Can’t write a review worth a damn, but figured I’d point out this story for anyone looking for something interesting to read.
So, a few things to explain, My Little Pony (MLP) was a cartoon about magical coloured ponies, MLP: Equestria Girls was a tween spin-off that introduced the character of Sunset Shimmer who passed through a magic mirror to a world of humanoids in a high school setting where we saw alternate versions of many characters from the original MLP.
So, I decided to give this a try thanks to a different story, Sunset’s Isekai. I prolly don’t need to explain what that one is, I mean it’s such a sci-fi trope, but just in case, it’s a time and dimension traveling bar run by a version of Sunset Shimmer. I was already aware of the story, but had figured it’d be MLP:EG in space, or ponies have a first contact or start their own space program, none of which particularly interested me. SI introduces us to this version of Sunset, field promoted Captain Sunset Shimmer of the USS Phoenix, and an overview of her life and current situation, all of which sounded like a well done Star Trek story, so I decided to read it.
At nearly half a million words and three seasons, there’s a lot to catch up on, but it’s worth it. Thanks to a ‘magic’ mirror, Sunset winds up at Starfleet Academy at 11 years old, and is obviously terrified to be surrounded by aliens, none of whom speak proper Equish.
Once she gets calmed down, and a medical examination, her life begins. Adopted by two teachers at the academy, she grows up on Earth, joins Starfleet because how else will she find home?
Six months into her life, she’s joined by another pony that got sucked into the mirror, who will also join Starfleet.
Sunset winds up serving on the Enterprise, but thankfully the author doesn’t insert her into the episodes we know, most times she has little to do with them and often times has know idea what occurred, after all she’s just another ensign there, albeit a brightly coloured unicorn. The only change she makes to Star Trek is that she delays the warp core explosion long enough that the saucer section never crashes.
Beyond that, she dies, comes back to life (like that’s never happened in Star Trek), becomes the XO on the Phoenix and takes part in the Dominion War, and eventually gets home.
The story is still going on, but the Phoenix, last surviving member of it’s fleet, is limping home, limited to warp 4, barely any shields or phasers, a journey expected to take a year.
——————— Overall, it’s a good read. Sure, fan fic, so it won’t hold up like a professionally written story, but it is a very well done story. The author doesn’t fall into traps like making the pony characters a huge part of canon, they don’t replace anyone, and they don’t save the galaxy. They do add an extra wrinkle to the dominion war, one you might be able to guess. Familiarity with MLP isn’t necessary, the author explains most of what you need to know either in the story, or the author notes at the end of every chapter.
Finished the first “season” of this and found it quite enjoyable. I’m familiar with both shows, and it’s decently respectful of both lores (though we’ll have to see how some of the pony lore comes in later).
This proved to be one of the first fanfics I got properly interested in, thanks for the find.
You’re welcome. I do recommend looking up Sunset’s Isekai, it crosses over with a lot of things, it’s Stargate crossover being one of my favorites, it ends with the SG1 team using an Equestrian portal to escape back to Equestria, which turns them into ponies. O’Neill winds up being a pegasus, and when told they’ll be changed back to human before they take the Stargate back to Earth, he looks at his wings, and asks the Princesses one question… ‘Do these things work?’ Some how I can easily see him doing that. T
That said, there’s been a fair number of MLP stories that I’ve discovered because of it.
As to the MLP lore, they do good with it, but there are some surprises, but you might’ve guessed one of them already, which explains the rest.
