Stardate: 2261.115 - A few weeks after the start of the year...

“Well, first year is kicking off quite nicely, don’t you think?” Rarity asked Twilight as they walked through the library of Starfleet Academy. After the first week or two of integration, they had slowly been adjusting into Academy life.

“It’d be better if there was more than just studying and tests,” Twilight grumbled, annoyed already at the amount of work that was put on their shoulders. “I already know the entire curriculum. Twice over.”

“Well, you’re a very optimistic bunch today, aren’t you?” Rarity said.

“I should be the one saying that to you,” Twilight muttered as she rubbed her temples. “Today’s a bad day.”

“If a bad day for you makes me seem chipper, than it really is a bad day.” Rarity shook her head.

“You’re not that bad, Gems,” Twilight said as she took a book from the shelf.

Rarity groaned and looked away before glaring at Twilight. “I said that once. Why are you still using it as my nickname? It’s not even a good nickname!” Rarity finally snapped, having been referred to as that since their first encounter.

“Well if it annoys you that much, I’ll keep using it!” Twilight finally said after flipping through the book and put it away.

“I hate you sometimes, you know that?” Rarity whispered.

“I love you too, Gemmy.”

Rarity sulked behind Twilight as they scrolled through the books. As Twilight had claimed, she already knew most of the curriculum, yet the higher ups wouldn’t allow her to skip the year. A lot of it was because of her own tarnished record as a delinquent, and also because they didn’t want to show favoritism. For… obvious reasons. As she walked through the aisles looking for books to pass idle time, Rarity followed behind, also seeing if some books would be of use to her.

“You didn’t have to come with me to the library, you know,” Twilight said. “I can handle myself just fine.”

“Well, I’d love to see the library catch fire too, but somepony has to keep an eye out for you.”

Twilight stopped in her tracks as she turned her head to look at Rarity. Glaring at her, her lips curled into a smile and she laughed. “You know me too well, Gems.”

“I’m never going to get escape that name, am I?”

“Nope,” Twilight confirmed.

Rarity sighed in contempt. “Figures.”

Stardate: 2261.174

“Shut up, Gems,” Twilight huffed as she walked into the dorm room.

Rarity snickered and giggled, putting a hoof to her mouth as she tried to stop laughing. She, unfortunately, couldn’t handle herself and broke the ladylike manner she always composed herself in at the sight of Twilight. “Bwahahahaha! Sparks! Haha! Y-you… Hahahahaha!”

“Ugh, I hate you sometimes, you know that?” Twilight said, echoing what Rarity had once said to her as well.

“Y-you look ridiculous! Hahaha!” Rarity giggled uncontrollably on her bed. She had been brushing her hair as she was reading a medical textbook when Twilight had walked in, and now all was forgotten as she ridiculed her purple friend.

“Well, you don’t look too bad yourself,” Twilight snidely said as she walked to their shower.

“I’m s-sorry! You just look absolutely absurd!”

“No, you’re not sorry,” Twilight pointed out as she got into the shower.

“What happened to you?” Rarity inquired now calming down as she wiped a tear from her eye. “What did you get into this time?”

“None of your concern,” Twilight grumbled as she pulled the shower curtains closed.

“Oh, but I do think it to be my concern. You are my friend, after all,” Rarity said, her laughing now down to a few laughs every few seconds. Rainbow coloured slime now coated the path which Twilight took to the shower.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you admit that,” Twilight shouted over the now active showerhead.

“Well, it’s true, isn’t it? Now You have to tell me what happened!”

After a few minutes of silence with the pitter patter of shower water, Twilight sighed. “I… Let’s just say it was… colourful.”

“Oh, dear,” Rarity facehoofed. “I had always taken you as a pony to make jokes, but to go as far as bad puns?”

“We’re never speaking of this again.”

“Oh, but you still haven’t-”

“Never again.”

Stardate: 2261.271

“We’re halfway through the year and you’re already studying for the end finals?” Rarity asked incredulously. She didn’t have a problem with the exams or studying ahead herself as she was very detail oriented, but she didn’t understand Twilight’s methods.

“I told you at the start of the year, didn’t I?” Twilight reminded, “I already know what’s coming, I might as well refresh myself on it.”

“Well, Hearth’s Warming is hardly an appropriate time to be doing so, don’t you think? Why don’t you contact your family? Your brother is certainly within talking distance, and your mother and father would love to speak with their daughter wouldn’t they?”

Twilight froze at Rarity’s last few words, before turning her head to look at Rarity. “Is something wrong, Sparks?” Rarity said after seeing the look on Twilight’s face.

“You really don’t know, do you Rarity?” Twilight whispered before closing her textbook and packing up.

Rarity frowned and watched as Twilight put everything into her saddlebags and left quietly. She had rarely ever heard Twilight say her real name after their first encounter, and yet there it was. Something must have really bothered her in something she said if it prompted Twilight to call her by name.

“Twilight?” Rarity finally whispered as she watched Twilight’s form grow smaller through the cafe window.

The waitress walked up to Rarity behind the counter and noticed Rarity looking at Twilight’s seat with a look of contemplation. “Is something wrong, Rarity?” Mocha Swirl asked.

“No, I…” Rarity said before turning to face Mocha. “Do you know why Twilight was like that? At the mention of her family?”

Mocha stopped cleaning behind the counter for a bit at those words. “I don’t quite know if it’s proper for me to say,” Mocha Swirl muttered. “How about this. Search up Twilight’s lineage. You’ll see why.”

Rarity raised her hoof to ask Mocha a question as to why, but Mocha had already moved on to another customer. With a sigh, Rarity packed her things up as well and headed for the dorms. Hopefully, she could understand why Twilight was so sensitive with the topic of family… But it was hardly manners to go snooping in other ponies’ business.

“Have you ever heard of the H.S.S. Spirit Of Harmony?” Twilight asked silently after a while.

“Yes, I’d come across it once when I was researching the history of Starfleet Exploration,” Rarity said. “After your words on that shuttle, I figured since I’d be going into space I might as well learn more about it.

Twilight widened her eyes at that, before nodding and smiling sadly. “Heh, you never cease to amaze, Gems.” She then looked at her hooves before asking another question. “Tell me what you know about the history of that ship.”

Sensing where this was going, Rarity carefully chose her next words. “In its nearly twelve month tenure of exploration and diplomacy, it was captained by Sun Blazer, a pony that was decorated in honours if I’m not mistaken, and was commandeered by the first officer, Night Light, at the death of the previous captain.” Rarity could see her words were now impacting Twilight quite a bit, but since she wasn’t saying anything, Rarity hesitantly continued.

“All I can remember is that the new captain, Captain Night Light, saved eight hundred lives at the cost of his own life and the ship itself.”

Twilight breathed heavily before wiping her eyes with a hoof and sniffling. She then turned to Rarity with tears streaking down her face and whispered something. “Do you know he had a pregnant wife on board? Who delivered as the ship was attacked and destroyed?”

Rarity widened her eyes at that. All she had known was that he was the saviour of countless lives. With this statement, she could already connect the dots and see where this was going. “N-no. I did not.”

With a nod, Twilight sniffled. “Of course you didn’t. It’s not your fault, of course, but… I’m his daughter. He was my father. A father I never knew, and a father I will never know.”

Rarity sucked in some air at her words, feeling her own tears coming. With a hoof to her chest, she looked away for a time, trying to comprehend. “Oh dear…” she whispered, before looking back at the form of Twilight.

“Don’t pity me, I hate pity,” Twilight mumbled and Rarity laughed as much as she could in the situation.

“Oh, you know me too well,” Rarity said before going over to hug Twilight. Twilight flinched, before leaning into it.

“You annoy me so much,” Twilight muttered and Rarity hugged tighter.

“You’re great too,” Rarity whispered.

Stardate: 2261.365 - New Years...

“Happy New Years!” Twilight shouted as she lit her horn with a flourish of magic.

“No fireworks, Twily. It’s against the rules,” Shining Armour chided, but Twilight smirked in defiance.

“Buck the rules!” she cried and launched magical fireworks with her magic.

“This is why we always get into trouble, Sparks, this is why,” Rarity scolded Twilight and Twilight laughed.

“Relax, Gems, my big bro will always be there to bail me out,” Twilight said and Shining Armour facehoofed.

“Actually, since I saw you in the act, I’m going to have to report you,” Shining Armour explained. “As pretty as they are, you’ve disrupted a lot of ponies just now.”

“Aw, come on, big bro! Have some fun! It’s twenty two sixty two in two minutes! Learn to live a little!” Twilight slurred.

“There’s also a mandatory exam tomorrow and ponies are still studying at this moment. Sorry sis, but you just can’t go around shooting fireworks.”

“And there is my point,” Rarity mumbled as Shining Armour gently stole Twilight away from Rarity.

“Don’t do anything Twilight would do!” Shining yelled as they left the gardens of the Academy.

“I wasn’t planning on it!” Rarity cried back, before realizing she was now all alone. She tossed her mane and sighed. “Oh bugger.”

Stardate: 2262.1

“Where am I?” Twilight groaned as Rarity woke her up. “Gems? What happened?”

“You drank too much and your brother took you in.”

“What did I do this time?” Twilight mumbled, stumbling out of bed.

“You launched fireworks into the sky.”

“Why did I do that?”

“Because it’s six o’ clock in the morning on the first day of a new year,” Rarity provided, and Twilight nodded.

“Oh, yeah… We both have an exam, don’t we?”

Rarity sighed as she put on her uniform. “As much as I hate them too, yes. We do.”

“Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” Twilight moaned as she crawled to the shower.

“You’re a pathetic mare,” Rarity tutted as she shook her head.

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“Your brother is hot,” Rarity said.

“Yeah, tell me something- Wha? Hey!” Twilight cried as she stopped and Rarity smiled.

“Hey, just because he’s your brother doesn’t mean I can’t look at him. He’s the hunkiest piece of eye-candy I’ve ever seen!”

“Make it stop! Make it stoooooooooop!” Twilight cried as she covered her ears in futility. All Rarity could do was laugh.

“Hey, you asked me to tell you something you didn’t know.”

“Not something like that!”

“Be more specific next time!”

“There won’t be a next time!”

“Whatever you say, Sparky.”

Stardate: 2262.40

“You’re going to do what!?” Rarity shouted more than asked. She couldn’t tell whether she should be impressed or baffled and chiding or a mixture of both.

“I’m going to take the Kobayashi Maru Test. So what?” Twilight nonchalantly remarked.

Rarity flipped her hair and moussed it a bit, looking in the mirror as if what she had said was void. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because” -Rarity turns to glare at Twilight as if she were insane- “it’s an impossible test that nobody, pony or otherwise has ever passed, much less at the end of their first year in the Academy!”

“Oh, I think I’m pretty capable,” Twilight said as she fixed her own uniform and headed to the door. “Stop being a drama queen and come on! You’re going to be my chief medical officer!”

“Oh, I’d be delighted to spectacularly fail this test with you, darling!” Rarity said before grumpily following. “You know, I’d rather we wait until we’ve actually heard some of the things people have to say about this test. Or you know. Maybe until we actually have to take it.”

“I’d rather jump in and see how I do,” Twilight shouted, now skipping to the test chamber. “It’s far easier than asking other people what I need to do!”

“That is what you’re best at,” Rarity whispered under her breath before increasing her pace to a trot. “Wait for me! Celestia knows you need me so you don’t make any rash decisions!”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way!” Twilight yelled as she turned a corner.

Rarity grumbled more yet as she now raced to catch up with Twilight. Twilight couldn’t wait to take the test, as she had no prior knowledge as to what was in store. This was, she would later find, to be a big mistake.

Author's Notes:

Let's mix things up a little, eh?

Well, I had this section planned out for a while but I was caught up in writing my HiE. Here's the first year of some of their adventures at Starfleet Academy! I might come back to this later and expand it more than just the few scenes I have here, but that's really up to you guys and gals.

Whelp. Enjoy!