Prologue
The echoing sound of hooves through the empty halls of her palace began to subside. The Princess watched through the large window overlooking the garden as her six little ponies ran from the castle and towards the complex hedge carvings that made up her maze. At the center of which, they expected to find the Elements of Harmony.
“Oh, my dear, dear Princess”, said a voice behind her, “I’m so surprised – I would never have expected you to actually allow them to run into my trap. Or did you actually not realize?”
The Princess shook her head, multi-hued hair flowing in the wind. “Don’t underestimate them, Discord”, she replied, her voice less stern than it had been moments before. “They’ll figure out your game soon enough, and then your little reign of chaos will be over once again.”
The strange creature that had appeared behind her laughed, delightedly. “Oh, Celestia”, Discord replied, “such faith you have in your little subjects. You so remind me of someone that I know, I really must introduce the two of you. Tell me, how do you feel about Earl Grey tea?”
“What are you talking about, Discord?” asked Celestia. Her eyes glanced, almost unbidden, out the window again. Her ponies were almost at the entrance of the maze. If she could distract Discord long enough, they might even make it into the maze.
Celestia knew, without a doubt, two things. First, she no longer possessed the magical power that would be necessary to hold Discord for as much as a minute. She hadn’t had such power for over a thousand years, since the power of the Elements of Harmony themselves were threatened by the corruption visited upon her sister by the Nightmare. The Elements she and her sister had wielded to seal Discord away were gone – their power shattered when she had turned it against itself. They had, of course, reincarnated – she did not believe anything could forever destroy the power of Harmony. But their power now belonged to Twilight Sparkle and her friends.
Twilight Sparkle was the second thing. Her student was smart, probably the smartest pony of her generation. She might well have been the smartest pony since Star Swirl the Bearded. She was sometimes overly earnest in her attempts to earn Celestia’s approval (never once realizing that she had had that for years, since well before she saved Celestia’s sister), and she certainly was naïve in the ways of the world, but there was nothing she could not figure out. Given enough time, she would surely realize the trick that Discord had played on her. And with her friends, she would find the true hiding place of the Elements and this nightmare would be ended before it truly had a chance to begin.
Celestia’s role in this was simple – delay Discord and give Twilight Sparkle the time she needed. And if there was anything over a thousand years of diplomacy had taught her, it was how to stall for time.
“I was asking about tea, of course”, replied Discord. “Here, let me show you. Tea, earl grey, hot”, he said to the air, even as he snapped his fingers. A tea service appeared on a small table, two steaming cups of tea sitting on it. He picked up one of the porcelain cups, sniffing at it. “Jean Luc swears by it, you know. I do think it’s the only thing the man drinks. Why, I don’t think it was his duty, or his ship, or his crew that drove him to resist the Borg – I think it might well have been the fact that the Borg don’t drink tea.”
Her horn glowed, and the other cup floated up towards her. She sniffed it, once, and then took a sip, appreciating the deep flavor of the tea even as she fervently hoped that it wasn’t poisoned. “I see”, she replied, “It is quite nice. This Jean Luc, is he the one who freed you from your prison? If he’s in Canterlot, we could invite him to tea right now.”
She had never truly understood, but even during Discord’s original reign of terror there were ponies who were willing to throw in their lot with him. Most did it out of terror and the desperate hope that if they appeased this creature enough, he would at least allow them to grow food. Folly, of course, since Discord simply didn’t care about the effects his chaos would have upon the world. A rare few, however, did it out of some belief that Discord was the proper ruler of this world, that chaos was the correct state for Equestria. She had thought that later group was more than a thousand years gone. The presence of Discord in front of her argued otherwise.
“Freed me? Oh no, Celestia, you have your own educational ministry to thank for that. Pro tip, my dear – when you encase an immortal being of impossible power in stone, you might want to consider not making him part of the tour. No, Jean Luc Picard is from out there”, Discord continued, waving his hand vaguely towards the sky, “A place you, of course, know nothing about. You’ve been ever so well isolated, after all. Hmm. You know, I think that it is time that that changed. I think Picard would absolutely love to meet you. And Worf! Oh, I can only imagine the look on his face! I tell you, Celestia, I think this will be better than the time I introduced them to the Borg!”
She glanced again. Her ponies were almost there. She had to stall him for just a few minutes more. “The Borg?” she asked, “That’s the second time you’ve mentioned them. Who are they?”
“Someone you should pray, every night, that I never decide to introduce you to. But the Enterprise.. oh, yes I think-“, he stopped. Celestia’s breath caught in her throat as he looked past her, out the window, towards the palace gardens. “Oh will you look at the time. Good try, Celestia, good try – but I’m afraid your student and her friends have a date with destiny. Arrivederci!”
And with a snap of his fingers and a flash of light, she was alone again.
It’s all up to you now, Twilight. Don’t let Equestria down.
Chapter 1
Captain’s Log, Stardate 44135.4
Having finished our refit in the aftermath of the defense of Earth, Starfleet has dispatched the USS Enterprise to the Khitomer system in order to hold meetings with Federation and Klingon delegates. Starfleet wishes to both brief them on the recent Borg incursion and to reassure them that even with the damage to the Fleet done at Wolf 359, Starfleet is still ready to do its duty and maintain the security of the Federation.
In all honesty – I believe this assignment to be a test. Starfleet wishes to ensure that I have recovered from my recent capture by the Borg. If this is the case, I intend to show them that I have.
“No. Computer, delete last part of entry and save.”
The computer beeped once, as the log entry was accepted and written. Captain Jean Luc Picard reached out and picked up the saucer and cup, turning the chair in his ready room to stare out at the distorted star-lines so emblematic of warp travel. He sipped the tea, running over in his mind the planned itinerary of their time at Khitomer. Meetings with dozens of delegates, going over the sensor data and log entries that Starfleet was willing to release. Going over tactical data. Reassuring everyone that Starfleet was capable of presenting a defense against the Borg that didn’t rely on the Captain of the last remaining ship standing between the Borg and Earth being captured and destroying the Borg from inside out. Not the easiest task for one Jean Luc Picard, but potentially the easiest mission the USS Enterprise had ever been sent on.
Which, of course, only made Picard think of other “simple missions” that the USS Enterprise had set out on, only to find things were never that complicated. For a brief moment, his mind settled on one entity that had been responsible for more than one of those complications. Almost imperceptibly, his hand tightened on the cup. He hoped, very much, not to encounter the entity known as Q anytime soon – he had no faith that he could rely on his normal diplomatic skills in the face of an entity whose irresponsibility had directly led to the death of over eleven thousand Starfleet personnel fighting to stop a single Borg cube from tearing the heart out of the Federation.
His contemplation of that battle, and the personal cost he himself bore from it, was interrupted by the sound of the ship’s comm.
“Riker to Captain Picard. Long range scanners are picking up a subspace disturbance, sir, near to our present course. Request you join us on the Bridge.”
One acknowledgment later and Picard was on his feet, the tea left on his desk, his maudlin thoughts about god-like entities forgotten as he walked out of his ready room and onto the bridge. “Report”, he said, simply, as he crossed to the center, command chair and sat down.
“The disturbance appears to be just off our present course, Captain, bearing 010 mark 045. Scans indicate that it has an approximate radius of 14 billion kilometers”, replied Lieutenant Commander Data from the Ops station.
The radius caught Picard’s attention immediately. He blinked, his head coming up. “14 billion kilometers? Are you sure that’s accurate, Mr. Data?” he asked.
“Yes, sir. 14 billion, 62 million, 212 thousand, 423 kilometers, to be as precise as is possible from this distance.”
“14 billion kilometers?” asked Commander William Riker, “I’ve never heard of a subspace disturbance that large before.”
“Nor have I, Number One. I think we’d best have a look at this. Mr. Worf, inform Starfleet Command we’re going to be running late for our planned arrival. Mr. Crusher, set course for the anomaly, Warp 6.”
“Is that wise, Captain?” asked his ship’s Councilor, Deanna Troi, “We are expected, after all, at Khitomer. Some of those delegates are probably nervous about the ability of Starfleet to meet its commitments.”
Picard paused at this for a moment. “Perhaps so, Councilor”, he replied, finally, “But this shouldn’t take us out of the way too badly. And our primary mission has always been one of discovery – this business with the Borg may have forced us to take our eye off of that for the time being, but it should always remain close in our mind.”
She looked at him, and Picard did not have to be Betazoid to know she was weighing this against his mental and emotional state. Finally, she nodded, “Yes, sir.”
A few short hours later, the Enterprise was holding station in front of a bubble in space. It was large enough to be a wall of darkness in front of them, no curvature evident as far as the eye could see.
“Scans indicate the anomaly is a stable bubble in space, sir, approximately the size of the Sol system. I’m picking up indications of mass inside of it approximately equivalent to a single star, a planet, and a moon”, Data said, tapping in commands to his panel.
Picard stood from his center seat, stepping forward, his eyes intent on the murky darkness of the bubble in front of them. “Mr. Data”, he said, “Are you saying there’s an entire star system hidden away in there?”
“Yes, sir. The universe contained within the bubble seems to obey many of the same physical laws and constants as our own. We could, potentially, attempt to make entry into it by using a modification of our own warp bubble.”
Picard considered this for a moment, his hands going down to his sides. It took him only a moment to come to a decision, an event emphasized as his hands jerked his tunic downwards. “Bridge to Engineering. Geordi, I want you to modify the warp engines so that we can attempt entry into this anomaly. How long would it take you?”
“To be honest, sir”, came the voice of the USS Enterprise’s Chief Engineer, Geordi La Forge, “I’ve been setting up the modifications since Data first completed his scan. We should be ready to go in a minute or two.”
“Good work, Commander”, replied Picard. “Mr. Crusher, as soon as Commander La Forge has the modifications ready, move us into the bubble. Nice and slow, and be ready to pull us out if Mr. Data’s calculations are wrong, and this universe isn’t as compatible with us as we thought.”
“Yes, sir”, replied Wesley Crusher. A moment later, he tapped a command into his panel. The USS Enterprise moved forward, nearly imperceptibly.
The murky wall of the bubble didn’t seem to move – it was already filling the view screen. The only sense that the Enterprise was piercing the wall was a sudden shudder that seemed to continue for several minutes. As the shudder continued, Picard came close to ordering the helm reversed. Just as he was about to give the command, though, the shuddering stopped. The view screen cleared, and what Picard saw next left his breath caught in his throat.
A single planet, blue and green, floating in space. At a guess, Class M – life-supporting, if this universe had the concept of life within it. In orbit around it, a moon much as any planet would have. But further away was a yellow star.
And, if Picard wasn’t wrong, “Mr. Data, is that star orbiting that planet?” he asked.
“Confirmed, sir, the planet seems to be the central point of rotation for this star system”, Data replied.
“How is that even possible?” asked Riker, himself standing and moving forward.
“I can only guess that the particular laws and constants of this universe are such that this is the optimal arrangement of a star and planet system, sir. A more certain determination would be impossible without a more detailed study of the quantum underpinnings of this particular area of space”, Data once again replied.
“So much for Galileo?” asked La Forge as he stepped off of the turbolift and moved to one of the aft stations.
“Indeed. Are our warp engines holding up, Mr. La Forge?” Picard asked.
“Yes, Captain. As long as this particular bubble universe remains stable, we should be able to maintain our own warp field for a week. Any longer and we’d want to get out and give the engines a chance to cool off.”
“Very well, then. Mr. Crusher, take us closer to the planet. Establish a high orbit. I want to see if there’s anything down there.”
Crusher entered the commands, and the USS Enterprise slowly moved through the night, heading towards the planet growing in their view screen.
As the planet grew, Data continued to work at his station. “Sir”, he said, finally, “Scans are picking up life on the planet, as well as what appear to be several towns. I’ve been able to focus visual scans on one particular habitation.”
Picard had, by then, sat back down. “Very well, Mr. Data. On screen.”
The view of the planet on the screen disappeared, replaced with what appeared to be the central square of some sort of rustic village. They could see several of what had to be carts, offering various goods and what Picard assumed to be food. The screen fuzzed for a moment, as Data adjusted the magnification, and then focused on one particular stall. And around it, clearly conversing, some of them clearly exchanging goods were…
“Ponies”, said Worf from his tactical console, a tone of disgust clear in his voice.