//------------------------------//
// Chapter One [Re-edit] 
// Story: Star Trek: Equestrian Rescue 
// by Blake Skies 
//------------------------------//


Chapter One


The U.S.S. Evans



Silently, its lights the only source of illumination on it, the U.S.S. Evans NCC-93096-A, moved through space at warp ten. The namesake of Medal of Honor Recipient Captain Ernst Evans, the updated Vanguard class Dreadnaught was a veteran of the Klingon-Federation War, the Borg’s invasion of the Alpha Quadrant, and the Romulan-Reman Civil War. It was a proud ship.
She was also the most powerful ship in the fleet. Equipped with Borg enhanced war drive, deflector, and computer systems, Reman shields, Breen Super cooled Gel-pack networking, Anti-proton and Retrofit phasers, a full wing of Fighters, and a full complement of Tricobalt, Quantum, and Hargh’peng torpedoes, the Evans packed a powerful punch.
And at present, it was the Flagship of the Federation. With the Enterprise-F still under development after so many delays and the E retired, The Evans was nominated to become the new Flagship if only temporary. While the crew considered this a high honor, they held a singular honor no other Starfleet ship outside of James Kirk’s Enterprise could hold. 
The year was 2414, by now the Zeta Andromeda Galaxy had moved close enough to the Milky Way to allow a Transwarp Gate connection. Starfleet jumped at the possibility and connected the two Galaxies. With the Klingons back to being the Federation’s Allies, the Romulans power diminished, the Undine now an Ally, and the Borg all but washed up, The Federation was now sure they could expand their influence into this new Galaxy. 
With this, Fleet Admiral Quinn called upon the Evans to be the first starship to explore the new Zeta Quadrant. He couldn’t have picked a finer ship or crew. At the command of the ship was Vice Admiral Blaze Val Johnson. Johnson had been in Starfleet since 2397, and became captain of the original Evans after the Borg attacked the Vega colony. His bridge crew was also extremely skilled. Most of the prime officers knew each other going back to the Academy where they all were apart of the same class with Blaze. 
Blaze was a firebrand of an individual. Known for serving on a Klingon warship through the officer exchange program with high honors before the war, he fit the build of a solider more than a ship captain. When things got tough, he was tougher, not willing to back down no matter what the situation led. This was his human qualities and faults. While his crew trusted him implacability, he lived up to the ships motto spoken by its namesake: This is going to be a fighting ship, I intend to go into harms way. And anyone who doesn’t wish to come had better get off now!
Blaze was resting comfortably in his quarters; sleeping in his bed. At least until his Vulcan first officer called in. “Bridge to Vice Admiral Johnson.” Sul’Vin’s voice came over the comm.
Blaze groaned as he rolled over.
“Bridge to Vice Admiral Johnson,” Sul’Vin called again.
Blaze again groaned as he rolled on to his back and opened his eyes, “This had better be a good reason Sul’Vin.”
“My apologies Admiral, I wasn’t aware you were asleep.” Sul’Vin replied.
You say that every time you green blooded… Blaze thought, “Never mind that Sul’Vin report.”
Blaze leaned to his side and rolled his legs off the bed as Sul’Vin began. “Long range sensors have picked up a singular planetoid system just within our flight path. The planet appears to be M Class. We’re standing by to set course,” He told the Admiral.
“Why haven’t we set course for it already?” Blaze asked. He sat up and rubbed his face trying to wake himself up more, “I thought you of all people Sul’Vin would follow that procedure.” The comment itself was purely jocular; Blaze knew Sul’Vin since their freshmen year at the Academy, and of all the ships officers Blaze trusted him the most. 
“Well Admiral, there’s a problem with setting course. Sensors also pick up huge amounts of spatial anomalies within the vicinity of the planet.” Sul’Vin reported.
“Well that is something of a problem.” Blaze commented, “Lotar what is the read out on those anomalies?”
“Currently unknown as of yet Admiral, but as we get closer I should have a more detailed report.” The deep voice of his Reman Science officer came over.
Blaze nodded, “Can we get closer without causing damage to the ship?”
“At moment,” Lotar answered, “It appears to be safe for entry; all we would just have do is to retune the main deflector.”
Blaze stood up and stretched out, “Relay the tune up to Moral and set course.” 
“Aye Admiral.” Sul’Vin answered before terminating the comm. link.
Blaze, rubbing his face, headed over to his closet. The closet door slid open revealing Blaze’s uniform. He looked into the closet mirror, pulled out a comb, and combed down what ever bed head he had in his blonde, crew cut hairstyle. His hazel eyes showed experience, toughness, and kindness that contradicted with his chiseled face. And for a human of thirty five, he was extremely fit. That was primarily thanks to a few Klingon training and meditating tips he picked up back before the war.
He changed out of his off-duty robes and put on his white pants and socks. After putting on a red undershirt, he pulled his Admiral’s coat off its hook. The coat was primarily white with command/tactical red shoulders with black seams stitched as well. It was remarkably cozy and not loose. Blaze then put on his black combat boots, before finishing with his white gloves with red palms. 
After completing his outfit, Blaze exited his bedroom and into his living room. There sitting on his couch reading an old book was the brunette beauty of the Evans, Quells. Quells was one of Blaze’s tactical officers, primarily dealing with first contact operations as well as commander. Quells was probably the most interesting person onboard the Evans as she was a Q. Well former Q continuum member. She, like the famous prankster Q, had spoken out on Humanity’s behalf on matters far too many times. But what threw her out was demanding the Continuum to get involved in destroying the Borg, which they did but not until the very end.
Her relationship with Blaze was also very promiscuous. The two first met after Blaze took command of the first Evans and after that she constantly stuck her noise into his affairs. Once she left the Q, she formally joined Starfleet and became a member of the Evans. After which she and Blaze started going through an off-and-on love relationship. 
Quells lowered her book and glared at Blaze with her hazel eyes, “And why are you up?”
“Sensors have picked up an M-Class…” Blaze began as he walked through the living room towards one of the replicators.
“I know that, I heard the conversation!” Quells snapped closing the book and standing up, “What I want to know is why you are going to the bridge now?”
Blaze looked at her, “You know Sul’Vin wouldn’t call me unless I was needed on the bridge.”
Quells sighed, “Blazey you pulled an 18 hour shift yesterday, you need rest especially now.”
Blaze laughed, “Yea like you know the human body.” He turned to the replicator, “Coffee, black, sweet.” The replicator hummed before making a small cup of black coffee appear. Blaze picked up the cup and took a sip, “Urgh, I said sweet you over glorified toaster!” the computer just beeped in response. Like Admiral Janeway, replicators and Blaze never mixed.
Quells chuckled, “Alright since I can’t convince you to go back to bed, I might as well join you.”
Blaze raised his glass, “Thanks hun.”

The duo walked though the halls of the Seventh deck of the Evans towards the nearest turbolift. Blaze was fully dressed in his admiral’s attire, but Quells was in her officer uniform. Similar to the uniforms worn by the Crew of the Enterprise-D only reversed in color scheme, the shoulder patch colors determined ones position: Red for Command/Tactical, Yellow for Engineering/Technical, and Blue for Science/Medical. The only major difference was instead of a black base, the uniform was White.
It wasn’t standard attire for Starfleet, as their new directive allowed for all members to customize their uniforms. But Blaze demanded it for officer level members of the Evans as white symbolized regal class as well as the best in Starfleet. It was all apart of the Ego, Confidence, and Arrogance that the Evans' crew was known for. 
The duo soon reached a turbolift and entered it. Ironically there waiting for them was the Evans chief Tactical officer Gorear. The Bajorian male simply stepped back to allow Blaze and Quells in, but once they entered he smiled. “Going my way?” he asked, his voice laced with humor.
Despite being Bajorian, Gorear was known for being the ships practical jokester and was good for keeping things loose. However when the ship was in distress or the situation was serious, he was the first to toughen up.
“That depends if your destination is the bridge?” Blaze asked, equally amused.
“It is,” Gorear said, “Resume.” The turbo lift resumed its climb to the bridge. “I assume Sul’Vin called you about this mysterious planet we’re now going to?”
“Pretty much yea, you know anything more about it?” Quells asked.
“Only that it’s M Class.” Gorear answered 
“Well you’ll be surprised to learn that it is surrounded by some spatial anomalies,” Blaze murmured.
“Great we’ve gone from charting Quasars to chasing spatial anomalies; we’re really climbing up the totem pole.” Gorear said sarcastically as the turbolift slid to a stop.
The doors opened and the trio stepped out onto the bridge. A three leveled bridge, the Evans Bridge was somewhat large to encompass all twelve senior crew members as well as operate a command ship like the Evans. Two large ramps allowed crew members to walk from the third level to the first. The inner two levels were only a step higher than each other. Only draw back was, Blaze, Viz, and Elal would have to use the ramps to get to the second level. 
On the upper level were the science/sensor stations, manned by Lotar, Quells, the Romulan science officer Seren, the Liberated Borg Three of Five, and Sul’Vin. Flanking the ramps were system stations. On the left were the Breen Defector Tran, who kept the Breen super cooled system in check, and the Rigelian Freska who monitored ship status. 
The second level had Blaze’s captain’s chair as well as Helm control manned by the Vulcan helmsmen Elal and navigation manned by the Orion Viquoof, more commonly known as Viz. 
On the final level was tactical, where Gorear and Evans Chief of Security Klingon Thatok were. They had the interesting position of being closest to the large view screen jokingly called the IMAX screen by Blaze. Normally helm and navigation had that honor but because of the Evan’s bridge design, members on the second level got a better view of the screen.
The only unmanned station was engineering. That was usually left alone because the Andorian chief engineer Jurhal, more affectionately known as ‘Moral’ for his heavy voicing of opinion, only used it incase of emergencies. 
Blaze, Sul’Vin, Gorear, Thatok, and Jurhal all were apart of the Starfleet Academy Class of 2397 and officer aboard the original Evans. Over their many years together they picked up new members from Starfleet Academy such as Viz and Elal. Tran defected from the Breen Hemogy to join the Evans, Lotar joined to honor the Evans service in the Reman-Romulan conflict. Seren, who was Romulan, joined before the war after the Evans rescued her colony which detached itself from the empire. Three of Five was a former Borg drone that was rehabilitated, and rescued from Starbase 88. And of course there was Quells. By this year, all these officers had been together for over four years. 
When Blaze walked in, Sul’Vin rose from the captain’s chair before heading to his station. “Admiral we’re approaching the system now.” He informed Blaze as the two passed.
“Has the deflector been retuned?” Blaze asked as he reached the second level.
“Moral is working on that now.” Sul’Vin replied.
Blaze nodded before tapping his COM badge, “Bridge to engineering.”
“Jurhal here,” Jurhal’s deep Andorian voice answered.
“Moral how’s the tune up coming?” Blaze asked.
“It’s ready Blaze, but I wouldn’t recommend pushing this ship faster than Warp five, we may run into trouble.” Jurhal answered.
“Noted Jurhal, helm slow to warp four point eight.” Blaze ordered sitting in his chair.
“Slowing to four point eight aye sir.” Elal responded tapping the helm screen.
“Bridge to sick bay, Doctor Smith we’re going to be entering a system with severe spatial anomalies around it. Any sicknesses or problems that may occur please report it in.” Blaze said.
“Aye Admiral, you’ll be the first to know.” The Scottish voice of Doctor John Smith replied.
“We’re entering the system know Admiral, our shields are holding.” Sul’Vin reported.
At that exact point, the ship began to slowly sway. Blaze was slightly amused, “Like riding waves on the ocean.”
“Interesting metaphor Blaze,” Sul’Vin commented, “let us hope these ‘waves’ do not increase.”
“Yes let’s,” Viz sighed, her voice a little queasy.
“Moral can you stabilize us any more?” Blaze asked.
“Believe it or not Blaze, inertial dampeners are on full. I can’t give you any more.” Jurhal answered.
“Lotar will there be an end to this?” Viz asked uneasily.
“I believe so; the anomalies are situated in the space between the planet, its sun, and moon.” Lotar said looking at his screen, “It seems, and this is a guess sir, that what ever is on the planet is controlling the sun and the moon.”
Blaze turned to Lotar, “Is that even possible?”
Lotar continued to mull over the sensor readings, but could not come to a conclusion, “I’ll get back to you on that.”
Blaze turned back to the screen and leaned forward; his curiosity peaked, “On screen.”
The view-screen clicked on revealing an Earth like planet slowly rotating. The systems sun slowly appeared around the light side of the planet, while the moon began to slide behind the dark side. From what it looked like, the planet was stationary with the sun and moon orbiting it.
“Sir,” Lotar chimed after a long silence, “It appears my guess was right. This planet is in the center of this Solar system.”
“Sul’Vin, is it possible for that planet to be the center of this system?” Blaze asked rubbing his chin.
“No sir.” Sul’Vin answered, “It is highly illogical and scientifically impossible.”
“And yet there it is sir.” Seren said, “Plain as day. Admiral, Lotar’s right.”
“Did you perform a diagnostic to make sure of that lieutenant?” Sul’Vin asked.
“Twice,” Seren calmly answered.
Blaze coughed, “Well the Catholic church may have been on to something, they just got the system wrong. Bring us in closer.”
The ship drew closer to the planet; the rocking slowly began to decrease. Soon enough the ship was perfectly level again. As they drew just within the planets gravitational pull, the ship began its orbital burn.
“We’re entering orbit now Captain. Shall we begin scans of the planet?” Viz reported, her voice now sounding better.
Blaze nodded, “Begin Scans.”
Soon the Evans sensors were chiming away at the planet below. Pretty soon Sul’Vin had something to report, “Admiral, we’ve completed initial scans of the planet. The planet is very similar to that of Earth, consisting of mountain ranges, grass fields, a dense forest, and a barren desert. And we have confirmed populated areas. According to our scans however, the planet seems to be in the pre-industrial stage of its development.”
Blaze sighed, “So first contact is…”
“Sir,” Seren cut in, “You might want to hear this before you finish.” All eyes turned to the blue haired Romulan. Seren did one last look over of her readings before making her statement, “It appears that the primary inhabitants of the planets are equines.”
Blaze rose from his chair, “Sul’Vin, can you confirm that?”
Sul’Vin did a quick sensor sweep, “Yes sir I can.”
“Are you telling me that horses are the primary creatures on this planet?” Blaze asked his mood very skeptical.
“Not horses sir, Ponies.” Seren replied, her expression very serious.
Blaze’s mouth dropped at that statement. With hints of shock all over his face, Blaze turned and looked back at the screen. As the planet turned beneath him, he could see a small town appear on the planet surface. With the Prime Directive far from his mind, Blaze was now actually considering the possible of going down and exploring the planet. 
A notion that his crew was quick to call him on. “Admiral you’re not seriously thinking of going down there?” Three of Five said, “I mean beasts’ of burden being the primary species is absurd.”
Blaze grimaced, “We’ve seen stranger things before Three. And I wouldn’t put it past this Galaxy to produce something like this. Plus we have the mystery of this planet to solve too. I see no reason for us not to take a look.” He then turned to his first officer, “Sul’Vin I believe we just passed over a settlement on the planet?”
“Yes sir, and quite a substantial one at that.” Sul’Vin answered, “But the settlement has just entered night so a survey would be inadvisable.”
“Agreed, once that settlement reaches daylight, you and a survey team will go to investigate. But remember the Prime Directive and stay out of sight.” Blaze ordered.
“Yes Sir.” Sul’Vin answered.
With a smile, Blaze turned back to the screen, “So let’s see what’s down there.”

Nighttime had come to the Everfree Forest. But that didn’t stop two young foals from entering the forest in play. They giggled and raced, roughhoused and teased, it was a fun time for them. Better still was that their parents had assumed they were asleep in bed. 
But then one of the foals fell into a cave, letting out a yelp to alert his friend. The poor filly was okay, but was lying at the bottom of an incline. “Hey Coalflank are you okay?” his friend asked.
“Yea Beaky I’m fine.” Coalflank responded getting to his hooves. He then looked around at his landing place, “Whoa Beaky come check this out. Nice cave.”
“Yea,” Beaky said sliding down to his friend, “You wanna explore it?”
“I don’t know.” Coalflank said.
“Awww come on chicken, it’s just a cave.” Beaky assured his friend as he began to explore.
Pretty soon the duo were inspecting the inside of the cave. But as they walked deeper in, the darker and scarier it got. Just then something clanged in the distance. The two foals jumped and screamed. Then a looming figure appeared out of the darkness. Beaky ran while Coalflank stood there in terror as the figure reached for him. Beaky never faster in his life. but he was stopped when the exit to the cave closed. In the darkness he heard Coalflank scream, and then felt something grabbed him making him scream. But the screams were never heard outside the cave.