//------------------------------// // The Legend of Hearth's Warming Eve // Story: The DisQord Continuum // by ZoidbergIsBestPony //------------------------------// The Legend of Hearth’s Warming Eve “Captain’s log, Stardate 44162.6: What was once a small containable breach has now turned into a very serious violation of the Prime Directive. Thanks to the actions of Q, we are left with a world now fully exposed to our presence. The Enterprise has been disabled and is currently unable to leave orbit. All Cloaked devices on the planet below have been deactivated including the outpost set up by the landing party. Q has revealed he has had prior dealings with this planet’s inhabitants and has masqueraded himself as a supposed ‘God of Chaos’. Twice now, he has expressed an unusual interest in this world, which begs the question, why? His interest in humans lay in the danger they posed for the future if they were to continue on their present course with such a violent past. Through trials and games, we were able to prove our worth as a civilization. As of yet, however, I am unable to find a similar violent past for the ponies of this world. The pony civilization, thus far, appears to have a far more peaceful historical background than humans, preaching love and tolerance for all living things. It is puzzling to understand how they might pose a significant threat large enough to merit an investigation by the Q Continuum. At this point, I believe the strange disturbances to the temporal and spatial surroundings within this system must also be the root of Q’s Interest. Q has given us a three day time frame in which to rectify and mitigate the damage he has caused before his ‘games’ are expected to take place. Q’s games have proven to be fatal at times in the past . As a precaution, I have ordered all children and civilian personnel to relocate to the saucer section of the ship. While the ship as a whole has been prevented from moving, Engineering reports there doesn’t appear to be anything preventing the saucer section from separating and leaving the system. In the effort to deal with the cultural damage on the surface, I have been working with one of its local inhabitants, a Unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, who has agreed to help us prevent widespread panic. I’ve sent her back to the surface to work with their local government and Commander Riker in dealing with the situation.” * * * The transporter beam glowed brightly as it appeared, in the middle of the hospital hallway, causing some witnesses to run away in fear. As Twilight Sparkle rematerialized, she tried to call out to them. “Wait!” she shouted out. It was clear that panic was already beginning to set in. Ponies could not comprehend the things they were seeing and were scared by it. It had only been two hours since she had left the hospital, and everything had changed. Doctors and nurses were running down the corridors and emergencies were piling up. Fear was triggering mass hysteria and causing accidents everywhere. Ponies were getting hurt left and right. Twilight thought she should try to find her friends fast; then go straight to the princess and give her report. She went to front desk to try to find out which room Fluttershy would have been moved to after she left the operating room. The pony at the front desk was flapping her hooves so fast, she appeared to have six of them. “Um…excuse me?” Twilight tried to get her attention, with no success. “Pardon me, I was wondering which ro–“ “Just a minute!” the front desk pony cut across. After several minutes, she finally turned and looked back at Twilight. “So what’s your emergency?” she spoke with a tone of exhaustion and frustration. “I just wanted to know which room Fluttershy was in,” Twilight gently requested. “Fluttershy… Fluttershy…” she muttered aloud, flipping through dozens of papers spread out all over her desk. “I’m sorry. Fluttershy has already been discharged. The doctor noted, ‘miraculous recovery with no sign of original injury,’ whatever that means. Anyway she’s no longer here. Now if you don’t have an emergency I must ask you to leave!” She pointed her hoof toward the exit doors. Twilight felt she had no choice but to postpone finding her friends until after she reported to the princess. “Spike would have been helpful at a time like this, but unfortunately I left him behind in Ponyville,” she thought to herself, “but I wanted to keep him safe and still do. I’ll just have to hoof it!” She made her way from the hospital toward the palace. The streets of Canterlot were ludicrous. Ponies were throwing their belongings into carts and taking their families away. Shops were being closed and boarded up. Everypony had panic in their eyes as they ran every which way down the city streets. At one point, a little filly was crying in the middle of the road. “I want my mooooommmmmyyyyy!!!” Don’t worry little one,” Twilight said, looking kindly at the little pony. “We’ll look for your mommy together.” Twilight took a hold of her little hoof before another pony screamed out, “STAY AWAY FROM MY FILLY YOU MONSTER!!!” The mother of the little pony snatched her from Twilight’s hoof and ran off into the crowd. Twilight could not understand why there would be so much panic already. She didn’t pretend to understand everything that was explained to her aboard the Enterprise, however the only effects that should’ve been seen in Canterlot were small devices suddenly appearing all over the city. She quickened her pace in an effort to reach the palace. As she made her way up toward the castle, she spotted a group of colts off to the side of the road, smashing a box that was making sparks and was on fire. “Looks like they discovered one of Geordi’s ‘sensors’,” Twilight thought. At last she spotted a group of guards, standing in front of the entrance to the palace, who were fighting back a crowd of angry ponies. She tried to get close to one of the guards, but could not make her way through the mob. She nearly reached one of the guards and tried to call out to him. “Please, I need to see the princess. I have urgent information for her! Please!–OW!” Something hard struck Twilight in the head. The last thing she saw were the guards’ feet as she hit the ground with a thud and blacked out. * * * “Oww…I…wuh…?” Twilight puttered as she regained consciousness. She found herself lying in a large luxurious bed with golden silk sheets and bed posts that appeared to be hoof-carved. Straight ahead of her was a large painting depicting the view of Canterlot from the sky. The furniture appeared to be very old but shined like new. Sunlight was shining through a window as tall as the room itself, with large red curtains bound by silk bows. Quickly realizing she must be in one of the palace's guest rooms, she sat up from the bed rubbing the top of her head. A large bump had appeared where she had been struck. She tried to recover quickly, but her throbbing head significantly slowed her pace. She clamored her way to the door and walked straight into a guard standing out front. “Sorry,” she said, looking up at the guard she bumped into. “I need to speak to–Shining Armor?” Focusing her eyes she realized the guard before her was none other than her brother. “Big Brother! What are you doing here?” she asked. “I came to check on how my little sis was doing,” Shining answered. “A guard by the gate recognized you after you were accidentally clobbered by another guard, who feels really bad that he hit you. Many ponies are scared right now, and we had a duty to protect the princess at all costs.” Twilight cut across, “I have information about what’s happening that I need to explain to the princess immediately!” She tried to express her urgency. “We know,” Shining said. “A lot has happened while you were unconscious, Twi. Follow me. I’ll take you to the princess now if you feel up to it.” Nodding, Twilight followed her brother through the halls of the palace over toward the throne room. When she reached the large oak doors to the throne room, the guards on either side pulled them open to allow Twilight and Shining Armor entrance. As she stepped into the room, Twilight saw Geordi standing next the princess. “Geordi? Why are you here?” Realizing her rudeness to the princess, she quickly corrected, “Sorry your majesty. I meant to say, thank you for seeing me.” She bowed her head in respect. “That’s quite alright Twilight. You’ve had quite a day I hear,” said the princess smiling down at her star pupil. Turning back to Geordi, Twilight again asked, "Geordi, I wasn't expecting to see you now. Aren't you still supposed to be on your ship?" Geordi explained, “A little over an hour ago, word had reached the ship that widespread panic had sunk in thanks to Q... err... Discord’s message,” he said to a thoroughly confused pony. “What message? How long have I been out?” “You’ve been unconscious for about three hours now,” Shining Armor said. “About thirty minutes after you disappeared from your friends, a voice spoke from nowhere to the whole of Equestria. The message was aimed at causing widespread panic, to which it succeeded with flying colors.” “What did the message say?” “‘You have been invaded’,” he quoted. “‘Creatures from another world are here to destroy everything you hold dear. Behold the devices they use to spy on you...’" Geordi continued. “At which point all the devices my people had setup became visible, including the outpost in Ponyville. Panic quickly overwhelmed everyon... err... pony. Within two hours, the outpost was discovered, and Commander Riker, who you were supposed to meet up with, was forced to setup a force field to keep the villagers from attacking them. They apparently can no longer transport out. “He communicated his situation to the captain. We attempted to get in contact with you through the communication device we gave you, but there was no reply. We’ve been unable to transport anyone from the surface back to the ship since the announcement, however we found that we could still send people down. So I transported to the location of the device we gave you and was immediately arrested by the guards.” Shining Armor chimed in, “I was in your room waiting for you to regain consciousness when he spontaneously appeared right before my eyes. Heeding the words of the voice, I took this as an infiltration and quickly disarmed him. I reported the incident to the princess who demanded to see him.” The princess picked up the story. “I recognized Discord’s voice immediately when he had spoken to everypony. When Shining Armor told me of the invader, I decided to speak to this stranger and hear his story. He told me of his ship and their own dealings with Discord, whom they call ‘Q’ and the game he is to play with all of us shortly. I am tempted to believe their story. I take it you would agree with this Twilight?” “Yes your majesty,” Twilight responded. “I’ve spoken to the captain of the ship, and he was desperate to prevent the panic that appears, unfortunately, to now be happening. We need everypony to calm down and work together if we are to defeat Discord.” The princess looked around the room. “I would like all the guards to leave the room at once!” The guards looked confused. “Your majesty…” Shining Armor rebutted, “our princess must be protected at all times. We cannot possibly leave you alone with this stranger.” “As your princess I must insist. Leave this room, so that I may confer with Twilight and the stranger privately. Now!” the princess said with an increasing seriousness in her tone. The guards, including Shining Armor, bowed and quietly departed from the throne room. As Shining Armor made his way out, he gave Geordi a look of deep mistrust. However, as he trusted the princess wholeheartedly, he left the room with no further objections, closing the doors behind him. “Now then, ‘Geordi’ right?" the princess confirmed. "Have your sensors been able to pick up the Monoceros particles yet?” “No we haven’t ye–wait a minute!?” Geordi looked at the princess in shock. “How could you possibly…” “You need to modify your sensors to detect particles at the sub-Higgs level. You will need this information to help us,” said the princess as casually as ordering a cup of tea. Turning to Twilight she said, “Twilight, there’s something I need to explain to you. And it can NEVER leave this room, do you understand?” Twilight, whose brain was well beyond processing anything that was being uttered anymore, softly nodded and made the motions of a Pinkie-Promise. “Twilight, you know from your studies that Equestria was founded when the great pony tribes united together to build our world,” the princess said. “Of course,” Twilight said. “We put on a play every year to teach it to the young filly’s and colts. Why?” The princess nodded and smiled. “If Equestria is our world, and this world is the planet you witnessed from the stranger’s ship, then where did the pony tribes come from before Equestria was founded?” Twilight thought for a moment. In all her studies, she never once connected the dots that would lead to this conclusion: “You mean, we came from another planet originally?” “Correct,” said the princess. “Our species roamed the galaxy many millennia ago, exploring the universe, but the four great races, who once worked together, began warring with one another.” Twilight looked confused. “Four? There are only three races that I know of: Earth, Pegasus, and Unicorn.” “Alicorn,” the princess replied. “Alicorns were once a full race with as many as any other pony. Sadly, war triggered great battles in space, and millions were killed. The Alicorn race was all but extinct. “Alicorns were a genetic combination of all three races, created to unite everypony. But a side effect of this genetic manipulation was a form of immortality. The other races grew jealous of our immortality and temporary alliances were formed. They worked together to destroy my kind and nearly succeeded along with themselves. A small group of rebels separated from their own tribes and formed a small united rebel group. They smuggled myself and Luna away from the battle when we were little and fled to a new planet far away from the warring. “They found this planet, barely habitable, but the energy fluctuations made it ideal for hiding. Since Alicorn’s magical abilities are superior to that of ordinary Unicorns, Luna and I used our abilities to create a small paradise in which to live. “We superheated one of its moons, creating a miniature star that would burn for only two million years; a short life for a star, but more than enough for us. Working together with the rebels that saved us, a community was formed that would work together to control the weather, grow food, and build a more peaceful society focused on Love and Friendship…Equestria. History became legend, and legend became the fable of Hearth’s Warming Eve.” The princess finished her story and looked at Twilight who was deep in thought. After a few moments, Twilight finally responded. “So what happened to all the other ponies who were still fighting?” she asked. “Dead... Most of our ships were broken down and used to help build our new home, but we saved one small scout ship. After several years, we sent the ship to see what had come of our species. They found whole planets destroyed. No signs of anypony left. Our new colony was now our only home.” Twilight was still absorbing all the information. This morning, her perspective on the universe was so miniscule compared to what she now knew. Discovering that her people were once, not only as advanced as the strangers, but that they had not even originally come from this planet, was overwhelming. While Twilight continued to silently contemplate things in her mind, Geordi decided to ask some questions now. “Um…your highness?” Geordi asked looking from Twilight to the princess. “If your species once had the ability to explore other star systems and planets, is that why Q–Discord has such an interest in you now?” The princess stared at Geordi with a warm smile but stern eyes. “Alas, I do not know,” she said. “The first time he appeared to us, he brought such chaos to our lands that it took years to undo the damage he brought us. This is now the third time he has brought disharmony to our land, and I do not yet know why.” “The first thing we need to do,” said Geordi, “is to calm the public down and unite our peoples before Discord starts his games. I know you have little more than our word your majesty, but I–” “I understand Geordi,” the princess cut across. “You see, I took the liberty of having your ship’s databanks scanned when you were brought here, which your captain has no doubt discovered by now. I have already learned of your peaceful mission of exploration and your prior dealings with the being known to you as ‘Q’. I shall speak to my subjects here in Canterlot and then travel to Ponyville to help your friends.” Geordi started looking around for any sign of technology that could have scanned the Enterprise. The princess added, “We still have a little technology left Geordi. It’s hidden carefully away. Only a small handful of guards in all of Equestria know about it at any one time.” Twilight snapped out of her trance to speak up. “Before you leave, princess, do you know where my friends are?” “Of course Twilight, they ran into your brother while they’ve been looking for you. He brought them into the palace. They’re waiting in the next room for you to finish your audience with me. Just remember Twilight Sparkle, Geordi,” she said looking from Twilight to Geordi and back again. “Everything that has been discussed here must remain secret. Our race has learned to grow and prosper in peaceful ignorance of our past. History has become legend, and it is best for it to stay that way.” Twilight bowed her head to this command, and Geordi nodded his head in agreement. Princess Celestia looked back to Geordi saying, “Geordi, I realize you will need to give a full report to your captain, but I ask two things: Keep as many details as you feel are unnecessary out of the report, and while you and your team are here on the planet, do not mention anything at all.” “Understood princess. I will keep this information safe,” Geordi agreed to the terms. Looking back to Twilight, the princess said, “Twilight, you may go reunite with your friends now and get them ready. I need to address the fears of everypony here in Canterlot, first. Then we will travel straight to Ponyville. The Royal Air Colts shall get us there posthaste.” Twilight left the throne room and went to reunite with her friends thinking, "What in Equestria am I going to tell them?”