From the moment Sunset had seen her, she knew she wasn't going to stop smiling. Sure, travelling up into the planet's orbit by shuttle might not have been as quick or efficient as a simple teleport, but as far as the young Captain was concerned, seeing her vessel for the first time was worth it. And it wasn't hard to miss either, being pretty much the only ship moored at the orbital drydock, an enormous, circular construction that normally housed a dozen or so of the fleet. The Phoenix, latest and most advanced ship of Equis. The pride of their people. And she, Sunset Shimmer, had been tasked with being the one who led both it and its crew. It was an honour bigger than anything she'd ever expected to achieve in her life, yet here she was. While it bore largely the same sleek design and predominantly silvery colouring of its older siblings, the Phoenix was not only slightly smaller, but sported light-blue streaks down its side, in stark contrast to the red that was favoured by the rest of their space navy. A number of smaller ships were around it, no doubt completing last-minute adjustments and inspections, but to her eyes, it was perfect. "Well...there she is."

"Indeed," said a voice to her side. Sunset turned, smiling further as she looked to her partner for this trip. Twilight Sparkle, newly-graduated from the Equis Academy of Science, and one of her personally-selected officers for the Phoenix. Like her, she was decked out in the standard uniform of those serving aboard such vessels. A predominantly ultramarine blue outfit covering all except her hands and head. But the difference was in their collars. While Sunset sported a rim of red indicating her role as one of the command staff, Twilight's was a lighter shade of blue, vivid sky to be exact, showing her to be one of the science team. Adjusting her glasses slightly, Twilight looked to her Captain, smirking slightly. "I'm surprised you didn't bring a camera to take a picture."

Sunset chuckled, then pointed to her own head. "No need. I'm gonna remember this moment for the rest of my life."

Twilight smiled back to her, then glanced down to the object she'd been holding. A tech pad, upon which seemed to be all the necessary schematics for the Phoenix. "It's a remarkable ship. I can't see a single part of it that isn't an improvement on the models we've been making before now."

Sunset looked to her slyly. "Sure, she's high-tech, but you've gotta be more excited about this, right? We've made it! We're part of the fleet! You get to finally go out there and see all the things you've been studying!"

Twilight blinked to her, then casually set her pad aside, took a deep breath, then grabbed Sunset by her arms and pulled her closer as she began jumping up and down with joy. "We made it, we made it, we made it, wemadeitwemadeitwemadeit!" Then, after letting her friend go, she cleared her throat, grabbing her pad again and, after quickly blushing, spoke more normally. "I assure you, I am most definitely excited about this."

Sunset, taking a moment to recover, soon regained her smile. "Yeah, I can tell." Then, after just a few seconds, there was a beeping from Twilight's pad. Both girls looked to it, with Sunset rolling her eyes soon afterwards. "Let me guess. Rainbow?"

Twilight nodded. "Yep. Looks like she's pretty impatient to get going."

"Sounds like her," Sunset concurred. "But, there's protocols to follow, and we've gotta go through all the steps before we're cleared to go."

"Well, we'll see to them soon enough," Twilight replied, pointing ahead.

She had the right of it, as the two and their tiny shuttle were soon at their destination, approaching the Phoenix's hangar bay. In less than a minute, the automatic piloting system had taken them through the shield that passed over the entrance of the bay, keeping the air in, before safely landing. With a hiss, the shuttle's doors opened, allowing them to exit. Sunset took a moment to look around, seeing a couple of other shuttles already parked here, as well as various maintenance crews working their trade. However, her attention was soon drawn to a new figure approaching them from one of the many doors that lined the outside of the space. Sunset knew who it was, and so walked alongside Twilight to greet her. Once they were close enough, the new figure saluted. "Welcome aboard, Captain."

Sunset saluted back. "And to you, Communications Officer." After a brief silence, the two laughed together, moving forward and embracing. "Seriously, it's good to have you here, Rarity."

"It is certainly good to be here," the other girl answered. After they separated, she continued. "I'm happy to report that all systems, both long and short-range transmissions, are in top order. We've been testing them all morning, and I assure you that there will be no issues with keeping in-touch with home."

Sunset nodded. "Good. If anything happens out there I don't want to be unable to call for help."

Rarity waved her off. "Oh pish, Sunset. This is just a routine back-and-forth. Go to the edge of the system and return to make sure everything works. I very much doubt anything will happen on such a dull mission."

Twilight raised a finger. "Never underestimate the potential for things to go wrong." Sunset opened her mouth, ready to agree with her friend, only to be halted in her tracks by a loud clanging noise that echoed across the bay. All eyes turned, and there, in the corner of the room, they saw that it was just a toolbox that had fallen from its resting place atop a supply crate. There was nobody close to it, so after just a few moments of staring at it, everybody just shrugged and got back to work, with Twilight giving the toolbox a disapproving glare. "I see somebody's going to have to review proper tool placement procedures."

Sunset glanced from that spot to her two officers and back again before eventually settling on Rarity. "I'm guessing everything else is ready to go?"

Here, Rarity faltered somewhat, looking over her shoulder. "Well...things were ready to go...right until about an hour ago." She sighed. "Our esteemed Chief decided to look over the engines she's responsible for, and felt that there were a few tweaks to make." She paused, but only for a moment. "And then a few more...and a few more, and..."

Sunset raised her hand, understanding. "Message received, loud and clear." After taking a breath, she raised her forearm, upon which was the standard multipurpose bracer of those serving in the fleet. She tapped the screen at its centre to get it going, then spoke into it. "This is Captain Shimmer. Do you read me, Applejack?"

Only a second or two of static passed before she got her answer, as her screen lit up and showed the smiling face of a blonde girl with a few splotches of grease on her cheeks. "Howdy, Sunset! Make it onboard okay?"

Sunset smiled to her. "We did, thanks. Now, a little birdie told me that you've been working on the engines?"

Applejack chuckled. "Ah know, ah know. But y'all can tell Rarity that she ain't got anythin' ta worry about. Ah spent years at the engineerin' corps back home, an' they taught me a few tricks of the trade ta really coax all we can outta machines like this."

Twilight peered over Sunset's shoulder, looking to Applejack's image. "I hope you haven't strayed too far from the regulation specs, AJ?"

Applejack blinked, looked off to the side, then back to the others. "Define...too far."

Twilight winced, imagining all the ways that engine was going to look. Sunset was not as concerned as she was, though there was one notable question that needed to be asked. "The Phoenix will still fly, right?"

Here, Applejack beamed. "An' then some! Yer standin' in the best ship in the fleet, Sunset, an' ah've jus' made her better."

Rarity clasped her hands together as she mulled her friend's words over. "I've known her as long as you have, and trust me, she wouldn't make a claim like that unless she was certain she could back it up."

Sunset nodded to her. "Alright then. We'll be heading off shortly, so make sure it's all where it's supposed to be before we go, AJ."

Applejack saluted. "Ya got it, boss."

And with that, the image flickered before cutting out, leaving the three girls to their thoughts. "Well then," Twilight began. "I suppose we'd better get to the bridge?"

Rarity smiled. "Agreed, Twilight. I've already sent word to the Alpha Outpost, letting them know we're on our way."

Sunset nodded. "Then let's get going. Wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

So off they went, the three of them together, finally exiting the hangar bay and entering one of the adjacent hallways. There were plenty of new crewmembers here going about their work, or heading off to their assigned stations, and all of them either saluted or stood at attention as Sunset walked by. With a smile still on her face, she was sure to nod in acknowledgement and appreciation to each of them as they did this, prompting a slight smirk on Twilight's part, who then playfully nudged her elbow into Sunset's side. "Think they'll do this every time they see you?"

Sunset groaned briefly at the thought. "I hope not. It'll get old really fast."

However, as they passed one hallway in particular, they stopped at the sound of a familiar, nervous voice. "Oh dear! Do I have it? I know I left it in here somewhere!"

The three looked on as another girl was busy on her knees, looking over what appeared to be a small box of medical equipment that had been dropped to the floor. She was frantically searching for something, and Sunset, spotting a small device just behind where the girl was kneeling, walked over and picked it up before offering it to her. "Looking for this, Fluttershy?"

The girl, who was clad in a mostly white uniform to denote her as part of the medical staff, turned in surprise, then calmed down and smiled as she realised who it was. "Oh, Sunset, it's you." Then, seeing the device that was being offered to her, she accepted it happily. "Yes, thank you, this is it." She then busied herself in collecting everything else that had been spilled from the box, after which she stood up and turned to face her commanding officer. "I guess I was just a bit too eager to get to the medical bay. Tripped and dropped my equipment."

Sunset reached out, patting her on the shoulder in reassurance. "No need to apologise. We're all excited to be here right now."

"Glad to have you with us, darling," Rarity remarked.

Twilight nodded "Any patients we get will be lucky to have you looking after them." Then, she considered her words and giggled nervously. "I mean, not that we want any of the crew to be in need of medical services, but..."

Fluttershy smiled to her. "It's okay, I get it." Then, the looked to Sunset. "So when are we leaving?"

"As soon as I get to the bridge, I guess," Sunset answered.

"Eek!" Fluttershy responded. "Then I'd better get to my station. I don't want any of these things falling over when we launch!" she said, gesturing to her box.

But Twilight, unsurprisingly, was quick to reassure her on that particular count. "Don't worry. These ships are designed to be amble to dampen the usual kinds of turbulence that gets experienced during atmospheric travel." After seeing Fluttershy stare at her nonplussed, she spelled it out more clearly. "It won't shake."

"Oh, good," Fluttershy said with a more relaxed tone.

Rarity then started to look to her with some curiosity. "Fluttershy, I trust you left that rather mischievous pet of yours in the care of your family before coming aboard?"

Fluttershy started darting her eyes left and right, then spoke in a tone that very much indicated she was giving out lines that she'd been rehearsing. "Oh, certainly. I know it's not proper protocol to bring pets aboard these ships, so I left Angel safely with my parents. And you can rest assured that there will be no animal shenanigans at all from him."

Sunset, folding her arms, gave her a piercing look. "You smuggled him aboard and he's now hiding in your quarters, isn't he?"

"...Yes. Yes he is," Fluttershy admitted with slumped shoulders.

Though this was certainly a breach of the usual rules of the ship, Sunset nevertheless softened in her tone shortly afterwards. "Well, it's too late to drop him back off before we go, so I'll let this slide today. But the next time we're back home you have to leave him in your family's care, okay?"

Fluttershy sighed. "Understood."

Though disappointed, the young medical officer perked up again when she suddenly heard the voice of another, that being Rainbow Dash, speaking to all over the ship's speakers. "Just wanted to check in and report...again...that all systems are ready and able to go. Immediately. As soon as I get the word. No idea when that word will be, but here's hoping it's soon."

After having looked up to the ceiling during that announcement, Sunset eventually turned to Twilight. "On a scale of one to ten, how much should I charge Rainbow for insubordination for that one?"

Twilight giggled. "Come on, let's get to the bridge before she decides to up and take off without you."

So, they bid farewell to Fluttershy and let her get off to her station, then proceeded down the hallway, eventually coming across an elevator at the end. Getting inside, Sunset looked to the control panel on the side. "Bridge." There was a brief bleeping sound, followed by a near-silent whirring as the elevator responded to the command. Even with the previously-mentioned dampeners, they could feel the rising of the thing as they ascended up to the requested level, stopping shortly afterwards. With a slight hiss, the doors opened, prompting a smile for Sunset. "And here we are."

Stepping out, she looked to her new bridge. It was a sleek and very advanced-looking place, with a massive viewscreen on the far side. Her command chair was right in the centre of course, encircled on all sides by the stations of various other crew members, all of whom were going about their duties. And there, situated right between her chair and the aforementioned screen, was the pilot's station, at which sat an unsurprisingly impatient-looking Rainbow. "Nice of you to join us."

Sunset shook her head, then walked over to her chair. There was a brief quiet as the looked to the thing, knowing that she was about to take her first moment of truly being in command of the vessel. All watched her, then saw her finally sit upon it. It was comfortable, sure, but to Sunset it just felt right. Like she was meant to be here. Twilight stood beside her, sharing her smile over the important moment. Rarity, meanwhile, was moving over to her own station and began looking through all the various messages the ships was receiving. Sunset, taking a deep breath, looked to her friend. "Any last-minute things we need to take care of?"

Twilight nodded to her. "Just one last thing." She looked upwards slightly. "Begin AI bootup sequence. Authorisation Sparkle alpha three-two-seven."

There was a short while of utter silence, then a series of bleeps and bloops was heard across the bridge. At the end of it all, a new voice, female in its sound, was heard. "AI now in effect. Designation P-N-K-I. Please state your request."

Rainbow leaned back into her chair and smirked. "Imma call her Pinkie."

Twilight frowned. "It's against regulation to try and humanise our tech, Rainbow."

Rainbow shrugged and got back to her station, opening the floor for Sunset to give the request. "Please run a ship-wide diagnostic."

There was another pause, after which the newly-activated artificial intelligence responded. "All systems operational. Mission parameters are to disengage from orbital drydock and head for the system rim. Do you wish to depart?"

"Yes!" Rainbow shouted.

After another bleep, the AI answered. "Apologies, only those of Captain-level clearance may confirm."

Rainbow groaned, much to Sunset's amusement, but before she had a chance to really answer, Rarity interrupted. "Apologies, Captain, but we're receiving a priority signal from Equis."

Sunset raised an eyebrow to her. "Who is it?"

Rarity gave a knowing smile. "It's the Council's frequency."

Sunset, getting the message, smiled back and nodded to her, then turned her attention to the viewscreen. "Well then, put her on."

Rarity nodded back, then pressed a few buttons at her console. All turned as the main viewscreen flickered into life, and it wasn't long before a new image came up. It was that of an older woman who now smiled to all of them. Sunset rose at attention, as did everybody else on the bridge. "Councillor Celestia. How can we help?"

Celestia raised her hand, giving them permission to be at ease. "Nothing official, Captain. I just thought I'd call in to wish you all good luck on your maiden voyage. The Phoenix is a fine ship, and I don't doubt that it's in the best possible hands it could have been in."

Sunset's smile widened. "Thank you, Councillor. We won't let you down."

"I'm sure," Celestia replied. "Now then, I believe you have a journey to undertake, so I shan't take up any more of your time. Safe travels. Celestia out."

Sunset nodded to her just in time for the image to disappear, showing instead the normal sight outside of the drydock they were still connected to. Soon, Sunset realised that everyone on the bridge was looking at her, no doubt awaiting her first command. So, not wanting to keep them waiting any longer, she sat back down in her chair, once more enjoying the feel of it, before looking ahead, pressing a button on her chair's armrest to speak to the whole ship, and announcing her wish to all. "This is Captain Shimmer. Take us out."

My first serious sci-fi story. Enjoy