Hologram Shenanigans - Part 2
“This definitely has to be one of the stranger operations I’ve ever been involved in,” said Dr. M’rrre, the Caitian chief medical officer of the USS Pegasus. She stood next to a full body imaging scanner, inside of which stood Ensign Star Strider. Next to them stood two other Star Striders, both of which were identical to the original in almost every way. Identical, that is, until they started speaking, anyway.
“This is a… rather interesting experience,” said the holographic Doctor, his voice issuing from the Star Strider on the right. His tone seemed to indicate that he wasn’t exactly sure if “interesting” was quite the right word for it, though.
“I’d feel a lot more comfortable if I had some clothes on,” said Vic Fontaine. “Oh, and if I weren’t in the form of a female pony. There’s that, too.” His voice came out of the mouth of the Star Strider standing to the left. “Why’d we have to do this, again? Moriarty apparently didn’t have to.”
“Ah, that’s because he’s using my mobile emitter,” said the Doctor. “I already have the base templates for various species programmed into it, on the off chance that I ever have a reason to take a form other than my default. Unfortunately, these… lesser mobile emitters come blank and must be fed the appropriate parameters from scratch.”
“Besides,” said Dr. M’rrre, looking at the original pony standing in the imaging scanner, “Star’s medical file needed a bit of updating anyway, and this was as good an excuse to get some of the data for that as any. Two birds, one stone, you know.”
“This is surreal,” muttered Ensign Jim Tompkins, who was hanging around in Sickbay for reasons unknown to anyone besides himself (though Star and M’rrre could easily have made an educated guess). He’d shown up a bit earlier to ask Dr. M’rrre for a mild analgesic to quell a slight headache, but as soon as he’d caught sight of the three identical Stars standing there, all of them sans clothing of any sort, he’d all but completely forgotten the headache even before the medication could take effect.
“All right,” said Star (the real one) as she stepped out of the scanner, “now that we have my readings to use as the basis for your mobile emitters, we can start on molding your appearances to something more appropriate. I’d recommend against clothing, though, since it will look somewhat out of place down there, for the most part, especially considering it’s Ponyville we’re going to. Saddlebags would be fine, if you want. I’ll be wearing some myself in order to carry my communicator and a phaser without drawing attention. Anyway, first things first. We should make you guys look like male ponies. Computer, increase their-”
“Whoa whoa whoa,” interjected Fontaine. “Hold on just a minute there, missy. Just what are you planning to increase here? In case you forgot, we’re… uh… female right now, yeah?” Off to the side, Tompkins shuffled uncomfortably at the turn the conversation was taking. Everyone else pretended to ignore him.
“Actually, no,” said Dr. M’rrre, “aside from your facial features and overall body shape, you’re technically neither male nor female, at least in a physical sense. We instructed the computer to, um, leave those particular details out, since you won’t be needing them for the disguise.”
Both Fontaine and the Doctor briefly looked down between their front legs toward their hindquarters and then faced M’rrre and Star again. “Oh,” both of them said together, in a tone that sounded rather more disappointed than Star would have liked.
“Let’s start again,” said Star, somewhat irked. “As I was saying, computer, increase their height and muscle mass by a random value between five and twenty percent of their current values. Also, make their facial features slightly more elongated and angular.”
“Now they look like taller, male versions of you,” said the Caitian doctor, after the adjustments had been made. “So far so good, I suppose.”
“This is… incredibly surreal,” muttered Tompkins uneasily, shaking his head.
Star once again ignored the human ensign and said, “Computer, modify the color of Mr. Fontaine’s coat, mane and tail to random values consistent with the equine inhabitants of Equus III. Also, change the mane-style to something similarly random, though appropriate for a male pony.”
As the others watched, Vic Fontaine went from a dark blue pony with a light blue mane and tail to a moderately dark green pony with a silver mane and tail, roughly the same color as Dr. M’rrre’s own feline mane and tail. His mane also became considerably shorter, even when compared to Star’s already relatively short mane.
“Nice,” said the Caitian approvingly. “I really like your mane.”
“Now do the same thing for the Doctor, computer,” Star instructed.
The former Voyager EMH morphed from a male doppelganger of Star into a pony with a reddish-orange coat and chocolate brown mane and tail.
“Computer,” said the Doctor, “increase my mane and tail volume by thirty percent.” The others blinked in surprise as the Doctor’s pony mane and tail dramatically ballooned outward. It was so thick that it almost completely obscured his upper body.
“W-why did you do that?” asked Star quizzically.
“Given that my default human appearance is a bit on the deficient side in the hair department, as I’m sure you’ve noticed,” explained the hologram, “I wanted to see how the other side lived for a change, even if it’s as a pony. Please don’t begrudge me this.”
Star shrugged. “I’m not saying it looks bad or anything, though it is a bit… much. It’s just that we’re trying to be discreet here and if you go down there looking like that, you’re most assuredly going to be drawing more than a few stares.”
The Doctor sighed. “Fine, fine. Computer, decrease my mane and tail volume by… let’s say… ten percent? Oh, and take a bit more off the front as well. I would like to be able to see, at least.” After his mane and tail phased down to slightly less gigantic proportions, he looked at Star. “Better?”
“It’ll do, I guess,” said the unicorn with a shrug. “Next up, computer, remove the unicorn horns from both Mr. Fontaine and the Doctor.”
“Aw,” groused Fontaine as the horn disappeared from his forehead. “I thought the horn looked pretty stylish.”
“Maybe so,” said Star, with a slight smirk, “but it wouldn’t be good to have ponies down there expecting you to be using magic when you can’t use it at all. It might draw questions that we won’t have time to deal with. Anyway, there’s only one thing left to do, but it’s the most important. You need cutie marks. Right now, you both still have mine, which I have to admit is a little unsettling. Though it’s not unheard of for some ponies to get the same cutie mark as others, I think it would be too suspicious if all three of us were sporting identical cutie marks. And though we could just remove them, it wouldn’t do for you to be blank flanked at your relative ages, either. Er, no offense.”
“None taken,” said the Doctor neutrally. “So… tell us about these marks.”
“See this image?” said Star, turning her posterior to the side so as to give them a better view of the depiction of the red isolinear chip that adorned her flank. “That’s a cutie mark.” She swayed her hips a bit, to emphasize the point. She immediately regretted it as a strange sound somewhere between a gurgle and a choking noise escaped from the throat of Tompkins. Star glanced at him once and then quickly averted her eyes, her cheeks burning mildly. She’d thought he was over this already, by now, but apparently not. She was still doing her best to try to ignore the issue, however, at least for now, but if he kept this up much longer…
Dr. M’rrre, on the other hand, had clearly had enough. “Ensign Tompkins,” she said, a bit more sternly than she likely needed to, though she didn’t care. “I believe your headache has already been attended to, has it not? Don’t you have business elsewhere?”
Tompkins managed to tear his eyes away from Star’s cutie mark to look at the Caitian doctor. “Er… no, not really,” he said in a distracted tone of voice. “I’m off duty for the next four hours.”
“Okay, let me put it a different way,” said M’rrre, even more sternly. “Do you happen to remember that long chat we had a week or so ago? Yeah. Well, as we agreed, it is my job as your acting therapist to inform you that you’re behaving in a manner that we in the profession refer to as ‘pretty damn creepy’ right now, so please… get the hell out of my Sickbay, would you? Go on. Vamoose.” She made little shooing motions with her hands.
Tompkins stared hard at the feline doctor for a bit and then lowered his eyes, his cheeks igniting enough that he was afraid they might very well explode. He croaked out a nearly inaudible apology and quickly fled from the Sickbay. He studiously avoided looking at Star any further as he all but ran from the room.
After a bit of awkward silence, Star, who was rather red-faced herself, looked at M’rrre and said, “That was pretty harsh, wasn’t it? And what was that about a ‘chat’ you had with him?”
“I got him to leave, at least, didn’t I?” said the Caitian, in a much more cheerful tone than the one she’d used with Tompkins. “And I can’t discuss what we talked about. Doctor/patient confidentiality and all that. I’m sure you understand.”
Fontaine regarded the two of them for a bit and then turned his attention fully to the unicorn as he said, “Ah… so you turned him down, I take it.”
“What?!” said Star, locking her widened eyes onto those of the lounge singer.
“It’s been obvious ever since he first showed up here,” said Fontaine. “He’s got the hots for you something fierce, doll face, but it’s pretty clear that you don’t feel the same way, and it’s tearing him up inside. He was trying to hide it, but obviously he wasn’t successful at all. Understandable, I suppose, given the, er, unusual circumstances here. So, I’m guessing he asked you out, you shot him down, and now you’re both attempting to remain ‘just friends.’ I’d bet this happened not too long ago. Am I pretty close?”
“Amazing,” said Dr. M’rrre, in awe.
At Star’s mortified silence, Fontaine nodded. “Looks like I nailed it. Well, here’s my two cents worth: just be patient with the kid, if you still value his friendship as much as it seems. It might be a bit awkward between the two of you right now, but I’m betting he’ll get over you soon enough. It’s either that or you’ll both need to just avoid each other from now on, though I doubt that would be ideal for either of you, yeah?”
“Are you sure you’re not somehow a mind reader?” asked M’rrre, shaking her head in wonder. “Can holograms do that?”
“Nope, just observant, that’s all,” said Fontaine with a shrug. “Well, I guess things could be worse. Back where I come from, even the hint of such a… potential romance would have gotten the kid thrown in the slammer if it ever got out in the open.”
“Back where you come from?” said Dr. M’rrre with confusion. “You mean Deep Space Nine?”
“Nah,” said the singer. “Nineteen-sixties Las Vegas. Let’s just say they kind of frowned on interspecies relationships back then. Though, to be fair, the equine creatures on Earth aren’t sapient like our friend here, but I’m pretty sure that even if they were, it still wouldn’t have been accepted at all in those days.”
“Can we PLEASE talk about something else?!” pleaded Star, embarrassed beyond all belief. Even the way Tompkins himself had been acting wasn’t nearly as distressing to her as this conversation was turning out to be. With Tompkins, at least, she could pretend to ignore his little quirks, just so long as the young human didn’t go too overboard, but this…?
“Very well,” said the holographic Doctor, wanting to spare Star any further embarrassment as he attempted to steer things back on track. “You were talking about these marks, I believe?”
“Yes, cutie marks,” said Star, glad to be back in something resembling control of the conversation once more. She paused to take a deep breath as she tried to regain her composure, and then continued. “So yeah… as I was saying… We could just assign you something at random the same as I did with your color schemes, but we might as well try to be authentic. Okay, so if you had to think of a symbol, one thing that best represented you, what would it be?”
“The rod of Asclepius, of course,” said the Doctor without the slightest hesitation. “Not to be confused with the caduceus, mind you. Yes, yes, I know the latter is technically the emblem of Starfleet Medical, but… well… they messed it up. It should be the rod, damn it, not the caduceus. So, yes, that’s what I’d want this mark to be.”
“Okay,” said Star, while Dr. M’rrre nodded in approval. “Computer, create the image of the rod of Asclepius on the Doctor’s flanks.” As they watched, an image of a green snake entwined around a wooden rod appeared on the Doctor’s hindquarters, replacing the isolinear chip. The Doctor looked back at it and nodded in satisfaction.
“How about you, Mr. Fontaine?” asked Star, turning to the other holo-pony.
“Hmm,” the singer considered for a moment. “I don’t know… maybe a microphone? Something like the ones I use in my lounge, I guess.”
Star nodded and instructed the computer to create the image of a microphone on Fontaine’s flank. She then stepped back and looked the other two ‘ponies’ over carefully, nodding as she did so. “Yeah, I think we’re good,” she said finally. “The two of you make fairly passable ponies, I have to admit.”
“Only ‘passable’?” said Fontaine, with faux disappointment.
Star grinned and said, “Okay, more than ‘passable,’ I suppose. I might go so far as to proclaim you ‘adequate,’ even.”
M’rrre chuckled and said, “For what it’s worth, I think the both you might be attracting the eyes of more than a few mares once you get down there.”
“That could certainly be fun,” said the Doctor, smirking. “Well, in any case, I guess we’re as ready as we’ll ever be, so let’s say we get this show on the road, shall we?” With that, the three ponies moved to leave Sickbay. Both Fontaine and the Doctor had barely taken four steps between the two of them before they almost simultaneously tripped and fell flat on their faces.
As the two holograms got to their feet again, the Doctor grudgingly said, “Well, I suppose a bit of practice walking might be prudent before we beam down.”
Star Trek: Pegasus
“Hologram Shenanigans – Part 2”
By Kane Magus
The shuttlecraft Sakharov nearly shook itself apart as it seemed as though space itself was suddenly conspiring against them. One moment, they were simply on their way to Risa, and the next, all hell was breaking loose.
“James!” she shouted. “What’s going on?!”
“I don’t know, my dear!” Moriarty shouted in return. “The shuttle’s sensors are going completely berserk! I can make neither head nor tail of any of these readings!”
Moriarty and his companion had long ago determined that they had both been tricked by that damnable Picard into thinking that they had successfully escaped into the real world, when, as it turned out, they had only just been stuffed into yet another fake little world. Moriarty had been extremely vexed by this, but his companion had managed to sooth his rage. In the end, the professor had decided that as long as he had her by his side, it really didn’t matter if the world they shared was the real thing or merely an admittedly incredible simulation of it. It had beaten being stuck forever in Victorian-era London, at any rate.
Now, however, Moriarty was becoming increasingly convinced that it was the very nature of this fake universe that was causing their current dilemma. The whole thing was nothing more than an elaborate computer program, after all, and it now appeared that this program was beginning to unravel entirely.
“Oh God!” she shouted again, as the shuttlecraft violently shook, accompanied by the sound of tearing metal. “I’m terribly frightened, James!”
“So am I, my beloved,” he said, trying to remain calm as he fought with the controls of the shuttle, though he already knew it was beyond futile. “So am I.”
“Look!” his companion screamed, pointing toward the back of the shuttlecraft. The rear section of the shuttle looked like nothing he’d ever seen before. In fact, it looked like nothing at all. An immense black emptiness had engulfed the shuttle and was rushing toward them. He looked forward again and saw that the front of the shuttle was disappearing into the blackness as well.
Moriarty didn’t even have time to speak again as the blackness consumed him. His last coherent thought was the memory of seeing her terrified face as the nothingness swept them both up and tore them away from one another.
Picard. Hate. Revenge. These were nearly the only things going through what remained of Moriarty’s mind as he was tossed about in the now infinite blackness. There was, however, one other thing that was swirling through his mind.
It was her name…
“REGINA!” Moriarty screamed, jolting himself back into consciousness. For the briefest moment, he had no idea where he was, and when he opened his eyes, a yellow face containing large cyan eyes and framed with pink hair completely filled his vision. “AUGH!” he screamed again and skittered away from the visage as best he could. The unfamiliarity of the body in which he now resided hindered his movements as he found himself trying to gain purchase on the floor with hooves instead of the hands and feet he was accustomed to.
“Eeek!” said the face as it also scooted back away from him.
For a moment, Moriarty just sat there, staring at what he now knew to be another pony, as opposed to a looming, yellow and pink blur. And this one had wings, too. He’d gleaned enough from the starship’s computer before beaming down that this didn’t shock him as much as meeting that unicorn had earlier, but still he marveled at the fact that he was seeing a winged pony with his own two eyes.
“Um, hello,” said the pony hesitantly. “My name is Fluttershy. I-I’m sorry for startling you. It’s just that I wasn’t expecting to have visitors… um… inside my home… while I was away. So… um… welcome to my cottage, mister… er…?”
Responding instinctively to the inherent kindness in her voice, the hologram responded, “Moriarty, my dear. My name is Professor James Moriarty.” Only afterward did it occur to him that he probably shouldn’t have used his real name, in case this pony was aware of his fugitive status.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Moriarty,” said Fluttershy, tentatively stepping closer to him. “That’s an… interesting name for a pony.” At his raised eyebrow, the pegasus blushed and quickly added, “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s a very nice name, but I-”
“It’s quite all right, Miss… Fluttershy, was it?” said Moriarty, holding up a hoof to allay her concern. He briefly glanced down at it in fresh surprise once more that it was indeed a hoof he was looking at, rather than the hand that was normally there. He considered just returning to his human form, but then dismissed that idea as he didn’t want to startle the timorous pony in front of him any more than he already had. “I took no offense. You’re right. I suppose it’s not a normal name for a pony.”
“It sounds more like a human name than a pony name,” said the yellow pegasus. “Oh, and I have to say, I’ve never met a holographic pony before.”
“You… know that I’m a hologram?” asked Moriarty, alarmed once more.
“Well… yes,” said Fluttershy, briefly lowering her eyes. “For one thing, I can see the emitter attached to the inside of your left hind leg. And for another, I saw you… um… flickering earlier. I’ve seen holograms in the medical ward sometimes, but they’ve always been humanoid. You’re the first pony hologram I’ve ever met.”
Moriarty sighed inwardly and wondered just how much he should tell this pony. Clearly, she didn’t know about his escapades up on the starship and he wasn’t going to clue her in on that either, if he could avoid it. But still, she already knew he was a hologram, and also hadn’t immediately reported him for breaking into her home when she’d found him lying there unconscious. “I’m not really a pony,” he said. “Not usually, at any rate. I’m normally a humanoid as well, but I decided that while I was down here, I would perhaps… fit in better if I modified myself to look like a pony.”
“I guess… that makes sense,” said the pegasus, nodding again. “Well, you did a good job on your appearance. If you hadn’t blinked earlier, I wouldn’t have even known to look for the emitter and I probably never would have guessed you weren’t a real pony. So… um… if you don’t mind my asking… why are you here? In my house, I mean…?”
“Ah…” said Moriarty, feeling somewhat nervous once more… and perhaps a bit ashamed as well. “I was heading for the forest at first, but my matrix was destabilizing, and I didn’t think I would make it all the way there. But, fortunately, on the way, I happened to see this cottage of yours.” He glanced at the door. “I’m afraid I was a bit too rough in trying the door, though, and I think I may have broken the handle on it, but you have to understand, I was pretty desperate to get out of the open.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened a bit as she considered his words. “Is… is there something wrong? Were you trying to hide from something? You said you were heading for the forest… was something chasing you? It must have been something pretty bad if you were heading into the Everfree Forest, especially in your condition. It’s very dangerous in there, don’t you know?”
Moriarty watched her carefully. “Let’s just say… I need to stay out of the public eye for the time being. In fact, I should be on my way now. I’ve troubled you for long enough.” He took a few steps toward the door, but felt a rush of dizziness as his matrix flickered again. He stumbled and would have fallen had Fluttershy not rushed forward to support him.
“But you’re still hurt,” she said, stepping back again once she was sure he wouldn’t keel over. “I… I don’t know what’s wrong or why you need to hide, but right now, all that matters is that you’re injured. I’m afraid I don’t have anything here to help you fix yourself, but at the hospital where I work, they have a… a… what is it called…? A… photonic resequencer… I think? They use it to repair holograms that are having problems similar to yours. I can go get one for you, if you want me to.”
Moriarty considered and then shook his head. “It’s a generous offer, Miss Fluttershy. You’re much too kind, especially to someone who has broken into your very home. I think I’ll be all right. I just need some time to let my matrix realign itself. Besides, I wouldn’t want you to get into trouble for helping me.” As he said that last, he realized that he truly meant it. Despite the fact that he’d only first met her just a few minutes before, there was just… something about this pony that inspired trust, as well as an odd sense of protectiveness on his part. He wasn’t sure why, but in many ways, the pegasus reminded him greatly of Regina. At the memory of his beloved, a pained expression crossed his face.
“Oh no!” said Fluttershy, starting to step forward again. “Are you hurting again? Oh dear, if you were a flesh and blood pony, I could give you something for it, but I…”
“It’s okay,” said the professor. “I’m not feeling discomfort at the moment. Not physically, anyway. I’m just… remembering something unpleasant, that’s all.”
“Oh… I see,” said the yellow pony. “Well… if you’d like to talk about it, it might help. I’m willing to listen, if you want.”
Moriarty looked at the pegasus for a long while before answering, and then said, finally, “It’s a rather long story. I wouldn’t want to bore you.”
“Oh no, I’d love to hear it,” said Fluttershy. “T-that is, if you want to tell it.”
After considering for a bit more, Moriarty nodded. “Very well. I will tell you my story. It began on a dirty street in London, a city on a world called Earth. Well, to be honest, I only thought I was in London. I was really on a starship, in a holodeck, but I didn’t know that at first. Prior to that moment, I have no memories at all. No real ones, anyway. My first true memory is of seeing a strange man in the distance. He spoke to the air and summoned something called an ‘arch.’ And that’s when my life changed forever. Or perhaps I should say, that’s when it truly began…”
Star Strider, Vic Fontaine, and the Doctor materialized on the transporter pads of the Federation medical facility outside of Ponyville. They had decided to start here, on the off chance that Moriarty had paid a visit to get his holo matrix repaired before news of his return had reached the staff. The three of them left the transporter room and made their way to the lobby. Star was scanning the crowd with her eyes as she walked, looking for a high-ranking officer, when she saw a familiar face.
“Aha! Ensign Strider,” said Dr. Julius Bohman, who was just stepping out of the officer’s lounge as they approached. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here again so soon. What brings you back? Oh… wait… this is about the Moriarty business, isn’t it? The senior staff got word about that from DS20 a few minutes ago.”
Star nodded and said, “Yes, sir. We came to see if Moriarty might have slipped in and gotten his holo matrix repaired here before word spread of his return.”
Bohman nodded and said, “A prudent course of action, but I can assure you that nobody here has seen either a gentleman dressed in 19th century finery or an earth pony of the description provided to us by Starfleet. No holograms at all today, in fact, aside from our medical colleagues. If we do see him, you’ll be among the first to know.”
“Thank you, Dr. Bohman,” said Star. She glanced around the area and asked, “So… is Fluttershy around?”
Bohman shook his head. “You missed her, I’m afraid. Her shift ended about an hour ago. She’s probably already back to her cottage by now. Did you need to see her?” A worried look came into his features. “Wait, she… she’s not involved in this Moriarty business in some way, is she?”
“Oh no, nothing like that,” said Star quickly, reassuring the elderly doctor. “I was just curious, that’s all. I was thinking that while I’m down here anyway, I might pay her and her friends a visit once all this stuff with Moriarty is resolved.”
“That’s good to hear,” said Bohman with relief. “I’d hate to think of her running afoul of someone like him. And I’m sure she’d be happy to get a visit from you.”
“Hey, Jules!” said the Doctor suddenly. “Have you been practicing your golf swing? I’m sure you don’t want to get trounced quite so badly next time we play.”
Dr. Bohman’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he whipped his head around to look at the vermilion earth pony standing next to Star. “…Doc?” said the elderly doctor hesitantly. “Is that you?” The pony grinned back at him.
“In the flesh… so to speak,” said the former Voyager EMH. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting to startle you quite so badly. And I probably should have kept silent anyway, since I’m supposed to be undercover here, but I couldn’t resist. I just had to see the look on your face when my voice came out of this body.”
Bohman chuckled in good humor and shook his head. “Well, you certainly got me, that’s for sure. So what brings you here, especially in a form like that? I guess you’re helping to find Moriarty as well?”
“That’s right,” said the Doctor, nodding. “He stole my mobile emitter.”
Bohman winced and said, “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you get it back.”
“So do I,” said the Doctor. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, Jules, we really do need to begin our search, but I’ll be sure to return to visit later, after we’ve wrapped this up.”
“Okay,” said Dr. Bohman. “I’ll look forward to it. I hope you get your man. I’ll contact you all immediately if Moriarty shows his face here. Good day to you, Ensign Strider. It was nice to meet you again.”
“Likewise, doctor,” said the unicorn. She watched as Bohman gave a cursory nod to Fontaine as well, then turned and headed down the corridor, toward the ICU. Her horn glowed softly as she tried to get a bead on Moriarty’s location. As she suspected, she couldn’t sense a thing, which was understandable if he hadn’t actually been here. Fontaine and the Doctor followed her as she made her way toward the exit of the facility.
“Any bites yet?” asked Fontaine.
“Nothing yet,” said Star. They made their way out of the medical base and down the road toward Ponyville itself. “I’m not sure what the range is on this, to be honest. We might have to be pretty close before I can sense anything. I’ve tried combining it with my sensory spell, but he’s blocking conventional Starfleet sensors, which is what that spell is based upon. In any case, we’ll hopefully see him before he sees us.”
“Indeed,” said the Doctor. “It wouldn’t do to have him see us coming, especially after all the trouble we went to in disguising ourselves like this.”
“To be honest,” said Star, “I probably should have disguised myself as well, given that he has already seen me. Still, there are enough ponies around who are close to my color scheme that he hopefully won’t realize that it’s me until it’s too late.”
They approached a fork in the road. The left branch continued on into Ponyville proper while the right branch led toward Sweet Apple Acres. There was another branch later along that path that Star knew led to Fluttershy’s cottage. As they neared the branch, Star slowed her walk.
“What is it?” asked Fontaine. “Are you getting something?”
“I’m not sure…” said Star. “For a moment, I thought I felt a twinge, but now it’s gone. Hmm… this could be Moriarty’s beam down point.” She looked back and forth, and then shrugged. “In any case, I can’t tell what direction it was coming from or where he might have headed from here, either way.”
“So where to now?” asked the Doctor.
Star considered for a moment, and then said, “Let’s head on into Ponyville. I’d like to visit Twilight Sparkle. I’m sure she’d be able to help us with this. We might even get lucky and run into Moriarty along the way.”
“You’re the boss,” said Fontaine.
As the three poh-nees resumed their walk into town, Leck moved away from the tree he’d been hiding behind. He’d been monitoring Starfleet comm chatter and had known that a search team from the USS Pegasus would be looking for that Moriarty hologram. The Ferengi Eliminator had detected a transport down to the surface several minutes ago and had assumed, correctly, that it would be the search team. He hadn’t expected them to all be poh-nees, of course, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was his plan to discreetly follow them, no matter where they went. And then, once they found Moriarty, he was going to step in and take matters into his own hands. He patted the Ferengi phaser that was concealed in his coat. Since he knew his prey was a hologram, he’d tinkered with the phaser in order to account for that, though there was still plenty of destructive power to deal with any flesh and blood obstacles he might encounter as well. He’d have preferred to use his knives, of course, but they had already proven to be ineffective. In any case, what was important was that Moriarty was about to rue the day he’d dared to attack an Eliminator.
“…and that’s what brought me here,” said Moriarty, finishing his story. In the end, despite his earlier hesitation, he had ended up telling Fluttershy absolutely everything, including what he’d been doing since he’d been brought back inside that Ferengi’s holosuite, all the way up to how he had ended up here in her cottage. He hadn’t tried to sugar coat his own actions, despite the danger that Fluttershy might yet report him. It just didn’t feel right to even consider lying to this pony, regardless of the risks.
Fluttershy had remained silent for the duration of Moriarty’s story, aside from a single whimper at his descriptions of what it had been like to exist in the void after his program was dispersed. She’d also frowned when he’d described his actions after reawakening on the starbase, but had remained silent. Now that he was finished, she regarded him carefully. This was certainly not a good person standing before her, as he had freely admitted that much… but she had the feeling that he wasn’t an entirely bad one either. He had just been dealt a series of unfortunate blows in life, one after another. However, there was one thing that bothered her, more than the rest.
“About Captain Picard…” said the pegasus. “I can’t believe for a minute that he intended for you to suffer as you claim. I’m sure he would have done everything he could to help you, if he’d known what had happened to you.”
In a rush, all of the rage that Moriarty felt at Picard came flowing back to him. “Jean-Luc Picard,” he said, venom in his voice, “is a liar and a cheat, Miss Fluttershy. Every time I’ve dealt with him, I’ve always gotten the worse end of the deal. Always. The first time I met him, he promised to help me find a way to leave the holodeck, so I willingly relinquished my control over his ship back to him. I trusted him, but then he left me to suffer in the computer memory for four long years, only to be reactivated entirely by accident by a man named Barclay who claimed ignorance of my very existence. Facing Picard once more, he filled the air with his lies yet again as he tried to convince me that they still knew of no way to free me from my prison aboard his ship, but this time I was one step ahead of him.
"Or so I had thought. He proved to be the greater schemer as he left me and my beloved Regina trapped once more in a false existence. I eventually came to think that I could be content with that much, as long as I had her, but then, as I told you before, something terrible happened. I know not what, but our world was demolished and I lost her.” Moriarty turned his back on Fluttershy and closed his eyes tightly, feeling both great anger and great sorrow. “You can but imagine my wrath when I was brought back out into the real world once more, and was told that there was now a simple means for me to leave the holodeck, that holograms had been free to come and go as they pleased for years.
"And yet Picard had not thought to deliver us from that hell into which his broken world had devolved. I wager that he didn’t even care. Why share with us the means to our freedom when he already had us trapped within his shoddily constructed dungeon? In fact, I wouldn’t doubt for a moment that he fully intended from the start for that world to fail after a time. I imagine that it probably amused him to know that I, his erstwhile enemy, had been reduced to mindless suffering in what remained of that fake little world. A suitable punishment for the one who had dared to control his precious starship, if only for the briefest of moments. That is probably why he discarded the physical housing that contained us and we ended up in the hands of those loathsome Ferengi, who didn’t even seem to know what they had in their possession. That’s how little regard Picard had for us.” Moriarty remembered having similar arguments with Regina as well, back when they’d first realized that they were still trapped in a simulated world. It had been her words and her presence which had helped him to cool his rage, and now she was gone. He turned back to face the pegasus once more, but felt his fury start to die away when he saw the look on her face.
“That… that c-can’t be true,” said Fluttershy, dismayed at Moriarty’s words. “When we met him, he seemed like a very kind and generous man. It’s… it’s just not possible that he would act the way you describe him, Mr. Moriarty! It just can’t be!”
“Wait… you’ve met Jean-Luc Picard?” asked Moriarty with surprise.
Fluttershy nodded. “Uh huh. It was the Enterprise that made first contact with our world, twenty years ago. Without his help, our world would have been destroyed by the Borg. It’s… it’s a long story, but in the end, a portal was opened that linked this world with Earth. I still can’t imagine that the man I met would act as you described him,” said Fluttershy, shaking her head. “I just can’t believe that he would treat you as badly as you say he did. I-it can’t be true, can it?”
Moriarty sighed and considered her words as he felt the last dregs of his rage drain away. “Well… you may be right, Miss Fluttershy. Despite my anger at him, I can’t honestly claim that he was indeed being actively malicious against us, despite his words and his actions, though it certainly seemed that way in retrospect. Perhaps I am merely projecting my own darker nature onto him… Even though I wasn’t truly going to harm him or his crew, he had no way to be sure of that and thus he acted accordingly. I suppose I can understand that, and I likely would have responded in kind had our situations been reversed. As for the rest… well… it’s possible that he had so many other responsibilities that we, Regina and I, just… fell through the cracks. Still, despite that, they should have saved us when our simulation was destroyed. If it wasn’t intentional, then they should have realized that our programs had destabilized and brought us out of there, rather than leaving us to suffer for so very long. Even being trapped in a holodeck again would have been preferable. Regina, I wish… I wish there was a way…”
Fluttershy’s eyes were beginning to moisten as she looked at the hologram. “I… I’m sorry, Mr. Moriarty. If I could help you somehow… but… there is something that you should know. Based on what you told me before, then… well… Captain Picard’s ship was destroyed not long after your second encounter with him.”
Moriarty was shocked by this news. “The Enterprise was destroyed?”
Fluttershy nodded. “I don’t know the details, but the ship was lost in a battle almost eighteen years ago, only two years after we met him. Nobody was killed, thank Celestia, but…”
Moriarty shook his head and looked down, confused. “I don’t know what to say… to think, all these years I’ve harbored such resentment in my heart, and yet there is a strong possibility that Picard might not have even known what had happened to me. I hadn’t even considered it...” He looked back up at her again. “Miss Fluttershy, I must thank you once again. You have given me much to think about.” He studied her carefully, enough to cause her to blush and avert her eyes from his. “I have something I want you to see,” he said, after a few moments of silence had passed between them. “I feel that I can trust you enough to show you this.” He reached inside of his own body with a front hoof, causing Fluttershy to gasp as he did so, and pulled out the yellow holocube.
“Is that…?” asked the pegasus, quickly recovering from the unusual sight of a pony sticking a hoof inside of his own body. “Is that where…?”
“Yes,” said Moriarty. “This is where I lived… no, ‘lived’ isn’t the right word for it, at least not after the program unraveled. This is where I merely existed for the past… God only knows how long, and even saying ‘existed’ is probably being far too generous. It is where… I pray… Regina exists still, in some way. If I hadn’t been so focused on my damned revenge against Picard, I might have… but I didn’t want her to see what I had planned for Picard. Still… I’ve failed her utterly, in more ways than one. The fact that she didn’t appear at the same time I did fills me with dread. I should have tried to help her from the beginning… to bring her back as I was brought back.”
“Maybe… maybe you still can,” said Fluttershy softly.
“Yes, it may yet be possible,” said Moriarty. “I won’t give up hope. I just need to try to find a way to repair the holocube.” He unexpectedly flickered again, which caused him to flinch. He gasped in shock as the holocube slipped out of his hoof, on its way to colliding with the floor. However, just before it hit the floor, it was caught by the yellow pegasus.
“First,” said Fluttershy, as she returned the cube to him, “your main concern should be getting yourself repaired.”
“You’re right, of course,” said the hologram shakily as he returned the holocube to its hiding place inside his own body. “I’m ever so tired, all of a sudden. I think my matrix may be more damaged than I first realized.”
“Well, you can use my couch to rest, if you want,” said Fluttershy, as she led him over to the green sofa. “Er, you won’t mind terribly, will you, Angel?” she asked, glancing at the bunny. Angel crossed his arms and turned his head to the side in annoyance, but did nothing to try to stop the hologram from sitting on the couch.
“Once again, Miss Fluttershy, you’re much too kind,” said Moriarty. “I am deeply in your debt.”
“It’s nothing, really,” said the pegasus, her face once again flushing to a color similar to that of her mane. “Just focus on getting better for now. After that, we can figure out what to do next.”
Moriarty sighed wearily as he closed his eyes and tried to make himself comfortable on the couch. What to do next, indeed. He’d only had a little time to consider the matter when he felt something jump up onto the couch next to him. The hologram opened one eye and looked down to see the tiny white rabbit sitting on the couch next to him, glaring up at him, his arms still crossed petulantly.
“Angel Bunny!” said Fluttershy in deep embarrassment. “You come down from there this instant! I’m so sorry, Mr. Moriarty. It’s just that this is his favorite spot…”
Moriarty shook his head and said, “It’s not a problem. I understand completely.” He scooted over to make a bit more room for the bunny. “There’s plenty of room for the both of us, after all.”
Star looked up at the treehouse library as they approached the center of Ponyville. It looked much better than it had at the beginning of her medical leave a couple of weeks ago. Then, the tree had looked run down and wilted, and the windows were all closed with the shades drawn. But now, the tree looked vibrant once more, and the windows were uncovered to let in the bright rays of the sun.
“You say a princess lives here?” asked Fontaine incredulously. “Inside of a tree? Huh. I figured that she’d be living in a castle or something.”
“Princess Twilight Sparkle,” said Star. “This was her home before she became an alicorn, and I suppose she just decided there was no need to change where she lived because of that.” She paused to knock on the door. If she’d been alone, she probably would have just opened the door and gone straight in like she used to do when she’d been Twilight’s student, but given that she had others with her, she decided to err on the side of being polite.
The door opened to reveal Spike. Fontaine and the Doctor both resisted the urge to take several steps back away from the dragon’s imposing presence. He was larger than they were by at least half again.
“Star!” said the adolescent dragon happily in his deep rumbling voice. “You’re back! Nice to see you again! Come on in.” He stepped to the side and allowed the three ponies to enter the library. “So, who are your friends? I’ve never seen them around Ponyville before.” He turned to them and said, “Hi, I’m Spike, number one assistant to Princess Twilight Sparkle.” His grin widened a bit as he puffed his chest out proudly.
At Spike’s question, Star froze. Then she had to restrain herself from face-hoofing. She’d been so concerned with getting the two holograms to look right that she hadn’t even considered suitably pony-sounding names for them.
“Um,” said the Doctor, “my name is… er… Doctor… uh… Shmullus… ahaha… yes… Dr. Shmullus.” He looked at each of them as they stared back at him, and then sighed in defeat and lowered his head.
Spike looked at the red-orange earth pony with an odd expression on his face. “O… kay…” he said. “You’re not from around here, I take it? Are you from Trottingham, maybe?” At the pony’s lack of response, aside from an embarrassed grin on his face, the dragon shrugged and turned to the green pony instead.
“My name,” said Vic Fontaine, “is Victory Fountain, but you can call me Vic.” He glanced at Star and winked.
Star was impressed that Fontaine had been able to come up with an appropriately pony-ish name on such short notice, especially one that so closely matched his own human name. The Doctor, on the other hand… Eh, it didn’t really matter in this case. She hadn’t been planning on keeping their identities a secret from Twilight or Spike anyway. She was just glad this issue had come up here rather than elsewhere.
“Okay, I’ll explain everything,” said Star, “but first… is Twilight here? I was hoping she’d be able to help us out.”
Spike shook his head in disappointment. “I’m afraid not. She’s in Canterlot, probably up to her eyeballs in brittle old magic books in some dusty cellar somewhere under the palace. She’s still researching a way to reach Pinkie Pie, after all. If you want, I can send her a letter and let her know that you’re here. I’m sure she’ll drop what she’s doing and teleport back here in an instant once she finds out that you’re back.”
Star considered for a moment, and then shook her head. “No, don’t worry about it, Spike. Let’s not disturb her in the middle of something important. I was just hoping that she might be able to help us find someone, but I think we can manage.”
“So what’s up?” said the dragon, glancing at the other two ponies again.
Star nodded and said, “Allow me to introduce you properly. This,” she gestured toward the cabaret singer, “is Vic Fontaine. And this,” she nodded to the Doctor, “is… well… the Doctor. Believe it or not, neither of them are real ponies. They’re both holograms.” She turned to look more fully at the former EMH. “Shmullus?”
“I’m sorry,” said the Doctor, a bit defensively. “I was put on the spot. I’ve given considerable thought to creating a real name for myself for pretty much my entire existence, so you can’t expect me to rattle something off the top of my head like that, especially something befitting a pony. ‘Shmullus’ is a name that I was given in the past and it was just the first thing that came to mind. If you need me to have a more appropriately pony name, you’ll have to come up with something yourself.”
“Wait,” said Spike. “You don’t have a name? You just go by… ‘the Doctor’?”
“That’s right,” said the Doctor. “Is there a problem?”
Spike shook his head. “Sorry, no. It’s just that I’m totally going to get you confused with another pony around here who also just calls himself ‘the Doctor.’ At least with him, though, most other ponies call him ‘Doctor Whooves’ …or ‘Time Turner’ depending on who you talk to. Anyway, if you need a name, maybe I can help… but I still don’t really know what’s going on.” He turned back to Star as he said the last bit.
“Oh, right,” said Star. “Well, as I said, we’re looking for someone. It’s a bit of a covert operation. We’re trying to find a hologram named Moriarty.”
“Whoa, like the guy from the Sherlock Holmes stories?” asked Spike.
Star was surprised. “Yes, actually. You’ve read those?”
The dragon shook his head. “I haven’t, but Twilight has. I remember her mentioning that Moriarty guy once. He was pretty scary, from what I recall. Hope the guy you’re looking for isn’t like that.”
Star nodded. “Actually, the hologram we’re after was based directly on that character. However, he has since gained self-awareness and is potentially much more of a danger than the character in the Holmes story ever was. He’s already tried to take over my ship, for example. We know that he beamed down to somewhere in or near Ponyville, but we don’t know where exactly.”
“And he stole my mobile holo-emitter,” said the Doctor. “It’s a highly advanced piece of technology and I shudder to think what might happen if he figures it out. Even after all these years, I still haven’t even fully figured it out, myself, to be honest, but then I am also not a criminal super-genius. We need to get it back.”
Spike looked at the three ponies and said, “I’d really like to help you, but I’m not sure what I’d be able to do to help, aside from summoning Twilight. Where all have you looked, so far?”
“We beamed down to the medical facility where Fluttershy works first,” said Star. “He wasn’t there, though. Then we came straight here. I was hoping I might be able to sense his presence here in Ponyville along the way, but no luck so far, aside from the slightest whiff about halfway into town.”
Spike furrowed his brow and began to tap the side of his head with a claw, while resting his other claw on his bicep. “Hmmm, well… if I were a criminal mastermind trying to escape from the long arm of the law, and I came to Ponyville, where would I go…? I’d probably try to avoid prying eyes so I doubt I’d come into the town itself. If I weren’t going to come into town, where else would I try to hide? Hmmm… I wouldn’t go north, because that’s in the direction of Canterlot and is pretty well traveled. I suppose I could go south, but that’s wide open area. I certainly wouldn’t go west, because who in their right mind would go to the Everfree Forest? If I were to guess, I’d say that the guy you’re looking for is probably hiding in the White Tail Woods.”
“Hold on a minute,” said Fontaine. “You said you wouldn’t go into this Everfree Forest? Why is that? What’s so special about it?”
Spike looked at Fontaine as if he were insane. “Are you kidding? That place is crazy dangerous. Like I said, nopony in their right mind would go in there.”
Fontaine said, “Oh. Well, I didn’t know that. Honestly, I don’t really know much about this world. So, with that said, if I were Moriarty, that might be where I’d go. Do we know for sure that Moriarty is aware of the dangers of this forest either?”
The Doctor had a pensive look on his face. “On the other hand, if he did know about the forest, might he not choose to go there anyway, precisely because he knows it’s a dangerous place? It would definitely make tracking him a lot more difficult if that’s where he went.”
Star’s eyes widened as she considered it. “And the sense of him that I got earlier was on the path between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. Sure, that branch actually leads to Sweet Apple Acres and Fluttershy’s cottage, but it would be simple to leave the road and duck into the forest. Doctor, I think you might be on to something.”
“Elementary, my dear ensign,” said the Doctor, smirking. At the looks he got from the others, he dropped the smile and said, “Sorry.”
“Anyway,” said Star, “let’s head toward the Everfree Forest. On the way, I’ll keep trying to get a fix on him. I really hope he’s not in there, though. We’ll go as far as the edge of the forest, but if we don’t find him before then, I’ll have to call the ship for assistance. I’m not about to go in there with just the three of us, even if I do have a phaser with me.” She turned to Spike. “Thanks, Spike. You were a big help.”
“Aw,” said the dragon, blushing a bit. “It was nothing. I really wish I could come with you to help you look for him, but we just got in a shipment of newly translated books from the Alpha Quadrant, and I promised Twilight that I’d at least begin to sort them before she got back, but as you can see, I haven’t made much progress yet...” He waved a claw toward a huge pile of books in the middle of the floor and grinned with embarrassment.
“I understand, Spike,” said Star. “I appreciate the offer.” She turned to the other two holographic ponies and said, “Okay, let’s head to-”
“Oh, wait!” said Spike suddenly.
“Yes?” said Star, turning back to him.
“I just thought of the perfect name for your friend,” said the dragon, looking at the Doctor. “How about Chocolate Puff?”
“Huh?” said the Doctor, raising an eyebrow.
Spike glanced at the Doctor’s mane. “It’s just that your mane is… uh… rather large and puffy, and it kind of reminds me of an off-world dessert that I got to try once, called a… something Chocolate Puff. I don’t remember the rest of the name, but anyway, that would be a good pony-style name.”
The Doctor glanced at Star and Fontaine. “Well, what do you think?” he asked.
“It’s up to you,” said Star, with a shrug. “It sounds like a pretty good pony name, though.”
“It’s rather fitting,” said Fontaine. “Your hair does look like a big glob of chocolate, sort of.”
The Doctor shrugged. “Well, I have no objections. Chocolate Puff it is. Thank you, Mr. Spike.”
“No problem,” said the dragon, grinning. “Glad I could help.”
Star nodded. “Well then, Victory Fountain and Chocolate Puff, let’s head out for the Everfree Forest.”
Leck felt like he was walking around in circles. First these poh-nees had gone into town and inside of a tree, and now they were heading back in the direction they’d already come from. He wondered if they had any idea what they were doing or if they were just wandering aimlessly.
It was irritating trying to remain inconspicuous in a town full of overly friendly poh-nees. He hadn’t wanted to skulk around because in the end that would have actually drawn more attention to him, given that there weren’t really any good places to hide, so he’d decided to play it cool and act natural, like he had business here. Every poh-nee he’d passed so far had greeted him with at least a wave. Some of them had even spoken to him, prattling on about how nice the weather was or some such thing. Ugh, these creatures wouldn’t know nice weather if it came up and bit them in the tattoos on their butts. The weather was absolutely terrible. He missed the heavy rains of Ferenginar more and more with each passing second. Wasn’t it supposed to be winter here? Couldn’t it have at least been colder?
He ground his teeth and waited until the three poh-nees went by, still completely unaware of his presence. He patted his hidden phaser again before starting after them once more.
“How are you feeling now, Mr. Moriarty?” asked Fluttershy. “Can I get you anything? I have some apple juice, freshly made this morning from some apples I got the other day from Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Thank you, Miss Fluttershy,” said the hologram. “While I don’t require sustenance of that nature, I can still enjoy the taste. For the most part, though, I just need a little more time to let my matrix reset itself. It was pretty bad earlier, but I think the worst of it has passed.”
“That’s good,” said the yellow pegasus. She poured him a glass of apple juice and he began to idly sip it. A few moments of companionable silence passed between them before she spoke again. “So… if you don’t mind my asking, what does your cutie mark mean?”
“Hmm?” asked Moriarty, not sure at first what she was talking about.
“Your cutie mark,” she said, gesturing to his side. “It looks like a waterfall. Since you said you aren’t really a pony, I have to guess that it’s something you picked yourself when you changed forms, rather than something that was chosen for you as it normally is with us ponies.”
“Ah,” said Moriarty. “The computer told me about them and what they represent as I was preparing to make my… departure from the ship. I didn’t have a lot of time to think on the matter, so I just chose the first thing that popped into my head. I think, though, that I chose well.” He paused and looked at the pegasus for a moment, before continuing. “Tell me, Miss Fluttershy, have you ever been to Earth before?”
Fluttershy nodded and said, “Yes, I have, but only a couple of times. The first time, I hardly left San Francisco at all since we spent most of the time talking to the leaders of Starfleet and the Federation. But then, a few years ago, I paid a visit to the area where the portal is located on the Earth side, in a place called Iowa. It was the home of a famous figure in some of our old legends about when the portal was open before.”
“Ah, yes,” said the professor. “The computer did mention something about that. Well, the falls you see on there come from some of Earth’s old stories, just as Iowa is for you, though they are also a real place as well, again just like Iowa. The image depicts a place called the Reichenbach Falls, in a country called Switzerland. They are a special place to me. It is the place where I died.”
“Where you… d-died?” said Fluttershy, rather uneasily.
“The fictional me, I should say,” said Moriarty. “You see, I was originally created based on a fictional villain from a series of stories about a detective named Sherlock Holmes. To be quite honest, I was merely one of many such villains in these stories, though I was, at least, among the chief of them. I was the nemesis to Mr. Holmes. I was his equal and opposite. However, in a story called ‘The Final Problem,’ I met my death at his hands, plunging over the falls. In the original story, I managed to take him with me, but that was undone in a later story in which it was revealed that Mr. Holmes had actually survived. So in the end, only I was killed there. Or, at least, the fictional Moriarty was, anyway. The holographic version of me you see before you had, thankfully, not yet succumbed to that fate when I was initially created, as that would have made for a rather poor game for those who created me.”
“I… I’m not sure I understand,” said Fluttershy. “Why would you pick something like that to be your cutie mark?”
“As I said,” said the holographic pony, “it is where the fictional Professor Moriarty died. However, in a manner of speaking, I feel that it could also be considered as the place where I was born, as well. The real me, that is. Not literally, mind you, since my true birthplace was on the facsimile of a dirty London street in a holodeck on the Enterprise. We did visit the falls once, Regina and I, in our fake little world. Even though it still was not real… it was an almost… spiritual experience for me, in a way. Now that I am truly in the real word, I may try to visit the real falls someday… But, yes, that is why I chose the falls as the mark that defines me. I see it as a clear demarcation between the fictional villain and the real me.” He sighed and turned his eyes away from the pegasus. “Unfortunately, I haven’t done as good of a job as I should have of distancing myself from the villainous cad that I was created to be, have I?”
Fluttershy looked at the holo-pony for a moment and then softly said, “I-it’s not too late, is it?” When he turned to look at her again, she briefly lowered her eyes, but then raised her head and regarded him carefully. “You can still redeem yourself.”
“Do you really think so?” he said dubiously. “I’m not so sure. I had told Picard that I had left those old books on the shelf, that my past was merely a fiction that I wished to put behind me, but… what did I do as soon as I found myself truly in the real world? I embarked upon a fool-headed quest for revenge. I stabbed someone with a knife. I tried to hijack a starship. I broke into your home. I should have been trying to save Regina instead… oh, my beloved… I’m so sorry.”
Fluttershy smiled warmly. “Trust me, Mr. Moriarty. I happen to have some experience when it comes to redeeming so-called villains, though in your case I don’t think it would take a whole lot of effort.”
He shook his head wistfully. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe there is hope for me yet. Well… if I am to truly redeem myself, as you say, I suppose the first thing I need to do is to own up to the crimes I have already committed.” He tentatively got to his feet. “I feel like I am able to walk without my matrix falling apart now. When I first arrived, I noticed a Federation building to the north. I believe you said that you worked there, is that right? I will go there and turn myself over to the authorities. And maybe… maybe I can entrust the holocube to them again as well. Perhaps they will be able to save my beloved Regina.”
Fluttershy nodded and got to her feet as well. “I’ll come with you. Maybe with my word on your behalf, things won’t be so bad.”
“You’re much too kind to me, Miss Fluttershy,” said Moriarty, shaking his head. “If I hadn’t met you, I… well… I appreciate everything you have done for me, which is probably more than you realize. Okay, I am ready. Shall we go?” He took a few steps and then, once his confidence was up, walked toward the door with Fluttershy at his side.
A wolf whistle cut through the air as Star, Fontaine, and the Doctor made their way back through Ponyville. Turning their heads toward the nearby café, they saw two ponies sitting at one of the tables. One of them, a mulberry colored earth pony with a darker purple mane and tail and the cutie mark of a clump of grapes paired with a strawberry, was grinning and making eyes at the Doctor and Fontaine. The other pony, a blue unicorn with a darker blue/white-striped mane and tail and an hourglass cutie mark, had the good grace to look embarrassed by her companion’s antics. The Doctor and Fontaine returned the grin, both of them clearly enjoying the attention.
“Seems Dr. M’rrre was right,” said the Doctor. “The ladies do love us. Well, some of them, anyway.”
“It’s only natural,” said Fontaine.
Star rolled her eyes. “Yeah... that’s Berry Punch. I doubt she’ll even remember you guys were here a few minutes from now.”
“What makes you say that?” asked the Doctor, raising an eyebrow.
Star glanced over her shoulder at the two ponies at the café and shrugged. “Let’s just say she… has a bit of a reputation. She, uh, likes the party punch a bit too much, if you get my drift. It seems as though she might have started indulging a bit earlier in the day than is usual, even for her.”
“So, you’re saying she’s a lush, is that it?” said Fontaine.
“Yes, that’s what I’m saying,” said Star. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s a nice enough mare, usually, but… well…”
“And are you also implying that it would require the consumption of alcohol before a pony like that would find us attractive?” said the Doctor, a bit indignantly. “How can you be sure she was inebriated at all? Well, I suppose it’s possible that she is intoxicated by our sheer animal magnetism, but still...”
“That’s probably it, yeah,” said Fontaine, nodding.
Star looked at the two holo-ponies and just shook her head. “You two are really enjoying this whole pony thing, aren’t you? And, no, I’m not saying that a mare would have to be drunk to find you attractive. Far from it. I’m just saying that as far as Berry Punch is concerned… well… don’t get your hopes up, even if she wasn’t. You see that other pony next to her? The blue unicorn? That’s Minuette. She and Berry Punch are, well, kind of together, so…”
“Ah, that certainly explains why she looks so irritated,” said Fontaine, glancing at the blue unicorn at the café.
“Anyway, yes, of course we’re enjoying it,” said the Doctor. “Don’t tell me that if you had the chance to wander around on Earth for a day in human form, you wouldn’t likewise take full advantage of it.” He glanced back at the café one last time as they rounded a corner. The pony identified by Star as Berry Punch waved and blew a kiss in his direction while the one Star had called Minuette was face-hoofing in embarrassment. “It would be a real shame not to fully explore the possibilities this world has to offer while we have the chance, wouldn’t you agree, Vic?”
“It is flattering, I’ll admit that much,” said Fontaine. “Though I think I’ll limit my exploration of the ‘possibilities’ to simply admiring them from afar.”
“Yeah… yeah, you’re probably right,” said the Doctor with a sigh. “It wouldn’t do to leave a string of broken hearts in our wake, I suppose, especially if they’re already taken.”
Star rolled her eyes again and was about to make a sarcastic quip when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. “Hold on… I’m sensing something again. It is indeed coming from the general direction of the Everfree Forest, though it’s incredibly faint.” They had just turned onto the road leading out of Ponyville to the west. “Let’s go. It might be a good idea to stop by and ask Applejack or Fluttershy if they’ve seen anything before we go charging into the forest itself, though.”
As the three ponies made their way toward the second branch in the path that led toward either Sweet Apple Acres or Fluttershy’s cottage, Star’s sense of Moriarty’s location got stronger by the minute. “I’m not sure why I’m sensing him more strongly now than I was before. Perhaps his matrix was too destabilized before?”
“It’s possible,” said the Doctor. “I can’t claim to be an expert in unicorn magic, though. In any case, we should be on our guard. He could be anywhere.”
Star slowed down as she worked the clasp on her saddlebags. She levitated the phaser out and checked the settings. The phaser had been specially modified to disrupt a holo matrix. She was hoping that she wouldn’t have to use it, given that she’d never fired a phaser before, outside of training exercises, but it was prudent to be prepared.
At the branch between Applejack’s farm and Fluttershy’s home, the unicorn frowned. “I’m getting a stronger impression of him now. And… I’m afraid it seems to be coming directly from Fluttershy’s cottage. I… I really hope that’s not where he is…” She surveyed the cottage in the distance. “If he’s there…”
“There’s only one way to find out,” said Fontaine.
They broke into a cautious trot as they approached the cottage, trying to remain in what little cover there was between the road and the front door of the cottage. Just as they reached the front yard, however, the door opened and two ponies stepped out. One of them was Fluttershy and the other…
“Stop where you are, Professor Moriarty!” Star commanded, aiming her phaser at him. “I don’t want any trouble, but I won’t hesitate to use this if you try anything.”
The two ponies froze momentarily. Then Fluttershy stepped forward, placing herself between Star and Moriarty.
“Wait, what are you-” Star began, but Fluttershy interrupted her.
“This pony is a guest in my home,” said the pegasus, glaring at Star. “I won’t have you barging in here and threatening him like this. And I’ll thank you to put that awful thing away. You won’t need it here, I can assure you.”
Star was flabbergasted. She’d only very rarely seen Fluttershy lose her temper and it was always a thing to behold. However, this was the first time that the ire of the yellow pegasus had ever been aimed directly at her. To say that it was shocking and vastly unnerving would be an understatement, especially given the current circumstances.
Noticing how flummoxed the unicorn was, the Doctor took a step forward and said, “Excuse me, Miss… Fluttershy is it? I’m afraid you’ve been deceived. That being there is not a pony at all. He is a dangerous criminal and he-”
“Yes, I know exactly who and what he is,” said Fluttershy, shifting her glare from Star to the Doctor, causing the Doctor to step back again in surprise. “He has told me everything.” She turned back to Star. “As I said, you won’t need your weapon because he has already agreed to give himself up.”
“I assure you,” said Moriarty in a placating tone of voice, “that I am no longer a threat to anyone.” He stepped forward and out from behind Fluttershy, intentionally giving Star a clear shot at him if she wanted to take it. “It is as Miss Fluttershy says. I am willing to turn myself over to the authorities. We were just on our way to the Federation building up north, in fact, but now that you’re here, I suppose that will save us the trip.”
Star looked back and forth between Fluttershy and Moriarty, unsure of what to do.
“Son of a gun,” Fontaine muttered. “I think he really means it.”
Fluttershy’s anger was starting to dissipate. She glanced at the phaser, and then averted her eyes. “Please, won’t you put that thing away? It’s making me very nervous.”
Star deliberated for a bit and then slowly returned the phaser to her saddlebags, though she was prepared to draw it again at the first sign of trouble from Moriarty. “Okay,” she said, “I’ll follow your lead, Fluttershy. He hasn’t hurt you, has he?”
“Not at all,” said the yellow pegasus. “The only questionable thing he did to me personally was to break into my home while I was at work. Other than that, he has been a model gentlecolt, and I hope you and your superiors will take that into account.”
The unicorn shook her head, not unkindly. “Be that as it may, he still tried to steal the Pegasus, among other things, so I’m afraid that’s going to weigh pretty heavily against him.”
Moriarty nodded. “I understand. But as I said, I will still give myself up. Also, Doctor, your mobile emitter shall be returned to you as soon as possible. Yours as well, Mr. Fontaine.” He glanced at the green pony as he said the last.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “You knew it was us?”
“Of course,” said Moriarty, raising an eyebrow as though the Doctor was asking if he knew that the sky was blue. “I recognized your voices immediately.”
“Ah,” said the Doctor, a bit chagrined. “I suppose we should have done something about that. This whole disguise thing could have gone better, overall.”
Star looked back and forth between her two companions and the hologram they were sent to capture. “Well, in any case, I can’t say that I was expecting it to be quite this simple,” she said, “but you certainly won’t hear me complaining. I guess all that’s left is to contact the Pegasus and be on our way.” She was about to bring out her communicator and call the ship when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye.
“Ah ah ah, not so fast,” said a voice from a fair distance away. “I’m afraid I can’t let you to do that. If I do, then I’ll lose my chance.” All of the ponies and pony-holograms turned toward a tree, from behind which a Ferengi was stepping into view. He was aiming a phaser in their direction.
Star, now sorely wishing that she’d kept her own phaser at the ready after all, called out, “Who are you? What do you want?”
The Ferengi smiled and waggled his phaser at Moriarty. “My name is Leck. I am an Eliminator. Your friend there remembers me, I’m sure. What I want is very simple. I want to see that hologram reduced to his base photons.”
Suddenly, Fluttershy was once again shielding Moriarty from potential phaser fire by putting herself between him and Leck, raising her wings in order to further obscure the latter’s aim. “If you think I’m going to let you barge onto my property and harm my guests, you’ve got another think coming, mister!”
“Miss Fluttershy, please don’t do this,” said Moriarty, only loudly enough for her to hear. “If something were to happen to you because of me…” He tensed up, preparing to shove her out of the way if the need arose.
“No, I’m not going to let him hurt you,” whispered Fluttershy in return.
Leck’s smile faded into a frown. “I have no quarrel with you for the moment, poh-nee. Step aside or that’ll quickly change.”
“I won’t!” said Fluttershy with determination. “If you want to get at him, you’ll have to go through me first!” She reared up on her hind legs and began flapping her wings, presenting an even greater obstacle to the Ferengi’s aim.
Leck considered her for a moment, and then shrugged. “Fine then, have it your way.” He brought the phaser up and took aim.
At this point, several things happened at once. Leck pressed the trigger on his phaser, opening fire. From behind Fluttershy, Moriarty lurched forward and shoved her hard, trying to get her out of the line of fire. Both the Doctor and Fontaine charged at Leck. And Star activated her telekinesis, enveloped both the phaser and Leck’s arm in a field of magic, and wrenched both of them sharply upward.
“Agh!” shouted Leck, his arm nearly being dislocated as it was yanked upward and the phaser ripped from his grasp. The Doctor and Fontaine reached him at this point. The Doctor leapt into the air, aiming all four hooves at the Ferengi’s chest, while Fontaine ducked low and went for his legs. Both of them barreled into the Ferengi at the same time, sending all three of them sprawling. The Doctor managed to land directly on top of Leck, preventing him from getting up as both he and Fontaine proceeded to pin him down. The brief surge of victory was short-lived as a shout came from behind them.
“No!” cried out Fluttershy. She was kneeling on the ground next to Moriarty. His holo-matrix, which still hadn’t yet fully recovered from the previous phaser blast he’d taken, was now on the verge of destabilizing entirely. His pony form melted away, leaving behind his original form: a human male in a black Victorian suit and coat. He was flickering violently as he tried to focus on the pegasus.
“Miss… Fluttershy,” he said, finding it difficult to speak and hold his matrix together at the same time. “You’re… safe. Glad… for that.”
“Don’t talk, Mr. Moriarty,” said the yellow pegasus frantically. “Star! Help!”
Star, who had just finished summoning a security team down from the Pegasus, rushed to their side. She looked down at the flickering hologram, feeling out of her depth. “I-I’m not sure what to do! I’m not well-versed in hologram technology.” She turned her head and was about to call out to the Doctor, who was still helping Fontaine restrain Leck as the security teams were beginning to materialize, when she felt Moriarty’s hand grip her front left leg.
“Wait… please...” he said weakly. “Holocube… help her…”
“What?” said Star in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“Regina…” was Moriarty’s final word before his matrix destabilized entirely. As he vanished, the Doctor’s holo-emitter that he’d been wearing clattered to the ground, along with Fontaine’s as well. Star was startled when an old yellow holocube also appeared seemingly out of nowhere and landed at Fluttershy’s bended knees.
“No,” said the pegasus again. “Nooo!” Tears steamed down her face as she reached out and cradled the holocube between her front legs.
Surprising herself, Star felt her own eyes beginning to moisten as well, despite the fact that until just a few moments ago this man had meant little to her other than someone who had attacked her in her own quarters and tried to take over her ship. Her reaction was as much a response to Fluttershy’s obvious distress as it was to Moriarty’s fate, but in any case now, she wasn’t glad to see the hologram destroyed like that, even if she had been prepared to cause such a thing herself just a few moments before. “Fluttershy,” she said, not quite sure what to say, “I… I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t know him for very long at all,” said the yellow pegasus sadly, “but he told me his story… he really wasn’t a bad person, even if he did some bad things.” Star reached out and placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder to comfort her.
“It may not be as bad as it seems,” said a voice from just behind them. Star turned her head to see the Doctor standing there, with Fontaine at his side. “Take a look at my holo-emitter,” he said.
Star did as she was told and then gasped in surprise. “It… it’s still active!” she said, shock in her voice.
Fluttershy sniffled and looked over at it as well. With a note of hope, she said, “Wait… does that mean…?”
“I think the professor hasn’t left us yet, after all,” said the Doctor. “If I’m right, he’s still there, inside the holo-emitter itself. It’s currently in a standby state. This was likely one of Moriarty’s failsafe plans, in case just such a situation was to come to pass. It’ll be tricky, but we might be able to reform him and stabilize his matrix once we get him to the proper facilities.” He picked up the emitter and held it out to Star.
Star nodded and enveloped both the Doctor’s and Fontaine’s emitters in her magic, placing them both very carefully in her saddlebags. “We need to get back up to the ship as soon as we can,” she said, levitating out her combadge and preparing to call the Pegasus.
“Wait!” said Fluttershy. “Please, take this with you as well.” She stood up and held out the yellow holocube to the unicorn. “This… this contained the world in which Mr. Moriarty lived with his special somepo- I mean, his special someone. Her name was… is Regina. He hoped that she can be still rescued from in there. Please, you have to help her. You have to help them both. Please…”
“Okay, Fluttershy,” said Star. “We’ll do what we can.” She enveloped the holocube in her magic as well. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she let out a gasp.
“You okay there, kid?” asked Fontaine with concern.
Star blinked rapidly a couple of times and stared at the holocube in her magic with confusion and something akin to awe. “I… I think I can feel her in there still. Don’t ask me how that works, because I can’t even begin to explain it right now, but… despite its age and appearance, this holocube is somehow still active, and I can just… feel her presence inside of it. It’s not distinct at all, but…” She looked at her two holographic companions. “We need to get to the ship immediately.” She turned to Fluttershy with an apologetic look in her eye and was about to speak again, but Fluttershy shook her head.
“I understand completely,” said the pegasus. “Go. Do what you can to help them. I’ll be fine here. But please… let me know how it turns out.”
“You can count on that,” said Star, activating her combadge. “Strider to Pegasus. Three to beam up. Also, we need an engineering team specializing in hologram technology to be ready as soon as we return.”
“Acknowledged,” said the voice of Captain Sovaal from within her combadge. “Prepare for transport.”
Star turned once more to Fluttershy and smiled as the transporter beams took hold of her, the Doctor, and Fontaine. Fluttershy smiled in return as she watched them vanish into thin air. She looked over at the Ferengi, who was now standing once again, though completely surrounded by Starfleet security officers and with his hands restrained behind his back. They were preparing to beam up as well. She shook her head and then turned away without giving him a second glance, heading back toward her cottage.
A few minutes after beaming up to the Pegasus, Star, the Doctor, and Fontaine reached Holodeck One, where they were joined by the requested engineering team. The engineering personnel moved to stand around a holographic equivalent of a biobed, along with the Doctor, who quickly reverted back to his human form. All of them picked up various instruments designed to repair damaged holo matrices. The Doctor’s holo-emitter was placed on the bed, still in standby mode.
“Are we ready to begin?” asked Chief Engineer Tobias Marco, who was standing at the head of the table. He lifted his photonic resequencer to the ready as he spoke.
“Indeed we are,” said the Doctor. He raised his voice a bit and said, “Computer, reactivate the program currently running in the holo-emitter and transfer it to the main computer.” As he spoke, Moriarty’s human form appeared on the biobed, though it was flickering horribly. “All right, people, here we go,” said the Doctor. They went to work attempting to stabilize and restore Moriarty.
Off to the side, Vic Fontaine, who had also returned to his normal human form, stood next to Star as the operation commenced. A few feet away from them, Captain Sovaal also stood by, quietly watching the procedure. Fontaine looked down at the unicorn, who was carefully studying Moriarty’s yellow holocube in her magical field. The immediate priority was on getting Moriarty back into a functional state again, which is why she hadn’t yet turned the holocube over to the engineering team, and she intended to make full use of this opportunity to explore what she’d sensed earlier.
“How’s it going?” asked Fontaine. “You think his friend is in there?”
Star glanced up at him briefly before turning her attention back to the cube. “Oh, she’s definitely in there, all right. What’s more, I believe she’s aware. This holocube is still active, somehow, and from what I can tell, it apparently has been for a long time.”
Fontaine winced. “Whoa, that’s got to be terrible for her. Hell, it must have been bad for both of them. When I’m offline, I have a very vague sense of awareness as well. I’m told it’s similar to when biological beings sleep, though I have a bit more awareness of and control over it, and I can reactivate myself at will. Most holograms can’t do that, but then most holograms aren’t self aware, naturally. Having awareness of being in such a state but not being able to do anything about it… yeah, that’s a pretty horrifying thought. I can hardly imagine what it must be like.” He shook his head and decided to turn the conversation in a less disturbing direction. “So… how do you think it ended up here in the first place?”
“Perhaps I can answer that,” said Sovaal. “The holocube was originally placed into the custody of the Daystrom Institute after it was turned over to Starfleet by Captain Picard, though it was ostensibly still under guard by Starfleet Security as well. A few years ago, however, an unknown party managed to break into the facility in which it was being kept and stole it, among other things. We don’t know how they managed to do this or why. We don’t even know who, though you can be assured that Leck is going to be questioned thoroughly on this matter. From what we’ve already gleaned from his associate Brunt, though, we’re fairly certain that neither he nor Leck were the original thieves and were merely the final links in a loosely connected chain. It seems clear based on Brunt’s testimony that neither of them knew what they had, so the reasons behind the original theft remain a mystery for now. Until it turned up here, the holocube had, for all intents and purposes, simply disappeared without a trace.”
“That’s pretty heavy,” said Fontaine. “Well, I guess the important thing is that it’s finally back in-” Before he could finish what he was saying, he was cut off by a commotion coming from the center of the room.
“Professor!” said the Doctor loudly. “Please remain still! Your matrix is still very unstable!” Despite his condition, Moriarty had gotten up from the diagnostic table and was staggering his way in the direction of the unicorn and the holocube.
“I don’t care!” said the flickering hologram. “I’m much more concerned with helping Regina right now. My own welfare can wait until she has been rescued.” He stopped in front of Star and held out his hand. “Ensign, I thank you for keeping the holocube safe while I was indisposed, but I would like it back now, if you please.”
Star glanced up at Vic, who just shrugged, and then at Sovaal, who merely watched impassively. She looked into Moriarty’s eyes for a moment, and then nodded. She levitated the holocube into his hand, and he immediately turned back toward the diagnostic table.
“Professor Moriarty,” said Marco. “It would really be better if you first let us-”
“I said no,” said Moriarty stubbornly. “I refuse any further treatment until you save my beloved from that horrible existence. I assure you that my own condition is stable enough for now.” As they all stared at him, his tone softened considerably. “Please. I know I don’t really have the right to ask anything of you after all I have done, but regardless, I beg you. Help her. Don’t make her suffer for my misdeeds.”
Those standing around the table looked at one another hesitantly. After a moment, the Doctor ran a tricorder over Moriarty and then sighed. “Well, I suppose your program isn’t in any danger of further corruption at the moment.” He turned to Marco and looked at him questioningly. Marco, in turn, glanced at Captain Sovaal, who simply nodded once.
The chief engineer said, “Very well. Place the holocube on the table, Professor, and we’ll see what we can do. I have to warn you that this holocube has been disconnected from its memory unit for a considerable amount of time, so there’s no way to know what sort of condition she will be in when we bring her out. I’m surprised that you were as stable as you were when you were brought out after all this time, to be quite honest. The fact that she didn’t immediately appear as you did when the holocube was reactivated, though, is… somewhat disturbing.”
“Yes, once I actually took the time to consider the matter, that became a concern of mine as well,” said Moriarty, as he placed the cube into one of the diagnostic slots on the table. “All the more reason to get her out of there as soon as possible. I can tell you that anything would be better than what she must be experiencing now.”
“Then we’d better get started,” said the Doctor. “Computer, scan the holocube and attempt to retrieve the program of the Countess Regina Bartholomew. Transfer her to the holodeck and activate.” The computer chirped in response and then went silent.
At first, nothing seemed to happen. After several somewhat tense seconds had passed, however, a new holographic form appeared on the diagnostic table. It was that of a woman in a Victorian-era magenta riding habit. She was motionless for a moment, then suddenly gasped and sat up, looking around her with wide eyes full of shock and confusion.
“Regina!” said Moriarty. “My beloved, you’ve been returned to me!” He stepped forward and took her hands in his own.
The Countess turned her head in his direction and the look of shock and fear melted into one of intense relief. “Oh, James! What… what’s going on? Where are we? The last thing I remember is…” Then she noticed his condition and all thoughts of her own situation left her mind. “James, what’s wrong with you? Your matrix is flickering most distressingly!”
“I will explain everything later, my dear,” he said. “All that matters right now is that you’re safe once more.”
Marco cleared his throat and said, “With all due respect, sir, that remains to be seen. If you will allow us to examine her…”
“Yes, yes, of course,” said Moriarty, releasing Regina’s hands and stepping back. “Don’t worry, my dear. Everything will be all right, I’m sure. Once they’ve given you a clean bill of health, I will allow them to resume my own repairs as well. Oh, my beloved, we’re back in the real world again! And, what’s more, they finally have a way to allow us to leave the holodeck!”
“Oh, James, that’s wonderful,” said the Countess, trying to ignore the various instruments that were being waved over her. “The real world… and we can really go out into it? I can scarcely believe it! We… we can finally go and truly visit all of those places we saw inside the simulation. Where should we go first? The Falls, perhaps?”
At this point, before Moriarty could respond, Captain Sovaal stepped forward and cleared his throat. “Professor Moriarty, I would strongly advise against making any plans to leave at this time. As soon as your matrix is fully repaired and you are deemed fit, a hearing will be scheduled to determine what is to be done about you and the crimes you have committed since your return. Any attempts to circumvent this will not be tolerated. Please keep that in mind.”
Regina looked at the Vulcan sharply, and then turned back to Moriarty. “Crimes? What is he talking about, James?”
Moriarty sighed and lowered his head. “My beloved… when I was first activated here, I made some… errors in judgment. I did some things that I am not proud of, and I must now take responsibility for them. I am afraid that I can’t make you any promises as to what will happen in the future.”
“Excuse me, Captain,” said Star, causing them all to turn and look at her. “Regarding Professor Moriarty’s hearing… I would like to make a request.”
The Vulcan raised an eyebrow and said, “Yes, Ensign?”
Star looked at Moriarty as she spoke. “If it’s okay with you, Captain, I would like to ask Fluttershy to attend this hearing. She is a pegasus who lives in Ponyville and has spent a good deal of time in the professor’s presence after he beamed down. I believe she might be able to provide some further insight into his character that may be useful to those responsible for deciding his fate.”
Sovaal nodded and said, “Very well. I can see no harm in granting this request.”
Moriarty smiled softly in thanks to Star, but said nothing. Regina, however, was staring hard at the unicorn. Star noticed this and tilted her head.
The countess hopped off of the diagnostic table and walked over to the unicorn. She studied the pony closely, then said, “I… I know you. I don’t know how it’s possible, but just before I was pulled from what was left of the simulated world, I… sensed your presence somehow. I was lost deep within the horrible emptiness that had consumed James and me, but then I saw you in the distance. Despite my surprise at seeing a unicorn, I moved toward you, but just as I was about to reach you, you disappeared. But seconds later, I woke up here, on that bed there. Do I have you to thank for my rescue?”
Star looked just as surprised as the rest of the occupants of the room. “Er… no. At least, I don’t think so. I mean, I was examining the holocube with my magic just now, and attempting to make some small repairs, but I didn’t think it was working.”
“Well, I don’t know what you did, but I think you were the one who brought me to the surface,” said Regina. “I felt as though I was languishing at the bottom of a deep ocean, but your light seemed to guide my way back to the surface once more.”
The Doctor and Marco exchanged a glance before the Doctor said, “Maybe this can explain why the countess exhibits so few signs of the degradation that we were expecting to see. Hmm. It seems, Ensign, that your magic may have had more of an effect than you realize. If that’s the case, then you have made our jobs a lot easier.” He turned to Moriarty. “Well, Professor, I’m pleased to inform you that I hereby give Countess Regina Bartholomew the clean bill of health that you were hoping for. You, on the other hand, still need some work before I can do the same for you. If you please…” He waved his hand, indicating the diagnostic table. Moriarty nodded and climbed back upon the table.
At this point, Star felt the exhaustion that she’d been holding at bay for most of the day finally catch up with her. She shook her head tiredly and said, “Whoa. I just realized that I’ve been up for pretty much the entire past twenty-four hours. I was just returning to my quarters after working on the warp engines all night, when…” She looked briefly at Moriarty before turning to Captain Sovaal. “Captain, if I may be excused…?”
“Of course, Ensign,” said Sovaal. “You’ve been working almost non-stop since you returned from your medical leave. Go and take a well deserved rest.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Star. She nodded to Fontaine and smiled as Regina waved goodbye to her, then made her way out of the holodeck.
“Personal log. Ensign Star Strider. Stardate 66094.52
“I wanted to make this log before I went to bed yesterday, but I fell asleep almost as soon as I touched the clouds. After sleeping around eleven hours, I almost missed the hearing for Professor Moriarty, but I managed to make it in time.
“My hunch about Fluttershy was right. She held the room spellbound as she told of her encounter with Moriarty. Honestly, I think that if it weren’t for the hard evidence of the fact that he’d attacked someone and then tried to hijack a starship, they might have let him go right then and there, and even then, it wasn’t a sure thing. In the end, though, they decided that Moriarty is to have a full trial at some as of yet undetermined point in the future. I can’t really speculate how that will go, except to say that if his defense doesn’t bring in Fluttershy again, they won’t be doing their jobs properly.
“Moriarty himself seemed to take the hearing results in stride and surrendered himself to Starfleet Security without incident. He seemed almost like a different person from the one who attacked me in my quarters less than twenty-four hours ago. A small part of me is wondering if this might just be an act of some sort on his part, but that’s the petty part of me that I don’t like at all, so I don’t often pay it any heed. I think that, deep down, Moriarty really does want to do the right thing.
“I’m not sure what is going to happen to Countess Regina. I heard that she’ll be given accommodations on Earth until the trial, whenever that may be. After that, who can say? No matter what happens, though, I’m sure she’ll be there whenever Moriarty finishes serving his sentence. Assuming, of course, he is given one in the first place, which remains to be seen, all things considered.
“So… I have to admit, with all that puttering around with holograms and holocubes and the like, I was half expecting to get some freaky new magic spell out of it all, similar to my shield and sensor spells. Like, I don’t know, a holo-emitter spell or something, maybe. But it didn’t happen, or at least I don’t think anything happened. I did get the ability to sense Moriarty, but that’s a pretty limited ability that I doubt I’ll ever need to use again. At least, I hope I won’t, if the professor has indeed turned over a new leaf as he claims, anyway.
“Well… anyway, I should probably wrap this up. Mr. Fontaine and the Doctor invited both me and Fluttershy to Brunt’s bar for later this evening, before they return to the Alpha Quadrant. I’m not sure what’s going on, exactly, but it sounds like they have something big planned. So, I guess I’ll end this here and start getting ready for that.”
“Hello again, Star,” said Fluttershy, as she stepped off of one of the transporter platforms on the recreation deck of Deep Space Twenty. “Um… so… do you know what this is about?”
Star shook her head as the yellow pegasus fell into step beside her. “I was hoping that you did,” said the unicorn. “All I know is that the Mr. Fontaine and the Doctor want us to meet in Brunt’s bar, but aside from that, your guess is as good as mine.”
Fluttershy was taking in everything around her with wide-eyed wonder and more than a bit of apprehension. “I’ve never been up here before,” she said. “It’s sort of like the Federation hospital where I work, except a lot… bigger. There are a lot more people here than I’m used to, and it seems a lot more… frantic. It’s even bigger than the Enterprise was, when we visited there.”
“Don’t worry,” said Star. “Brunt’s is just over there. It’ll be a bit cozier there.”
“That’s good,” said Fluttershy, who now appeared to be finding the floor much more interesting than the rest of her surroundings. “Cozier would be good, yes.”
They walked through the door into the bar and were immediately met by Brunt himself. “Ah, there you are,” said the Ferengi. “I was told you poh-nees would be arriving around this time. Please, come right this way. A table has already been reserved for you.”
As they followed Brunt, Star had a quizzical look on her face. “Um, please don’t take this the wrong way, but... how are you here, exactly?” she asked. “I would have figured you’d still be sitting in a Starfleet Security holding cell at this point.”
Brunt flashed her with an annoyed looked, but then sighed. “Let’s just say that I was very, very cooperative. I told them everything I knew, what little there was. I would have even told them my maah-feen recipe if they’d asked, but fortunately, they only wanted to know about that old holocube. They seemed to take me at my word when I told them that I didn’t really know anything about it, and that it was all Leck’s fault and that he was the one who brought it to me, unsolicited I should add. They let me go early this morning, though they did tell me not to leave the station anytime soon, in case they had more questions for me later. Pah, as if I have anywhere else to go anyway. I do hear Leck is going to be their guest for a while longer, though. Personally, I hope it’s a long while. But enough about that. Anyway, your first round of drinks has already been paid for, so what’ll it be?”
Star and Fluttershy shared a glance, and then the unicorn said, “Ehhh… I’ll go with an apple cider.”
“Um, just a glass of water for me, thank you,” said Fluttershy.
Brunt rolled his eyes and said, “All right, one apple cider and one water coming right up.”
Star and Fluttershy looked around the room in confusion, since neither the Doctor nor Vic Fontaine were anywhere to be seen. The unicorn turned to the pegasus and started to say something when the lights in the bar dimmed. She glanced up at the stage, as that was now the only real source of light in the room.
Vinyl Scratch and Octavia walked out to their respective instruments, and Vinyl cleared her voice into her microphone, getting everyone’s attention. “Hey out there all you happy people! We got an extra special treat for you this evening! We met up with a couple of ponies last night and they said they wanted to jam with us someday, so we said why not tonight? The sooner the better, am I right?”
Octavia said, “For one night only, I’d like to welcome Victory Fountain and Chocolate Puff. Please give them a hand, everyone!”
“Or a hoof, if ya got ‘em,” added Vinyl, flashing a grin in the direction of Star and Fluttershy, indicating that she had been expecting them to be there.
There was somewhat subdued applause from most of the patrons as the vermilion and myrtle green earth ponies made their way out onto the stage. The reaction so far seemed to be that of polite confusion, as nobody in the room recognized these two new ponies, aside from Star and Fluttershy, both of whom were grinning. The two new ponies took their places behind microphones that were, for some strange reason, too high for them to reach. Then, suddenly, the forms of both ponies began to shift and grow upward. After less than two seconds, the ponies were no more and in their place stood the human versions of Vic Fontaine and the Doctor, both of them wearing black tuxedos. Vinyl and Octavia were grinning, clearly having been expecting this. The applause increased greatly as those in the audience started to recognize the rather famous cabaret and opera singers.
And then, the show began. Star and Fluttershy sat there for quite a while in pure silence, just taking it all in. Finally, Star slowly shook her head and said, “Wow. Vinyl’s techno, Octavia’s cello, Vic’s jazz vocals, and the Doctor’s opera… I don’t have the slightest idea how or why that works so well together, but… it just does… What do you think, Fluttershy?”
“Yay,” said the pegasus, nearly inaudible over the music in which she was almost completely lost. When she finally noticed the unicorn was now staring at her, she blushed and said, “I-I mean, yes, it’s very good.”
Star smiled at her and took a sip of cider before turning back to the show. It was indeed, the unicorn thought to herself. She couldn’t have come up with a better way to wrap up the events of the past couple of days if she’d tried.
Next time, on Star Trek Pegasus
The Pegasus slowly made her way forward, clearing the bay doors of Deep Space Twenty’s dry dock. Finally, after over two weeks of repairs, she was ready to go once more. On the bridge, Star Strider sat at her chair at the Engineering station, keeping an eye on everything as the ship prepared to resume her mission.
“Sir,” said Lt. Commander Lathrop. “We’re receiving a hail from Equus III.”
“On screen,” replied Captain Sovaal. The viewscreen flickered from the image of the planet below to be replaced by the face of a purple alicorn that Star knew well.
“Hi,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle. “I really hate to be a bother when you’re just about to leave, but is Star there? May I speak with her, please?”
Star felt all eyes on the bridge turn to look at her as the heat rose in her cheeks.
“I think I have it,” said Twilight. “I found some spells that I think will allow us to go to where Pinkie Pie is.”
“That’s great,” said Star. “Anything I can do to help, just let me know.”
“There is,” said the alicorn. “We’re going to need you to use your sensory spell as the shuttle flies through the portal, while I cast the transportation spell along side that to find the correct aperture that will take us to the universe where Pinkie Pie is trapped.”
“Sounds good,” said the unicorn. “When do we start?”
“As soon as we can get the engines on this shuttlecraft fired up,” said Twilight.
“Hang on!” shouted Star as she tried to regain control of the shuttlecraft. “This is going to be a rough landing!”
“I’m trying to slow us down as much as I can with my magic,” said Twilight, as she enveloped the entire shuttlecraft in a field of purple. It wasn’t going to be enough.
Star and Twilight walked away from the crashed shuttlecraft and toward the village they’d passed over on their way down.
“Do you think it can be repaired?” asked Twilight, who was wearing a makeshift brown cloak that hid her wings entirely.
“I don’t know,” said Star. “It looked pretty bad when I checked it before, but I don’t think it’s a lost cause. It might take a while, but I think I can get it airborne again. I just need to find the proper material components to craft some replacement parts.”
“Well, for now, let’s just check out this village,” said Twilight. “Be very careful, though. If what I suspect is true, we’ll need to keep a low profile.”
“Do you really think we’ve travelled back through time?” asked Star.
“I think we travelled really far back through time,” said Twilight uneasily.
“If so,” said Star, “then you’re right. This is very bad.”
Both Star and Twilight jumped at the sudden voice that broke the relative silence of the night.
“You heard me, Star!” the voice shouted. “Don’t come back here until you have the bits to pay your tab, you lazy deadbeat!”
“What…?” whispered Star in utter confusion, but before she could say anything else, a nearby door opened and a pony was tossed through it and out into the street, landing directly in front of them.
The gray unicorn stood up shakily and spun around for a bit before finally coming to a rest, facing in their direction. His eyes lightened up considerably as he took in the two mares, and he staggered in their direction, forcing them to step back away from him.
“Heeeey there,” he said, his voice slurred from obvious intoxication. “Whassa fine pair ah maresh like you doin’ out here in th’ dark like thish?”
Star and Twilight glanced at one another in shock and then just stared at the unicorn in silence.
“Oh c’mon ladiesh don’ be like 'at,” said the unicorn. “I won’ bite… unlessh ya wan’ me too. Heh heh heh… Don’ be shy… here, lemme introdush m’shelf. Th' name’sh Shtar Shwirl.” He glanced at Twilight’s flank and said, “And believe me, baby, I wouldn’t mind shwirling your shtars, if ya get m’ drift.” With that, the gray unicorn fell forward, landed flat on his face, and began to snore loudly.
“Oh Celestia,” muttered Twilight. “What have we gotten ourselves into?”
Star Trek: Pegasus
Episode 3 - “It’s About Time”
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*Thunderous applause*
Well done! The characters seemed in character, the developments as natural as a river, and a curious theme discussed, just how set is one's destiny, even if there programmed in the likeness of another?
Absolutely brilliant!
'yay'
Is Ep. 3 going to be a 2-parter or 3-parter? Also, can't wait to see how you bring my pony OC Stella into the fray. =3
3162340 I wouldn't worry about STO in terms of continuity, I think he's just using that as a rough guideline if anything. If you just consider the series and movies, the continuity works brilliantly, in my opinion anyway.
3252613 He is good isn't he. I consder it a privilege to be a pre-reader for this fic.
3254864 Oh yes, I know he puts a lot of effort into getting the characters just right.
3255481 Stella? I'm not aware of any plans of having a Stella in the story, but I too look forward to seeing this, should be interesting.
3259422
Kane told me he plans to use my 29th century starfleet pony OC for episode 3's time travel episode.
3260320 Oh neat, 29th century huh? About the time the original Mobile Emitter was made. Does your OC know Captain Braxton?
From the sound of the preview they were going to the past, guess they're going to the future too. Which is rather strange cause by the sound of it Twilight was trying to get them to another universe, not another time. I know Twilight sometimes messes up spells but that a huuuuge mistake, am I right?
3260555 My OC Lt. Stellaluna Aurora Starlight (which is also my avatar icon) does know about Capt. Braxton. She did serve on the Relativity for a short time.
Here's her picture:
deviantart.com/download/271949323/stella_starlight_new_reference_by_captricosakara-d4hwtfv.jpg?token=0eed0d43e56f20ac7f6648e2a9e23354aed4af71&ts=1380195935
You can read her full BIO on my DA page here:
http://captricosakara.deviantart.com/art/Stella-Starlight-NEW-REFERENCE-271949323
3260786 Very interesting, her tail is very strange, but I really like her mane! (I can't believe I said that) Although I don't see how she can work in this universe. I noted two distinct differences between her world and this one. Namely that the Federation made contact with ponies in the 26th century and the planet is called Equinia. So she knew of Braxton? Did she hear about him cause he went crazy?
3260841 For this story, I've allow Kane to edit some of Stella's history in order for her to match the events of this story's universe and timeline. She is still from the 29th century, but she's works for a different Timeship and crew. And if I'm right, Stella will be a temporal time agent for ep 3. As for her Tail, in her century, having your mane and tail in two different styles is a fashion trend.
3260928 Ah, I see, so she's a temporal agent from the future but back in the past. She's probably there to tell Twilight and Star to go back where they came from.
As for her tail, I get the fashion statement, but her tail doesn't exactly cover much, kind of leaves her on display so to speak... unless she's wearing slothes of course.
3255481 As of right now, it's planned to be a 2-parter, at least in the idea that I have two distinct arcs in mind for it... but then, for instance, episode 1 was originally going to be a 2-parter and ended up being a 4-parter, so who knows at this point? My only fast and loose "rule" is that each "part" should be in the 15-20 thousand word range or so, and preferably toward the lower end of that. But in the end, it's just, well, however long (or short) it ends up being, that's how long (or short) it will be, you know?
3255191 I did that myself, actually. It took quite a while, so the odds of my doing any more artist-type things for this are probably not very high for the time being, especially given my relative lack of skill with that sort of thing.
3254863 As of yet, no. It's something I've long been toying with the idea of trying to do, but just haven't gotten around to actually starting on it yet.
The Doctor, hah! Doctor Who reference! Please expand on this one liner, it would be so awesome to have your take on The Doctor, and the good lieutenant's response to meeting him.
For those who may not have seen the blog post, Star Trek: Pegasus is on hiatus until I can get everything back together again.
No hologram spell. Darn.
3378178 u know the starbase u made orbiting equis & lunas moon think u can make ur own version of deep space 9 story cause the chapters holographic shinanigans reminded me of deep space 9
3378178
If you ever decide to write more of this I have a suggestion for a filler episode you could do:
A group of unicorns uses some sort of spell to incapacitate/capture all non-magical crew on the U.S.S. Pegasus. Star Strider must use her wits and starfleet education to retake the ship and save the crew.
Whether you use my idea or not, I really hope you write more. You have a really good thing going. It's true to the style of both MLP and Star Trek.
5593298 Yeah, Tompkins is meant to be a creeper, at least at in the first couple episodes. He doesn't try to be, but he's pretty clueless in that regard. He definitely wouldn't be the first male (humanoid or otherwise) that Star has had contact with with during her time at the Academy, though none were as weird about it as Tompkins was. He's going to get better as time goes on (assuming I ever actually get back to working on this thing again at some point in the next decade, of course
).
I like where you were taking this. Very intriguing. I hope you can find the opportunity to resume writing it.
Can't wait to see Twilight rack up her score against Kirk's with the Temporal Prime Directive violations!
hi hi
I don't know if anyone else saw Prelude to Axanar, but when I watched it and heard about Operation Pegasus, the first thing that came to mind was, "Great, another thing that Star is going to have to explain. I wonder if the pegasi would appreciate it."
I hope to see more sometime soon.^_^
6557733 Technically, she didn't disobey orders either time. She acted before orders were given and both times were situations where only an idiot would wait for orders. She did not abandon her post either time. The first time, her station had been rendered useless by the forcefields failing. The second time, she was thrown across the freaking bridge which does not count as abandoning her post.
What did you expect? Her superior officers are mostly idiots and brainless thugs who wouldn't know common sense if it bit them on their asses. They're never going to come to the realization that she did what she had to do. No. They're going to throw the book at her instead. Ha. Typical officer people.
Welp. It's now been exactly two years since the last update (at the time of writing this comment). Great story, just can you not keep us waiting for 2,000 years next time.
Watching the newest movie, as soon as the swarm ships showed up, I had flashbacks to the spiders from this story.
I just finished reading this, and I have to say it's pretty great. I have it bookmarked and look foward to they day new chapters show up.
That said, the starship nerd in me has some things to say about the Pegasus. Firstly, if the Pegasus were the first in it's class, it would either be the Pegasus class or it would be the USS Continuum. The first ship in a class always bears the class name, such as the USS Excelsior or the USS Constitution. Secondly, the 'dash letter' registries are reserved as a very high honor for only the most legendary ship names and registries. The USS Enterprise NCC-1701 is the only ship to have ever canonically recieved this honor. Other ships with reused names still get new registries, as seen on the various USS Excaliburs or USS Saratoga. The Oberth class ship was probably not the first USS Pegasus, and given it's fate would almost certainly not be considered deserving of a -A registry.
An awesome story by all right, i wish it be continued
Hope you resume updating this someday. I know it's been a while, but just putting down something in your files at home every day will add up to chapters that can get posted in time.
Besides, we've see you lurking around, dude! Don't make us send Moriarty after you.
Better than show quality writing, for both franchises.
Nicely done!
Hope to see more sometime soon!
ok this is a really good story hear with a super strong story line.
I am just wondering after 3 years if you will be coming back to right any more?
Do come back to this soon, please! I hope that you haven't forgotten how you wanted this story to go.
OH wow this was an amazing read!! Here’s hope that this continues some day.
Oh and did I miss it or did no one say anything yet about the sun orbiting Equis III?
You can’t have a Star Trek episode or chapter without something involving Time Travel, it’s the rule.
BTW This has been a great story so far, I have enjoyed the episodes/chapters a lot.
it is so sad to see a story just stop but after 5 years i fear this story is finished.
10203515
Yeah... pretty much. :/
At this point, even if I were in a position to get back into this, which I'm not, I kind of feel like MLP:FiM has moved on a bit too much since I wrote this. If I ever came back to this, I'd feel like I'd have to try to work at least some of the stuff that came in later into this (e.g. Starlight Glimmer, whatever has been done since with Discord, etc.) but still make it jive with what this fic has used as continuity (e.g. the Elements of Harmony still being around [through, apparently, they came back at some point anyway?], the treehouse library not being destroyed, etc.). I mean, I wouldn't have to do that, I guess, but I'd kind of feel a bit obligated to at least try.
But then, to do any of that proper justice, I'd have to... actually watch the rest of MLP:FiM, as I kind of stopped watching altogether around mid-season 5 or so... >_>;