Where Nopony Has Gone Before

by Kane Magus


Slice of Life

Chapter 5 – Slice of Life

The next morning, Deanna Troi materialized in a clearing to the west of Ponyville.  In the distance, she could see the small cottage which she assumed belonged to Fluttershy, so she started in that direction.  As she neared the cottage, she began to pick up impressions from the forest beyond.  Similar to everything else she had sensed on this world so far, the creatures in the forest seemed to have a much higher level of awareness than animals on most other worlds.  From the forest denizens, however, she also sensed a profound wildness that was definitely absent from the creatures that she’d sensed elsewhere.  Combined with the intelligence, it was a rather frightening prospect indeed.  She was glad that Q had been straight with them, for once, and had warned them away from this place.  Why anyone, especially a pony as timid as Fluttershy, would want to live next to this place boggled Troi’s mind.
She was so engrossed in her musings about the forest that it startled her when the door to the cottage suddenly sprang open and a small white bunny bounded out, carrying a basket full of vegetables.  Behind the bunny, Fluttershy herself walked out, carrying a similar basket filled with bird feed.  When she caught sight of Troi, she smiled warmly.
“Good morning, Counselor Troi,” she said softly.  “I’m very happy you were able to visit.  I’m just about to feed the animals their breakfast, if you want to join me.”
“Please, call me Deanna,” said Troi with an equally warm smile.  She fell into step beside Fluttershy.  “So this is Angel?” she asked, gesturing toward the bunny.
“Yes,” said Fluttershy.  “Angel Bunny!  Come say hello.”
The bunny set his basket aside and hopped back to Troi and looked up at her appraisingly.  He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes.  Troi got the feeling that he didn’t quite know what to make of her yet.  She knelt down in front of him and said, “Hello, Angel.  My name is Deanna.  It’s nice to meet you.”
The bunny straightened up and stuck out his paw in a manner that indicated rather clearly that he wanted to shake her hand.  With amusement, Troi extended her own hand and clasped his paw.  The bunny did indeed shake his paw up and down, then nodded in satisfaction and turned back to the basket of food.
“I think he likes you,” said Fluttershy.  “He’s usually very shy around newcomers.  You must have a way with animals yourself.”
“Not so much,” said Troi.  “You’d think, being an empath, I’d have better luck with them, but I’m not much better than anyone else in that regard.  I have vague memories of my family owning a dog when I was very small, but that was a long time ago.  Also, I’ve done some pet-sitting for Data’s cat Spot on occasion as well.  I have to admit that she didn’t take to me very well, though.  She only seems to really like Lieutenant Barclay and Data himself.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” said Fluttershy.  “All of my friends and I have pets.  In fact, it wasn’t too long ago that I helped Rainbow Dash pick out her pet tortoise.  She was the last of us to get a pet, aside from Spike.”
“A tortoise?” said Troi with mild surprise, thinking back to the bold pegasus with the rainbow-colored mane.  “That sounds like a somewhat odd choice of pet for her.”
“Tank proved himself in an elaborate contest to determine the best pet for her,” said Fluttershy.  “Well, he might not have technically won the competition, but he proved to be the most loyal of them all, so he won on a loophole.  I’m glad, because I personally think that they’re a perfect match.  I was rooting for him to be picked, all along.”
“So what sort of pets do your other friends have?” asked Troi.
Fluttershy paused to toss some feed to her chickens, and then said, “Well, Twilight Sparkle has an owl named Owloysius.  I’m not sure where he came from, actually.  He just appeared one day.  Spike was very jealous at first.”
“Spike?  The dragon?” asked Troi.  “Why would he be jealous of an owl?”
“He’s still a baby dragon,” said Fluttershy.  “He thought that Twilight was trying to replace him as her assistant with Owloysius.”
“Aw,” said Troi sympathetically, “that’s terrible.”
“Yes, it was quite sad,” said Fluttershy.  “He even ran away from home for a while, but he came to realize that Twilight would never replace him.  She calls him her #1 assistant, but he’s really more like a little brother to her.  It turned out okay, and they’re all good friends now, especially now that Peewee has joined their little family.”
“Peewee?” asked Troi.
“He’s a newborn phoenix,” said Fluttershy.  “Spike rescued the egg from those other mean old dragons.  Or at least, that’s what he told me anyway, since I wasn’t there.  I’m very afraid of dragons, you see.  Well, other than Spike, that is.  Where was I?  Oh, right, yes.  Spike recently went on a journey to meet with others of his kind.  Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity followed him to make sure he didn’t get into trouble, and… well… I really do hate to talk ill of other creatures behind their backs, but from what I’ve been told, the other young dragons were big jerks.  Did you know that they smash phoenix eggs for fun?  It’s horrible!  Most of the eggs hatched before the dragons could smash them and they managed to escape with their parents, except for the egg that Spike found.  Despite all the peer pressure, he refused to smash it, and I’m so proud of him for that!
“After Twilight teleported them all back to Ponyville, the egg later hatched in the library, and that’s where Peewee came from.  Ooh, I can’t wait for him to meet Philomeena.  That’s Princess Celestia’s own pet phoenix.  They paid a visit to Ponyville a while back, and I… er… well, I thought she was really sick, but the Princess said she was just molting.  I’ve never seen a bird molt quite like that before.  It was really surprising.”
Troi listen to this story with astonishment.  “So… even phoenixes exist here…”
“Oh, do you have them where you come from as well?” asked Fluttershy.
“Only in legends, similar to unicorns, pegasi, and dragons,” said Troi.  “This place really is incredible.  I apologize.  I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”
Fluttershy shook her head and said, “Oh, it’s no problem.  Let’s see… next is Rarity’s cat, named Opalescence, or just Opal for short.  I don’t understand why, but most other ponies don’t seem to like her very much.  She’s always been a little sweetie for me when Rarity drops her off for her grooming appointment, though.”
“I bet you would get along well with Spot, too,” said Troi, with a nod.
“Oh, I’d love to meet her,” said Fluttershy.  “Okay, so there’s also Winona, Applejack’s dog.  She helps out with herding the cows and sheep.  Honestly, though, I think Applejack should just try asking them nicely to go where they need to go, rather than trying to herd them like that, even if she is very good at it.”
Troi raised an eyebrow.  “Wait, so are you saying that the cows and sheep are able to talk as well?”
“Oh yes, of course,” said Fluttershy, nodding.  “Daisy Jo came by to trade some milk for a few of my chicken eggs just the other day.  They’re all perfectly reasonable creatures, and I don’t think Applejack really needs to corral them the way she does.  But I suppose that sometimes they do get spooked and instincts just take over, so I guess it’s occasionally necessary.  Even ponies can be the same way, sometimes.  The western edge of Sweet Apple Acres is fairly close to the Everfree Forest, after all, so sometimes strange things can happen out that way.”
Troi’s eyes widened a bit and she said, “Oh that reminds me, I’ve been meaning to ask about that forest.  I assume this is the Everfree Forest you mentioned?”  She swept her hand westward, indicating the dark forest looming nearby.  “Before we came down from our ship, Q warned us against going in there.  He claimed that it was dangerous, and based on what I sense coming from there, I’d say I have to agree with him.”
“Oh yes, it can be very dangerous,” said Fluttershy.  She gave a small involuntary shudder.  “All sorts of scary things live in there, such as timberwolves and dragons and cockatrices.  Twilight Sparkle was turned into stone by a cockatrice once.  If I hadn’t happened upon her when I went looking for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, there’s no telling how long she would have been in there.  I still have nightmares about it sometimes.”
“How awful!” said Troi.  “Wait… the Cutie Mark Crusaders are those three little ones, right?  What were they doing in the forest?”
“I… was babysitting them one day,” Fluttershy explained.  “One of my chickens had gotten loose without me realizing it and had ventured into the forest.  The girls snuck out during the night without telling me and went into the forest to try to find her.  Luckily, I managed to catch up to them before anything bad happened to them, but that’s when we found Twilight turned into stone.  The cockatrice attacked us, but I… convinced it to turn Twilight back to normal.”
Troi’s eyebrows shot up.  “You convinced it…?”
Fluttershy blushed.  “I have a… special gift with animals.  Well… most of the time, anyway.”  The yellow pegasus looked somewhat abashed when she said that last.  In an attempt to change the subject, she said, “It’s not all bad in the Everfree Forest, though.  I can see why somepony might be scared of the manticore at first, but he’s really just a great big kitten.  And Steven lives there as well.”
“Steven?” asked Troi.
“He’s a sea serpent who lives in one of the rivers that cuts through the forest,” said Fluttershy.  “Shortly after Twilight Sparkle moved to Ponyville, we had… a special errand that took us inside the forest, and he helped us across the river.  He’s good friends with Rarity as they share the same fashion sense.  And, most importantly, Zecora keeps her hut in the forest as well.  She’s a zebra sage that moved here from far away.  She occasionally comes into Ponyville for supplies, and sometimes ponies go to visit her for advice.  That’s where Twilight was going when the cockatrice caught her, in fact.  I like to think that if I hadn’t found her myself, Zecora would have found her soon enough.  And even if she couldn’t have made the cockatrice turn Twilight back to normal, Zecora is very good with potions, so I’m sure she could have made an antidote.”
“This planet gets more interesting by the minute,” Troi mused.  “Oh, but I’ve distracted you again.  You were telling me about the pets that your friends have.  Well, I suppose that leaves Pinkie Pie.  What sort of pet does she have?”
“Pinkie’s pet is named Gummy.  He’s a baby alligator,” said Fluttershy.  “We just held his second year birthday party a few weeks ago, along with Pinkie Pie’s the next day.  He’s very sweet, but he does have a bad habit of biting things… and sometimes ponies.  I suppose it’s all right, though, since he doesn’t have any teeth.”
Troi’s eyes widened.  “Well, what about when he gets older?  Won’t his teeth grow in as he gets bigger?”
Fluttershy blinked.  “I hadn’t considered that.  I… I suppose I’d better have a talk with Pinkie Pie about it.”
Troi was about to mention that alligators on Earth are born with their teeth, but before she could speak, there was a sudden, earsplitting scream from off in the distance.
“Oh no, that sounded like it came from Sweet Apple Acres!” said Fluttershy.  “It sounds like somepony is hurt!”  She and Troi started making their way in the direction of the farm as quickly as they could.


Around the same time that Troi was beaming down to Fluttershy’s cottage, Worf and Rainbow Dash were already arriving at the empty field Applejack had agreed to let them use for their sparring.  Rainbow Dash was wearing a white karate gi, with a black belt tied around her midsection, underneath her wings, and a white headband.  Similarly, Worf was wearing his white mok’bara outfit.
Scootaloo blearily walked along behind them, still trying to blink the sleep out of her eyes.  Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Macintosh were in an adjacent field planting some crops, and had been for at least a couple of hours by this point, but when they saw the three new arrivals, they decided to take a break.
“Heya, Scootaloo,” said Apple Bloom.  “Yer up awful early, ain’tcha?”
Scootaloo yawned and said, “Ugh, I don’t see how you can stand it.”
Apple Bloom shrugged.  “I’ve been doin’ it all my life, so it’s pretty normal for me, I guess.”
While the two fillies went off a short way by themselves to chat, Applejack spoke to Rainbow Dash.  “So is this’un good enough?  I picked one that didn’t have anything growin’ in it, but hadn’t been plowed yet either, so it should be nice and flat for ya.”
“It’s perfect.  Wouldn’t you say, Mr. Worf?” said Rainbow.
“Yes, this will be more than acceptable,” said Worf, nodding.  “Thank you.”
“So what’re you guys gonna be doin’ here anyway?” asked Big Macintosh.
“Just a little friendly sparring,” said Rainbow, with a grin.
The large red pony looked back and forth between Rainbow Dash and Applejack, and then turned fully to Rainbow Dash.  “You ain’t gonna let things get too heated like it did with my sis here durin’ the Iron Pony competition, are ya?”
Rainbow Dash and Applejack shared a nervous laugh.  “Of c-course not,” said the blue pegasus.
“Well, ya’ll don’t mind if we watch, do ya?” asked the orange earth pony.
“I don’t mind if Rainbow Dash doesn’t,” said Worf.
“Sure,” said Rainbow, with a shrug.  “Heck, after this, you might even get it in your head to take me up on my offer to train you, AJ.”
“We’ll see about that,” said Applejack dubiously.
“So,” said Rainbow as she turned to face the Klingon, “ready to start?”
“Yes, but we should do some warm up exercises before we begin,” said Worf.  He moved a short distance away from the ponies and began doing a mok’bara routine.
Rainbow Dash watched for a bit, and then said, “That kind of looks like tai chi.”
“It is similar,” said Worf, “but this is a Klingon technique called mok’bara.  You surprise me again, though.  Tai chi, like karate, is an ancient art from Earth.”
“Yeah, like I said, I don’t get it either,” said Rainbow, shrugging.  “We ponies have known about tai chi for centuries.”  She watched Worf for a bit more and then started her own routine.  She rose up on her hind legs and began a kata.  Worf was impressed that, when standing up on two legs, Rainbow Dash was almost as tall as he was.  Her routine involved a lot more quick movements than his slower paced mok’bara routine did.  He was most intrigued when she threw in some jumping kicks toward the end.  Being on the receiving end of one of those would not be pleasant for an opponent.
“Wow, Rainbow Dash,” said Scootaloo, as she and Apple Bloom rejoined Applejack and Big Mac to watch the upcoming match.  “That looks pretty cool!”
“Wanna learn, pipsqueak?” said Dash, just after pulling off an aerial roundhouse kick and then returning to a ready pose.  “I’m more than willing to teach you.”
“That’d be awesome!” said the orange filly excitedly, finally fully awake.
“How’d ya learn to walk around on yer two hind legs so easily like that?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Years and years of practice,” Rainbow replied.  “And it’s not nearly as easy as it looks, trust me.”
“Ya know, I might even be willin’ to give it a try again,” said Apple Bloom, which brought an even bigger smile to Dash’s face.
“Well, for starters, just watch our sparring match here,” said Rainbow.  “It’ll likely involve more high-level stuff than what a novice would learn at first, but it should give you a taste of what’s to come, at least.”  She threw a few shadow punches and some more high kicks to show off for the fillies, and then turned to face the Klingon.
“I am ready to begin now, if you are,” said Worf.
“All right,” said Rainbow.  “I’ve been looking forward to this all morning.”
Worf and Rainbow Dash faced one another and bowed, and then they both struck ready combat poses.  As they circled one another, a feeling out process began.  Dash threw a few quick jabs with her forelegs and some low kicks with her hind legs, all of which Worf easily blocked.  Worf attacked a few times as well, which Dash blocked just as easily.  And then Rainbow Dash decided to turn it up a notch or five.
Worf suddenly found himself entirely on the defensive.  Incredibly, Rainbow wasn’t attacking him with just her legs, but was incorporating her wings and even her tail as well.  Worf realized that he was facing not a four-limbed opponent but what was essentially a seven-limbed one.  He was finding himself hard pressed to block everything she threw at him and was being driven back.  So, he decided to change tactics.  Instead of blocking, he focused mainly on dodging, and waiting for his moment to strike back.
Rainbow Dash, for her part, suddenly found that Worf simply wasn’t where she thought he would be when she struck.  It was amazing how quick he was, especially for someone of his size, and especially given that he was facing her, of all ponies.  She started trying to misdirect him.  She attempted a jumping kick, and then used her wings to quickly change direction in mid air.  This worked a few times at first, landing her some blows since Worf was unused to fighting opponents that could fly, but after a short time, even these tricks began to lose their effectiveness.  And then, suddenly, Dash found that Worf had gripped both of her forelegs.  He rolled onto his back, planted his feet in her midsection, and tossed her.  She pirouetted in mid air and landed on all four hooves a few yards away from the Klingon, who had already flipped back up onto his feet as well.
“Very nice,” they both said simultaneously and shared a grin.  Dash charged at Worf, rose up again, and unleashed another flurry of blows, even faster than before.  Worf blocked and dodged most of the attacks, but she got him with a particularly stiff one in the side of his torso, which caused him to grunt but didn’t slow him down at all.  She hadn’t meant to hit him quite that hard, but she’d been caught up in the moment.  With the minor distraction that these thoughts caused her, Worf swept her hind legs out from under her.  She flapped her wings furiously and managed to remain upright, but she was still horribly off balance, even so.  She launched a few wild blows in an attempt to drive the Klingon back, but before she could completely regain her equilibrium again, Worf performed some sort of crazy leaping uppercut that caught her directly under the chin and sent her head over heels backwards.  She landed hard on her side, and then slowly climbed to her feet.  She spat to the side and saw flecks of blood hit the hard-packed ground.  The taste of copper filled her mouth.
“Sorry,” Worf said.  “Got a bit carried away there.”
“No problem,” said Dash, with a fierce grin.  ‘Let’s see how he handles this,’ she thought to herself and then took to the air.  She rose to about twenty or so yards off the ground, angled herself backward in a flip toward the ground and then went into a mad dive.  Just before she reached the ground again, she abruptly changed direction and angled directly at Worf, front legs extended and a small force cone visibly building around her.  The entire process of this had taken Dash less than five seconds at the most.  Worf stood directly in her path with his arms in a defensive stance, but at the very last possible moment, he simply sidestepped completely out of the way, although the mere wake of her passing still knocked him off balance.  As she shot past him, she looked back in shock that he was able to avoid the attack.  She thought she’d been moving far too quickly for him to react.
“Dash, look out!” shouted Applejack, but it was too late.  Dash looked forward and had only enough time to let out a short squeak before she crashed headlong into a small open-air shed, underneath which was an array of farm implements.
Worf winced at the loud cracking sound that was heard amidst the rattle of farm equipment.  It was a sound he was very familiar with, and he knew immediately what the most likely cause of it was.  This was confirmed when the air was split with Rainbow Dash’s sudden shriek of pain.  She stumbled out of the fallen pile of farm tools, walking shakily on all fours once more.  One of her wings was bent downward at a sickeningly awkward angle and they all knew instantly that it was clearly broken.
“Rainbow, are ya all right?!” yelled Applejack.  “Your wing…!”
Rainbow Dash almost cut loose with a long string of curses in response, but the sight of Scootaloo and Apple Bloom watching her with wide, fearful eyes forced her to bite down on her tongue to keep them unvoiced.  She hobbled over to Worf, taking care not to move her wing if she could avoid it.  “Looks like the match is over,” she said regretfully, her voice strained.  She very gingerly tried her wing.  “Owowowow!  Okay, not smart, Dash.  Ugh, sorry our match had to end like this, Mr. Worf.  Entirely my fault.  I never should have tried that last move against someone as skilled as you.”
“Things did indeed get a bit more heated than I had intended,” said Worf.  “But it was a glorious battle.  You fought with much honor.”  He walked over to the small satchel that he’d brought with him and started fishing around inside of it.
“Well, it’s too bad we won’t get to spar again any time soon,” said Dash, looking ruefully at her broken wing and then inhaling sharply through clenched teeth as another bolt of fiery pain lanced through it, just from the motion of turning her head.  She sucked more breath through her teeth and added, “I’ll be laid up in the hospital for several days with this, at least.”
“Perhaps not,” said Worf.  He pulled his combadge out of the satchel.  Tapping it, he said, “Worf to Sick Bay.”
A female voice came from the device.  “Crusher here.  What can I do for you, Lieutenant?”
“Rainbow Dash and I have just completed our sparring exercise,” said Worf.
The doctor interrupted.  “Broken bones, lacerations, or concussions, this time, or some combination of all three?”
“Broken bones, in this case,” said Worf.  “And a few minor cuts.”
“I’ll be right down,” said Crusher.
A short time later, transporter beams appeared near the group.  They faded away, leaving behind a red-haired human female, wearing a blue Starfleet uniform over which she wore a long blue coat.
“I assume you’re my patient?” asked the doctor, looking at Rainbow Dash.  “I’m Dr. Beverly Crusher, by the way, Chief Medical Officer on the Enterprise.”
“I’m Rainbow Dash, and this is Applejack, Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo,” said the blue pegasus.  The other ponies nodded in turn.  “And, yeah, I took a pretty bad spill as you can see.”
Crusher had already pulled out her medical tricorder and was scanning the blue pony with it.  After a few seconds, she nodded.  “It looks like a pretty clean break.  In addition to that, you have a cut on your lip along with a few minor bruises in various other places on your body.  The main concern here is the broken bone in your wing, of course, but don’t worry, it’ll be as good as new in no time.”
“What?  Really?” asked Dash.  “How is that possible?”
“Here, I’ll show you,” said Crusher.  She opened her medkit and took out a device.  “Hold still for a bit.  I need to realign the bone in your wing before I can set it and heal it.  This is going to hurt at first, but only for a few seconds at most.  I’ll try to be as gentle as I can, but prepare yourself.”
Dash watched apprehensively as the doctor reached out a hand and gently took hold of the awkwardly hanging wing.  To Dash’s credit, the cry of pain as Crusher moved the wing back up into its normal alignment only came out as a hissed whimper as the pegasus clenched both her teeth and her tear-filled eyes tightly shut.
While trying not to jostle the injured wing any more than she had to, Crusher took the device she held in her other hand, pointed it at the break, and activated it.  A translucent energy field appeared around the wing.
Dash winced at the new sensation, expecting it to hurt even more.  Instead, however, her wing suddenly felt numb.  “What did you do?” she asked, opening her eyes.
“I’m using the bone regenerator to repair your wing,” said Crusher.  “It realigns the bones and then re-knits them.  The process should be complete in a few seconds.”  Sure enough, after a moment, Crusher switched off the device.  “How do you feel?”
Rainbow Dash moved her wing experimentally and then looked at the doctor with wide eyes.  ‘That’s… amazing,” she said.  “It still stings a bit, but other than that, my wing feels as good as new!”
“Even so, you should take it easy for a little while,” said Crusher.  She pulled out a dermal generator to seal the cut on Dash’s lip, then turned to Worf and began to scan him with the tricorder.
“Doctor, please,” said Worf.  “I am fine.”
“You most certainly are not,” said Crusher firmly.  “You have three cracked ribs.”
“Whoops,” said Rainbow Dash, grinning sheepishly.  “I was afraid that I’d hit you a bit too hard back there.  Sorry about that.”
“Is everypony all right?!” came a voice from the distance.  They all turned to see Fluttershy and Counselor Troi quickly crossing the field from the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage.  “We heard a scream and came here as fast as we could!”
When the yellow pegasus and the Betazoid counselor reached them, Crusher said, “Just a few broken bones.  Worf and Rainbow Dash here were sparring.”
“Ah,” said Troi knowingly.  “Say no more.”
The ponies all shared a glance with each other at that.  “Is this a regular thing with you or somethin’?” asked Applejack to Worf.
“He’s one of my best customers,” said Crusher with a smirk, before Worf could reply.  “I’d probably be out of a job if it weren’t for him.”
“Hardly, doctor,” said Worf gruffly.
“Are you all right, Rainbow Dash?” asked Fluttershy with much concern.
“Never felt better,” said Rainbow, flexing both of her wings as wide as they would go.  “My wing was actually broken just a few minutes ago, but now it’s like it never even happened.  Dr. Crusher is awesome!”
“Heh, thanks,” said Crusher.  “If only all of my patients were as appreciative as you.  Mr. Worf, hold still!”  She finally finished re-knitting his ribs and then healed a few minor cuts that he’d sustained during the fight.
“Ya know,” said Applejack, “for a minute there, Dash, I was almost afraid you were about to hit ‘im with a sonic rainboom.”
Rainbow Dash was appalled at this.  She looked at Applejack, her eyes wide with shock, and said, “Applejack!  We were only sparring!  I didn’t want to completely atomize him, you know.  Besides, a sonic rainboom would’ve been really messy for you guys as well, as close as you were.”
Worf, Crusher, and Troi exchanged glances at this.  “What is a sonic rainboom?” asked the Klingon.
“Only the most awesome, amazing move ever!” said Scootaloo excitedly.
“A sonic rainboom,” said Fluttershy, who was also surprisingly excited by the discussion, “is when a pegasus flies really fast and then there’s this big explosion of energy and rainbow-colored light.  It’s quite a sight to see.  Rainbow Dash is the only pony to ever pull one off, but she’s done it at least three times now.”
“Four,” said Applejack.  “It does a bang up job of tearin’ down old barns too.”
“Eeyup,” said Big Macintosh with a nod.
“Aw, you guys are embarrassing me,” said Dash, though she was grinning in a way that indicated that she wasn’t embarrassed at all, but was instead basking in all the attention she was getting.
“I’d be most interested in seeing one of these sonic rainbooms,” said Worf.
“Hey, I could do one right now if you want!” said Rainbow.
Dr. Crusher shook her head and said, “Hold it right there.  I just repaired your broken wing only a few minutes ago.  I’d advise you to give it at least a few hours or so before even normal flight, much less before pulling off any crazy stunts.  Also, you guys should probably lay off the sparring for at least the rest of the day as well.”
“Aw,” said Rainbow, disappointed.
Before she or Worf could protest any further, however, another new voice came from the distance. “Hey!  There you all are!”
Everyone turned in the direction the voice had come from.  Approaching them from the general direction of Ponyville was Pinkie Pie, who had spoken, along with Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and Commander Riker.
Riker noticed Crusher and said, “Good morning, Dr. Crusher.  By your presence here I have to assume that Worf and Rainbow Dash have finished their sparring match.”
“That’s right,” said the doctor, “but they’re all back in top shape now, assuming they don’t go overboard for the next few hours, anyway.”
Riker looked at all of the gathered ponies and said, “As I’ve already said to these guys, I’ve spoken with the Captain, and he would be delighted to have you aboard the Enterprise.  All of you are invited.”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo grinned and ran over to talk to Sweetie Belle.  Applejack and Big Macintosh shared a glance, and then Big Mac said, “I thank ya kindly, but I reckon I’d better stay here on the farm.  These crops need plantin’, and, more importantly, Granny Smith is a bit under the weather today as well, so I need to look after her.  Applejack, Apple Bloom, you keep yer eyes open up there, because I’m gonna want to hear all about it when ya get back.”
“Will do, Big Mac,” said Applejack, though she was sad that her brother was missing out once again.
Riker shrugged and said, “Well, this won’t be the one and only tour of the ship that we’re offering.  If you’d like to visit later, you’re more than welcome.”
Dr. Crusher said, “And you say that your grandmother is feeling ill?  Maybe there’s something I can do to help.”
Big Mac thought for a moment, and then nodded.  “Well, I have to admit, after seein’ what ya just did with Rainbow Dash’s wing there I reckon maybe ya might just be able to do somethin’.  Besides, Granny was a bit disappointed that she couldn’t make it to the party to meet ya’ll yesterday, so this’d be a great surprise for her.”
Crusher smiled and said, “Lead the way.”
Big Mac smiled in return and nodded his head toward the distant farmhouse.
As Dr. Crusher and Big Macintosh moved away, Riker turned to the others and said, “Well, right now is as good a time as any, if you’re all ready, that is.”
“Yeah, I think we’re finished here, at least for now,” said Rainbow Dash, glancing up at Worf, who nodded in return.
“My animals have all been fed,” said Fluttershy, “and Angel can take care of them for a little while.”
“I hate to leave my brother behind like this,” said Applejack, “but if that doctor of yours can heal Granny Smith of her head cold, I think we can spare a few hours.”
“Your grandmother is in very good hands,” said Troi confidently.
“So we’re all set then?” said Riker.  “Well, first let me explain how the transporter beams work.  At most, you’ll just feel a tingling sensation, but the biggest thing is the jolt of suddenly finding yourself in a new location.  That’s usually the main issue with first time users.  Then again, for those of you with teleportation abilities, it’s probably old hat.”  He smiled at Twilight as he said this, and she grinned in return, blushing slightly as well.
“It’s not going to leave us singed, is it?” asked Spike.
“Of course not,” said Riker, raising an eyebrow.
Spike glanced up at Twilight and said, “Well, I guess it has that going for it over unicorn teleportation.”
“That only happened once,” said Twilight, slight indignation in her voice.  She swatted at Spike with her tail, but he ducked out of the way, a grin on his face.  Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes, then turned her attention back to the others.
“Most of us have been teleported by Twilight at some point or another,” said Rarity.  “There was no singeing involved, I should add.  As such, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.  For those of us who haven’t been teleported, just think of this as another adventure.”  She smiled down at the three younger ponies as she said this, trying to alleviate some of their obvious nervousness.
“It’s really not an unpleasant experience at all,” said Troi reassuringly.
“W-we’ll be okay,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah,” said Scootaloo.  She shared a glance with Apple Bloom, who nodded.
Riker nodded.  “All right, gather around and we’ll beam up.”  He did a quick mental count of how many were about to beam up and said, “Riker to Cargo Bay 2.  Thirteen to transport up.  Energize.”  They soon rematerialized in Cargo Bay 2 and were greeted by Captain Picard… and Q.
“You know, Jean-Luc,” said Q, “I could have saved you the trouble of having the cargo bay transporters reconfigured by just teleporting them all up here myself.”
“So… this is what you look like as a human?” asked Pinkie Pie, staring at Q appraisingly.  “The resemblance to your pony form is uncanny.”
“What can I say?  I am an artiste,” said Q.  At Picard’s glower, Q grinned and said, “Oh, sorry, Jean-Luc, am I interrupting something?  Do carry on.”
Picard sighed and turned to face the visiting ponies.  Doing his level best to simply ignore Q, he smiled and said, “I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard.  It is my great pleasure to welcome you aboard the Enterprise.”