“No, no no!” yelled Jack, jumping down from the machine she was standing on. Starlight, panting, looked up.

“Are you kidding me?” she said. “I totally hit them!”

She pointed down range at the targets, which had not only been hit but had been burned completely through, their metal surface melting down to the floor of the cargo bay.

“So, what, you want a repeat of what happened on Omega? You can’t just shoot beams at everything!”

“Really? Because that’s what you do!”

“Oh yeah?” Jack lifted her hand, and fired a blue flash at Starlight. Starlight cast a shield spell around herself, but the bolt shifted in the air, curving around her in a wide arc until it had turned a full ninety degrees. Then it flew straight downrange, hitting the hole in the center of one of the targets and flying into the molten backing.

“Why am I ever going to need to do that? I’m never going to actually attack anybody!”

“It’s not about attacking, or even defending yourself! Look.” She pointed across the room at Si’y, who was watching from high a large piece of equipment, occasionally looking up from a Blasto comic book. “What if he came at you right now? Do you know what would happen? You would either freeze and die or turn him to dust! What if you wanted to do something ELSE?”

“This one does not like being brought into this argument!” called Si’y from his perch.

“Let me tell you a story. When I was your age, I got into a fight with an asari justicar. Do you know what that is?”

“How would I possibly know that?”

“A thousand-year old asari Matriarch. The best of the best. And she handed my ass to me.”

“So what?”

“So what? Do you know how she did it? It wasn’t raw power. Even that green I could still produce a shockwave that could turn a krogan’s bones to dust. And I didn’t hold back. I went all out- -and she barely even raised a hand to me.”

“So you’re incompetent, then.”

“No. I WAS uncontrolled. That’s what biotics are. They’re not just about throwing around energy balls and singularities. It’s about concentration, absolute focus. Something you don’t seem to have. Samara? She could FLY with biotics. Kind of. You, you just…” She sighed and put her head in her hand. She shook her head, and then gestured violently toward Starlight. “It’s like you don’t even know what you’re doing! I’m sure that thing on your head serves a purpose! It clearly isn’t for looks!”

“Well at least I have HAIR!”

“She has a point!” called Si’y.

Jack turned and raised her hand toward Si’y. The ground exploded with shockwaves of energy toward him, barely giving him a chance to jump down from where he was hovering before the piece of equipment jumped up into the air and fell over with enough force to shake the entire room.

“Please do not do that,” said Armchair. “I have dedicated this room to firearm target practice, but it is not designed to contain high-level biotic discharge. If you rupture a window, you will die.”

Jack raised her middle finger to the disembodied voice. She then turned her attention toward Starlight. “How long have we been doing this? Two days now? And you’ve learned, what?”

“Well, I thought you were supposed to be some kind of teacher.”

“I am. And I’ve seen children learn faster than you. This just isn’t working.” She paused, and an idea came to her. Starlight could tell that it was an idea that she was not going to like.

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking you might learn better the way I learned.”

Jack pulled off her goggles and set them down on a crate beside her. She stretched her arms and started to walk toward Starlight.

“Jack,” said Starlight, backing away. “What…what are you doing?”

“You said you want to learn how to control this, to defend yourself, right?”

“I did say that…”

“Well, then. This is a practical test. Kill me.”

“Jack, I can’t- -”

“I’m even giving you the first shot,” said Jack, stopping and spreading her arms. “Shoot one of those uncontrolled beams at me. See what I can do with it.”

“I can’t fight you, Jack. It wouldn’t be right.”

“So you won’t take the first punch?”

“No!”

“Fine.”

Jack raised her hands and a pair of energy balls burst forth from her body, both spreading outward in inverse arcs and flying toward Starlight. As they moved through the air, Starlight could feel them traveling, cutting through space. The energy in them vibrated in her horn.

She raised her shield again, surrounding herself with blue energy, but instinctively directed more energy into one side than the other. The first orb hit and was absorbed, but the other one hit from the other side and exploded, knocking Starlight across the floor.

The energy blast was more than they usually were. It was not simply a burst of energy or force; as Starlight was thrown down, she felt its energy fusing with her shield, pouring into it like an electrical discharge, making her unable to concentrate.

“Dispel it!” said Jack, stomping forward. “Next one’s a singular! Strike back or you die!”

Starlight looked up at her, and knew that she was serious. Jack summoned a dark sphere in one of her hands. Starlight, not thinking, raised her left hoof.

The singularity flew out, but rebounded instantly off a wall of orange light, exploding in Jack’s face and knocking her off balance.

“What the hell!” cried Jack, covering her eyes. She looked at the translucent orange wall. “A barrier? Who taught you how to do that?!”

“No one did,” said Starlight. “I’ve been practicing with the omnitool. The programming, the math, it’s all just…so easy. And using it seems somehow just so intuitive for me.”

“I hate tech powers.” Jack stepped up to the wall and pulled back one of her fists. It ignited with blue energy, and she slammed it into the barrier. The wall shattered like glass against the force of the biotic punch. “What, are you going to try to hack me?”

“No,” said Starlight, smiling. “I was just distracting you.”

Jack was suddenly knocked forward as a barrel wrapped in blue light slammed into the back of her head, knocking her down.

“Ow, what the- -”

The barrel twisted in the air and hit Jack from the side. She was thrown sideways from the force and into the remnants of a damaged shuttle. As soon as she hit, Starlight focused her power onto the surface of the metal. While Jack was still confused, Starlight tore up several pieces, twisting them as though they were thin plastic, and bent them around Jack’s body, trapping her against the shuttle.

Just to be sure of her victory, Starlight opened her omnitool and tapped at the interface using energy from her horn. A circular, eye-like holographic combat drone appeared and drifted over to Jack, focusing its weaponry at her.

“What the hell?” said Jack, breaking a slight smile. “How did you manage to do that?”

“I told you, I was practicing with the omnitool,” said Starlight. “At first, it was really hard to use the interface with hoofs. But then I realized I could use my biotics to click at the keys. Then I realized I can lift things with my horn. So…this.”

“So you’re a full-blown telekinetic?”

“I guess so.”

“It’s a start,” said Jack. She charged her own biotic power, and the blue fire-like energy that surrounded her body atomized her metal bindings. She stood up, wiping off the dust. “Now if you could just put that much focus into controlling energy output, you’d be golden.”

“Is it correct to assume that you are going to stop fighting now?” said Si’y, peeking out from behind the shuttle. “This one is disappointed.”

“We’re not doing it for your entertainment,” said Starlight, deactivating her combat drone. Not that it could have done any real damage, of course. Starlight knew how to program one, and could make it shoot, but she had never bothered to make the energy projectiles especially powerful yet.

“There’s an idea,” said Jack. “Hey, Star, do you want Si’y to take my place?”

“What?” gasped Si’y.

“Sure. Fighting a biotic like me is one thing. Stopping yourself from getting shot is another entirely.”

“This one does not want to fight the honored pony!” cried Si’y, quickly. “That is…it would be unfair for this one to engage in a battle against such an inexperienced opponent, especially considering the Starlight Glimmer’s lack of appropriate armor and shielding.”

“That’s right,” said Jack. “We’ll have to get you a shield. Also…”

“What?”

“Now that I think about, you kind of are naked.”

“So? My tail covers everything.”

“You have things that need to be covered?” said Si’y, craning sideways.

“Hey!”

“That’s not what I’m concerned about,” said Jack. “Because, to be honest, almost all human women wear shirts. I don’t.”

“Although, sadly, there is not much to look at,” suggested Si’y.

“What are you talking about? Look at all this ink! But that’s not the point.” Jack walked to one of the walls and leaned against it, picking up a bottle of water and sipping from it. Next to the water was a plate of bagels, and she picked up part of one and took a bite out of it. “It’s more about choice,” she said, setting the half-eaten piece down. As she stepped forward, Starlight watched as something moved behind a vent directly over her and a long, hairy insect-like leg peeked out, reaching down until it latched onto the bagel fragment, at which point it quickly pulled it back into the vent. “You shouldn’t have to be naked if you don’t want to.”

“It’s okay, Jack, really,” said Starlight.

“Don’t know where we’re supposed to get pony clothes anyway…” Jack reached down onto the table again, feeling around for the bagel but quickly realizing it was gone. “What the…”

“So, there will be no more catfighting?”

“I don’t know. Jack, are you ready for another round?”

“Maybe later. I’m going to get some lunch.”

“Afternoon, then? Maybe about three?”

“Sure, why not.”

“This one will still be here,” said Si’y. “Doing ‘inventory’ for Captain Sjdath.”

“Really?”

“No, of course not. This one will be taking a nap in its tank.”

“You live in a tank?”

“The hanar are an aquatic species. Of course this one lives in water when it can.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Jack and Si’y headed for the exit, Jack walking and Si’y floating slowly, his armored tentacles trailing through the air. Starlight decided to stay, if only to sweep up and replace the targets at the end of the range.

Neither task took especially long, and after a few minutes, Starlight had finished replacing the burnt metal. All the time, she was wondering what it would actually be like to wear clothing. She had never considered it before, but it would probably be fun. In her mind, she imagined something form-fitting and armored, like a hybrid of Si’y’s armor and what she had seen people on Omega wearing. Possibly in black, but maybe in gray. Something with a large section in the back so that her spinal implants would be exposed.

With this image in her head, Starlight finally started heading toward the door. She figured that it would probably be best to get something to eat, and then to adjust her omnitool some more. For a moment, she even considered asking Sjdath how to set up the neural-shock feature, but decided against it. Sjdath had been awake for days, desperately trying to parse out the scrap they had and haggling with dealers for reasonable prices. Sometimes even late at night Starlight could hear vorcha-language yelling in the lower cargo holds if she happened to be walking by.

As she was trying to leave, however, Starlight noticed Zedok leaning against the open bay door, blocking one end of it.

“Oh, hi, Zed,” said Starlight.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Oh. Well, sorry.”

Starlight attempted to walk past her, but Zedok moved, blocking her path.

“I’m trying to get through,” said Starlight. “If you don’t mind…”

“Actually, I do,” said Zedok. “We need to talk. Now.”

“I guess I have time. About what?”

“You know what.”

“No. No, I really don’t.”

“Really? Do you think I’m that stupid?” She stepped forward, forcing Starlight to retreat into the cargo hold. For some reason, Zedok was unusually angry. “I stayed up last night. I watched where you were going. Did you think I wouldn’t find out about you and Jack?”

“Me and- -that’s none of your business!” exclaimed Starlight.

“Yes. Yes it is. You think you can just waltz in here like that and just…just sleep with her?”

“Sleeping is all we’re doing!” protested Starlight.

“That doesn’t change anything.” Zedok looked around the room. “Five years. FIVE. YEARS. That’s how long I’ve known her. A third of my life. I’ve been asking her to train me since the first day I could get up the nerve to actually talk to her, and every time- -EVERY TIME- -she comes up with an excuse. And then she goes and picks you instead.”

“Well, then, we can talk to her about it,” said Starlight. “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind- -”

“No!” cried Zedok, punching a large crate with enough force to dent it. “That’s not going to work. I’m angry, Starlight.”

“I can see that.”

“This isn’t a joke! You don’t even know her! Not like I do!”

“Zedok, you’re not being rational.”

“Rational? RATIONAL? I’ve been hearing stories about her since I was old enough to talk! How she helped stop the Collectors, or fought Cerberus, or how she was at the Battle of Earth when the Reapers were defeated! How she’s been my hero since I was old enough to even know what a biotic was!”

“I’m not trying to change that fact- -”

“Yes, yes you are.” Zedok stretched out her hands and they flashed blue with biotic energy.

“Zedok? What are you doing?”

“You’re going to fight me. And I’m going to win.”

“And, what, she will love you?”

“Pretty much, yeah. Once I show her who deserves to be trained. Here’s a hint: it’s not you.”

She lobed a burst of biotic energy at Starlight. Starlight did not even bother to dodge; the shield she cast around herself absorbed the blow easily. It did not feel remotely like getting hit by Jack; if Jack’s biotics were a hard punch, Zedok’s were like having feathers thrown at her by a light breeze.

“This is stupid, Zed!”

“I said don’t call me that!”

Zedok leaned forward and burst with blue energy, accelerating rapidly, apparently with the intent on punching Starligh. Starlight activated her omnitool, producing a barrier at a forty-five degree angle. When Zedok struck it, she rebounded off it, sliding sideways, tripping, and skidding across the floor as she fell.

“That’s cheating!”

“No, the combat drone is cheating.”

“Combat- -HEY!”

The drone had snuck behind Zedok and fired a low-power shot into her back. As far as Starlight knew, asari were pretty durable. The energy surges really did nothing aside from hurt.

“I will destroy you!” cried Zedok, lobbing a biotic blast at the drone- -only to be hit by a far more concentrated impact from behind that sent her flying across the floor.

“I’m sorry!” cried Starlight, suddenly frightened. “I’m- -I’m still having trouble controlling that! Oh, crap, please don’t be hurt please don’t be hurt!” Starlight galloped over to where Zedok had been knocked down. “Are you okay?”

Zedok did not move at first, and Starlight stated to panic- -until a singularity was lobbed at her head.

“Why would you do that?” said Starlight, grabbing the energy sphere in her own power and stabilizing it into a humming mass. “Now THAT is cheating!”

“No,” said Zedok. “This is.”

She pulled a gun from her belt and fired. Starlight was knocked back by the force, and immediately overcome with a level of pain that was all-too-familiar. It was everything she remembered from the memories and dreams, now centered in her left shoulder. Her mind was wrenched away from reality with the shock and surprise and horrible pain.

In all the pain and confusion and fear, Starlight lost control. The power in her horn rose, and she saw her energy- -her magic- -condense into a solid, translucent blue blade. Before she could stop herself, she rammed it through Zedok’s chest, impaling her against the wall behind her.

Zedok’s eyes widened, and she coughed up a purple fluid. “Aw, crap,” she said.

“No, no I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” Starlight backed away, shaking and in pain, not knowing what to do. “I- -I- -”

The construct that had skewered Zedok faded, and Zedok dropped to the floor. Still conscious, she pointed at Starlight’s left arm. “Omnitool. Call my dad. Damn. I’m gonna be so grounded for this…”

“Omnitool…” Starlight looked down, and then tried to lift her arm. She cried out in pain from the rapidly spreading corrosive damage in her shoulder. “Can’t reach. Give me yours!”

Zedok raised her hand weakly and activated the tool. Starlight took it in her magic.

“Fenok!” she cried. “Fenok!”

“Starlight? What are you doing on Zedok’s frequency.”

“You have to get here quick! Range bay! I- -I messed up! I messed up real bad! Zedok’s hurt, and I’ve been shot- -”

“Just hold on!” said Fenok, his voice immediately more serious than Starlight had ever heard it. There was no sign of weakness, though, just authority and strength. “Stay there! I’m on my way!”

He might have said more things, but Starlight was losing blood too fast. The world faded, and then went dark entirely.

When she woke up, she was under lights again, and Starlight almost burst into screaming thinking that she could expect hooves to be holding her down and masked faces preparing the drills- -but then she remembered.

“Zedok!” she cried, sitting up and immediately regretting it. “Oh, crap, what the- -” She looked down at a bandage over her shoulder and remembered that she had been shot.

“Of all the foolhardy, infantile, idiotic things to do!” cried Fenok, lumbering into the room.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” cried Starlight. “I didn’t mean to!”

“Quiet!” snarled Fenok. “I’ll chew you out second! Her first!” He pointed at his daughter who was sitting on a second bed, leaning against the back wall. She was pale and shirtless, with a large bandage over her chest. “What were you thinking?!”

“You’re- -you’re okay!” cried Starlight.

“Of course I’m okay,” snapped Zedok. “I’m half krogan.”

“It doesn’t work like that, and you know it! You may be my daughter, but your body is asari! I get stabbed in the heart or the lung or the spine, who cares, I’ve got another one, but you- -if you try that, you die! If that injury had been to inches to the right- -”

“It wasn’t dad.”

“Did I do something wrong? Where did I go wrong? What did I do to make you like this?”

“Dad, you’re overreacting.”

“Overreacting? You shot the FRIGGIN PONY!”

“I’m sorry,” said Starlight. “It was my fault! I lost control and- -”

“Oh, I know who did this to her,” snarled Fenok. “And I have an urge to strangle you right now. But I’m a pacifist. AND I know that you didn’t start this. What the hell do you THINK is going to happen if you shoot someone? Why would you even do that?! Where did you even get that gun?”

“Dad- -”

“Answer me!”

“We have hundreds of them in storage! We were fighting, and I was just trying to win!”

Fenok bent down and looked his daughter in the eyes. “And if you had succeeded? If she had died there? Would that have made you felt better?”

“Do you think I don’t know?” screamed Zedok, clenching her chest in pain. “Do you think I didn’t realize that when I had a dying pony bleeding out in my lap?! Do you think it doesn’t bother me that I almost killed my friend?!”

Fenok wrapped his daughter in a hug, even as she protested and broke down into tears. “I thought I had lost you,” he said. “Don’t ever do that to me again. I already lost your mother. I can’t…I just can’t…”

“I know, I know,” said Zedok.

Fenok backed away. “Your safe now, though. Both of you. That’s what counts. But if either of you ever pulls something like that again…”

“You’ll send us to boarding school on Thessia, I know.”

“I might actually do it this time. But for now, both of you are grounded.”

“You can’t ground Starlight.”

“No, I can’t,” mused Fenock. “So you’re grounded TWICE!”

“DAD!”

“No buts! No- -ahrg, I can’t deal with this right now. Look, look at my hands, I’m shaking. I can’t think clearly right now. I’m going downstairs, and I’m going to drink about ten bottles of vodka. Then I’ll come back up here and yell at both of you more calmly!”

Fenok turned and grumbled to himself as he made his way out of the medical bay.

“Just like her mother,” he grunted as he clicked the door control and stepped out.

Starlight and Zedok sat in the quiet for a moment, neither one looking at each other.

Finally, it was Starlight who spoke. “You shot me,” she said.

“Yeah, well…I guess I got kind of carried away.”

“‘Kind of’?”

“I’m a half-krogan teenager. What did you expect? I’m sure you did tons of stupid stuff in your teenage years…”

“I spent my teenage years in a glass tube hooked up to machines,” snapped Starlight. “So, yes, if having my muscles atrophy and getting food pumped into me through a hole in my side is teenage rebellion, sure. Sure I did.”

“Well, you did stab me.”

“I did. And I’m sorry.”

“You had better be.” Zedok paused. “But that was pretty cool. Was that a tech thing?”

“No. It was biotic.”

“You mean that big blade? That was seriously biotic?”

“Yeah.”

“Damn. That’s kind of epic.”

“Yeah. Twelve inches of epic right through your chest.”

“Dad says you missed anything important. I even stayed conscious the whole time. Hurt like hell, though.”

“And do you think getting shot felt any better?”

“No, I guess not.” She let out a long sigh and leaned back. “I guess I screwed up pretty bad, didn’t I?”

“We both did. But you screwed up first.”

“You don’t need to rub it in. I was just so angry at you. But to be honest, I can see why Jack chose you. You’re way better than I could ever be.”

“It isn’t about who is better. I asked Jack to help make sure I don’t do what…well, what I just did to you.”

“Wait. So you’re getting lessons from Subject Zero, the most lethal biotic mercenary EVER…to learn how NOT to hurt people? That makes no sense!”

“So you want her to train you how to hurt people, then?”

“No, I…no, that’s not it. I just…” she leaned her head back against the wall. “I just want her to pay attention to me.”

“So you were trying to kill me to get her attention?”

“I wasn’t trying to kill you! Yes, I know I shot you, but…that was a horrible mistake, one that I don’t think I could have come back from if…well…”

“I know what you mean.”

“You do, don’t you? I just want her to even recognize that I’m here. To tell me a story about what the War was like, or what it was like to know Commander Shepard, or to see a real Reaper, or how she really did get those eyes.”

“I think there’s a reason she doesn’t talk about it.”

“Why? Those things are epic!”

“To you, maybe. But not to her. A lot of people died in that War, a lot of people she cared about.”

“But then shouldn’t we talk about them? Sing songs about their heroism, what they did for us? You know, krogan stuff.”

“I’m not the pony you should be talking to about this. Talk to Jack.”

“Are you kidding? She’s terrifying!”

“You’ve got that right. Starlight leaned back, being careful of her injured shoulder, and opened her omnitool, tapping at it with energy from her horn and trying to adjust the neural interface manually.

“To be honest, I’m considering asking you to teach me. I mean, you’re not nearly as powerful as Jack is- -because nobody is- -but you’re way out of my class. You can do tech, too, and I can barely even do a good singularity.”

“Don’t sell yourself short.” Starlight looked up from her screen and smiled. “That biotic acceleration thing you did? That was pretty cool.”

“Kind of my specialty.” Zedok leaned back proudly, only to wince in pain.

“Besides,” said Starlight. “Not that I like the idea of them, mind you, but you should consider yourself lucky that you can use guns. I can’t. Because, you know.” She lifted her hoofs into the air. “Hooves.”

“That I’ve actually been practicing.”

“Yes. Because you clearly hit me squarely in the heart.”

“Shut up!” said Zedok, smiling. “I was upside down and dizzy! But seriously, I know daddy doesn’t make enough to pay for fancy armor suits, but Sjdath has a TON of old guns, and most them don’t even work. I probably could make something real nice…you know, I think she even has a snowblind module somewhere…”

“I don’t know what that is. Just don’t shoot it a me this time.”

“Only if you don’t go making asari-kabobs.”

“I don’t know what that is, either.”

“You don’t- -come on, you’re killing me here!”

“No, I already tried that, apparently.”

Zedok laughed, and as she did, she snorted. Mortified, she looked at Starlight, and they both started laughing.

“Stop it, stop it!” wheezed Zedok over the hilarity. “I still have a hole in my chest- -the stiches!”

“I’m- -trying- -but I- -can’t!”

The two of them eventually calmed down. Starlight wiped away a tear from her eye. It was the first time she had laughed that much, and she didn’t even know what they were laughing about.

“So, we’re cool?” said Zedok.

“Not sure what that means.” Starlight watched Zedok frown. “But I think we are.”

“Hey,” said Zedok, a mischievous smile crossing her face. “You want to know a secret?”

“Um…if it’s about those ‘hot-dogs’ in the freezer being actually made of dog- -”

“No, not that!” Zedok leaned in closer, glancing around as though someone was watching. “I know where my dad keeps a bottle of ryncol!”

“That krogan alcohol stuff? Doesn’t it light on fire?”

“That’s half the fun! Plus, the stuff is so concentrated that you only need to sneak an eyedropper full and dilute it for, like, eight gallons of liquor.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m an adult pony,” said Starlight. “I don’t think I need to be sneaking to drink alcohol.”

“So you don’t want any?”

“I never said that.” Starlight returned Zedok’s mischievous smile, and they both jumped down from their respective beds.

Just before they reached the door, though, Starlight stopped. She was still looking down at her omnitool, the holographic read screens projected in front of her face as she walked when her eyes narrowed.

“Hey, Zedok, how many omnitools are there onboard?”

“What, like active ones? Well, there’s mine, dad’s, Sjdath’s,” she ticked off the tools on her fingers. “Of course yours, and Si’y has the hanar equivalent. I don’t know about Arachne.”

“He does,” added Armchair, causing Starlight and Zedok to both jump in surprise and then blushed heavily, not having realized that he had been there the whole time. “I, however, as a starship, do not.”

“That’s what I thought,” said Starlight.

“Why?”

Starlight looked up at her friend. “Because I’m detecting seven. And one of them is a substantial distance off the port stern.”

Zedok looked confused for a moment, and then her eyes widened, realizing what that meant.

As quickly as she could, Starlight opened a channel. “Sjdath,” she said. “We have a problem.”