writing at a quick pace. She made sure to include several glyphs in her writing along with variations of the same glyphs.

“It’s really simple but it says,” Sweetie sat the pen down, “When I first got here I was very scared. Everything was so frightening. Then I met Jadzia, and she was very sweet and understanding. I am happy to have her as my friend and guide. Otherwise, I think I would be very sad here.”

“Oh, Sweetie.” Jadzia hugged her tight. “I’m glad you’re my friend too.”

Sweetie’s cheeks flushed as she hugged Jadzia in return.

Sweetie spent a painstaking amount of time explaining each character and glyph so Jadzia could write the equivalent characters in a language called English. It was the lingua franca of the Federation despite many cultures not actually speaking it. The universal translator defaults to it for making translations possible. From there it was apparently able to make any language intelligible. Pure magic!

“I should be able to scan this and the computer can get a good comparison for translating words. It will require more, especially those glyphs, but this is enough to get it started.” Jadzia tapped some buttons on her padd. A bright blue light shined out of the edge of it illuminating the page for a brief second. “Now, add to translation matrix… there!” She turned the padd so Sweetie could see it again.

“Science officer’s log,” Sweetie read, “stardate, umm, not sure what that says.” She scanned through the text picking out a few words but most of it was still a jumbled mess.

Jadzia shrugged. “It needs more. After stardate, it lists a bunch of numbers. This is my log entry for the day we found you.”

“So that’s why it says unicorn down here,” said Sweetie.

“We will work on it some more later. How about dinner then bed? We have to leave pretty early tomorrow.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

After a quick dinner of a bean stew that Sweetie thought was pretty tasty, she turned in for the
night wondering what adventures awaited her. She hoped if they found any displaced ponies they would be okay and they could be rescued. The stallion from the infirmary flashed through her mind as she fell asleep.