As Applejack materialized onto a transporter pad she got a bearing on her surroundings. She saw the transporter chief at his post and a Lieutenant in front of her and the transporter pad.

“Lieutenant Colgate of security ma'am, welcome aboard the Enterprise.” The young lieutenant said. In Applejack's opinion, the lieutenant seemed to have a short fuse. “Captain Sparkle is waiting for you on the bridge.” Applejack nodded and allowed Colgate to lead her to bridge.

“With the saucer section gone, Ah assume something interesting happened along the way here?” Applejack said with a concerned look on her face. The two entered an elevator and went on their way towards the bridge.

“That's for the Captain to explain ma'am.” Colgate didn't look Applejack in the eye when she said this. Applejack decided to leave it alone, she'd find out soon enough. The elevator reached the battle bridge where the Captain and other crew members were getting the ship into orbit.

“Do we have clearance?” Twilight asked Luna.

“Yes ma'am,” Luna said, “we have permission to go into geosynchronous orbit with the planet.”

“Excellent, make it so.” Twilight said with a smile. Colgate and Applejack approached Twilight.

“Commander Applejack ma'am.” Colgate said as she presented Applejack to Twilight.

“Commander Applejack reporting for duty ma'am.” Applejack said with her chest out and head in there air.

Twilight was thinking about how she was going to treat her new Commander. She wanted to make sure that she was the one in charge, and not some push over Captain. So she decided to simply nod and asked Colgate, “Is the viewer ready Colgate?”

“Yes ma'am!” Colgate said standing at attention. Twilight still had to figure Colgate out, she was a bundle of emotions just waiting to explode. Twilight turned to Applejack.

“We'll bring you up to speed on the” Twilight had no idea what to call whatever it was that happened to them. She decided to call it, “-little adventure we had on the way here.” She motioned for Applejack to sit down in front of the view screen. She did so and saw the “little adventure” unfold in front of her.

“Captain,” Luna said to Twilight, “the saucer section is reporting in, they'll be here in about fifty one minutes.” Twilight nodded and said:

“Tell them that we'll reconnect as soon as they arrive. And send the commander to me when she's finished.”

“Aye Captain.” Luna said while looking at the console. Applejack knew that there was something strange about that dark alicorn. She made a mental note to find out what later. She continued watching the viewer. This, “Pinkie Q” seemed to have placed the crew on trial for the past sins of pony-kind. Applejack had to admit, she thought the past of the ponies was very violent but they had moved past that point in their history. They only wanted peace, and nothing more. The viewer went blank. Applejack got up, turned to Colgate and said: “And she calls that a little adventure?” She continued on to the meeting room of senior officers where Twilight was waiting for her. She made it to the entrance of the room and activated the door bell system.

“Come” Twilight said in a commanding voice. Applejack entered the room and stood before Twilight at attention.

“Reporting as ordered Captain.” Applejack stood proudly but in her head she was unsure of the commanding officer before her. She had heard many rumors about Twilight Sparkle, ranging from being a lover of Princess Celestia and coaxing a command out of her to her being a blood thirsty pony that would only be satisfied if the enemy was devoid of life. Either way, she knew that the Captain in front of her was facing a challenge she would never think a Starfleet Officer would face.

“Good to see you Commander. I'd like to confirm some things about your record if you would feel comfortable answering.” Twilight knew she had one of the best officers in Starfleet. Commander Applejack was quote, “a paragon of honesty, a brilliant tactician, and a hard working officer”. “I see that you served time aboard the 'Star Sight' for a while, under the command of Captain Cheerilee?”

“Yes Ma'am,” Applejack replied. “Ah was a Lieutenant at the time and served at tactical.”

“Yes, your report says as much.” Twilight closed the folder. “Cheerilee is a friend of mine, she and I went to the academy together.” Twilight stood up and looked out the window to the stars. “She was also the one who recommended you for this position. Tell me Commander, what do you know about me?” Twilight asked, looking back and arching an eyebrow.

“Ma'am?” Applejack was a little surprised by this question. “Ah don't know what you mean.”

“I mean, it's likely that you've heard many different rumors about my past.” Twilight continued to walk around the meeting hall. “I heard one rumor that I was a concubine for the Princess, and another that I inherited the command through fear.” Twilight turned to Applejack and said, “Your record says that you give the honest truth about everything you do, one of the guiding principles of Starfleet, Equestria, and the Federation that we all serve. So I'll be honest about how I got my command. After that do you think you'll be able to follow me? Explore the galaxy and discover all that is unknown?”

Applejack smiled and said, “That'd be mighty swell, Captain.” Twilight smiled and said:

“Well then let me tell you the tale of how I got here.”

TWO YEARS AGO

Lt. Commanders Log supplemental,

We have been flying around the Furor cluster for about 8 weeks now, scanning many different nebulas. I have been told that after we finish scanning this cluster we'd be heading back to Equestria where I'd give a report to the Princess. But first, Captain Nimaru wants me to conduct the final scan. Another exciting intellectual day aboard the Idle Prose.

Twilight stepped on to the bridge and went to her science station. The Captain turned to her and said. “Twilight, you're 10 minutes early.”

“Sorry Captain, but you know you can't turn me away from studying a nebula.”

Nimaru laughed, “Of course Twilight, just remember that you have other duties aboard too. Not that you don't complete them, and perfectly I might add, but remember that your crew needs you too.” Twilight looked down at her console. She was never really good at making friends, or commanding respect within the crew, she'd always thought that she'd play it safe and just get a role at the Science Academy at Starfleet, teaching or studying.

“I understand Captain. I'll try harder.” Twilight said with a weak smile.

Nimaru laughed, “Don't worry about it Twilight. I know it's a temporary assignment for you but between you and me we all feel a little safer with a pony who takes her duties so seriously.”

Twilight gave a big smile and said. “I'm only doing what Princess Celestia, Equestria, Starfleet and the Federation expects of me sir.”

“And we wouldn't have it--” Nimaru was interrupted by an Ensign at the helm.

“Sir, we have a ship dropping out of warp in front of us. Scans says it's a Diamond Dog ship.”

The Captain put on a stern face and said, “Hail them.”

A negative beep came from the console. “No Response Captain.” Twilight scanned the ship and saw that a large energy spike arose within the ship.

“Captain!” Twilight yelled, “They're charging weapons!”

“Raise the shields!” Captain Nimaru yelled. But it was too late. The Dogs fired a torpedo near the bridge. Everybody was thrown from their stations. Twilight was delirious but got up. She went over to where the Captain was lying. He was either knocked out, or dead. Either way, she was the senior officer aboard the ship. “Captain Nimaru is down!” Twilight yelled. She saw ponies returning to their stations and said. “Damage report?”

A Lieutenant said, “Damage on decks 2 through 10. Radiation leak on Deck 12.”

“How about weapons and shields?” Twilight asked.

“Shields are up and weapons are nominal. Looks like they started working after we were hit.” The lieutenant said weakly. “What are we going to do now Twilight?”

Twilight stared back at the Dog ship on the view-screen. She knew what she had to do, but she had many reservations, many thoughts. “What if I get the crew killed? What if I get myself killed?” But all the thoughts that plagued her disappeared and she gave a stern look and said. “Ready weapons and lock them on those Dogs. I'm taking command of the Prose.” Twilight took off to the Captains chair. “Charge phasers and prepare to fire.” The crew on the bridge immediately went to work.

“Tactical reporting in Captain.” Tactical was being run by a pony named Centauri. “Phasers are charge and torpedoes loaded.”

“Tactical, target the Dog's engines and weapons.” Twilight commanded. “Helm, we're going to close up the distance with a warp jump.” The crew looked to Twilight.

“But Ma'am that's suicide!” the Ensign said.

“Not if you use these calculations Ensign Moondancer.” Twilight handed Moondancer a pad with all the calculations she would need. Twilight would sometimes write up Tactical Situations and perform them in the simulator, when she needed a breather. “Now prepare to warp on my mark.” The crew turned back to their consoles. Some with worry on their face, others with determination. “Ready?” There was a moment of silence, with only the Dog's phasers and torpedoes in the background. “Mark.” Twilight said. And as soon as Moondancer pushed that final button, the ship moved with incredible speed to the Dog ship, closing up the gap. “Centauri, fire everything you've got!” Twilight yelled. The Idle Prose lit up with phasers and torpedoes, all directed towards the Dog ship, which received a lot of punishment from the Prose. The Dog ship could only fire a few more shots until the reactor inside the ship went critical and exploded. The explosion rocked the Prose, causing an impressive amount of damage. The crew recovered from the shockwave, when Centauri looked up and said,

“Captain, the outer hull took some damage but it looks like we're okay at the moment. Has that maneuver ever been performed?”

Twilight looked back and gave a sigh, “No, I think that's a first.”

“Cheers to the Sparkle Maneuver!” said Moondancer. The crew gave a large cheer for Twilight. She looked to the body of her Captain. A medic had been taking scans of the Captain. The medic looked at Twilight and shook his head. Twilight looked down and said,

“Cheers to the Nimaru Maneuver.” Twilight then gave the order to repair everything the crew could repair and ordered the ship to the nearest Starbase.

Present

“So wait.” Applejack said, “You invented the Nimaru Maneuver?”

Twilight smiled and said, “That's right, I didn't want Captain Nimaru to be forgotten, he was a good Captain.” Applejack took a moment to grieve for the good Captain, but then recovered when she heard someone over the Comm.

“Saucer section to the Star Drive? This is Ensign Worf to Captain Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight tapped her communicator.

“Go ahead Ensign Worf.” Twilight replied.

“Ma'am, we have just arrived in the system and are awaiting further orders.”

“Acknowledged, Sparkle out.” Twilight tapped her badge and stepped towards Applejack. “Let's keep it honest and friendly between us Commander, okay?”

“Sure thing Twi- I mean, Captain.” Applejack said correcting herself. They smiled and went off to the bridge. Twilight tapped her Comm badge again. “Luna, begin automatic docking procedure with the Saucer section.”

“Acknowledged, Captain.” Luna replied.

Applejack stopped and said, “Ya sure you don't want me to dock it manually or something?”

Twilight chuckled a bit. “That'd take too long and besides, I trust you to get things done. I've read your file remember?” Applejack smiled and continued walking with Twilight. They heard the ship connect and made their way towards their regular bridge.

To be continued in . . . the Big Picture!