Where Nopony Has Gone Before

by Kane Magus

Loose Ends

Chapter 13 – Loose Ends

“I ain’t too sure about this, Dash,” said Applejack. She looked down at the white karate gi she was wearing, along with the white belt around her waist. Her hat was hanging on a nearby tree branch, though she wished it was on her head and that the gi was the thing hanging on the branch.

“Aw come on, AJ, it’ll be fun,” said Rainbow Dash, who was wearing her own gi as well. She glanced over at Worf, who was standing nearby in his own mok’bara gi with his hands clasped behind his back. An hour or two had passed since Picard had announced shore leave, and Worf had lost little time in contacting Rainbow Dash, who had, in turn, somehow managed to convince Applejack to get involved as well.

“Well, I ain’t ever needed any fancy trainin’ to hold my own in a fight before,” said Applejack. “Don’t really see why I should start now. I’ve been plenty fine with good ol’ Bucky McGillycuddy and Kicks McGee here.” She lifted each of her hind legs as she called them by name.

“So you say,” said Dash appraisingly. “All right, then, let’s see. Buck me.”

“What?” said Applejack. “Did I hear that right? Ya want me to buck ya?”

“You heard me. Buck me as hard as you can,” said Dash. “Right in the face.”

“Yer crazy, ya know that?” said the orange earth pony. “Are ya that anxious for another visit from that fancy doctor of theirs?” She nodded her head in Worf’s direction.

“Maybe I am,” said Rainbow with a confident smirk on her face. “So let’s see it, if you think you’ve got it. I’m standing right here. Give me your best shot.”

“Well, I don’t know what yer tryin’ to pull,” said Applejack, “but ya asked for it.” With a speed that impressed Worf, the orange pony flipped around, raised her back end off the ground, and lashed out with her hind legs. However, he was fully aware of how this was going to end as soon as Dash had started taunting, and he was right. “Ow!” hissed Applejack, who suddenly found herself planted face down in the dirt.

Rainbow Dash was putting her full weight down on Applejack’s lower back and was holding one of her back legs in a way that was bending it at an awkward angle. Dash was only applying enough pressure to make the hold a bit uncomfortable, but the earth pony knew if the pegasus applied just a bit more force, her leg would snap like a twig.

“All right,” said Applejack gruffly. “Ya made yer point. Now let me up.”

“Two things I observed,” said Worf, as he watched the blue pegasus jump to her feet and then help the orange pony up as well. “First, unless your opponent just happens to already be behind you, you leave yourself wide open while you’re getting into position to deliver your kicks. And second, it is very difficult to keep your opponent in view when you’re facing away from them like that. As you saw, despite your impressive speed, you still gave Rainbow Dash plenty of opportunity to counter your attack.”

Applejack looked a bit embarrassed. “Well, okay, I guess maybe I could use a bit of spit and polish after all.” She turned to Dash and said, a bit petulantly, “But I thought ya were gonna be trainin’ Apple Bloom and Scootaloo and maybe Sweetie Belle if the other two can convince her. I still ain’t too sure how ya’ll managed to rope me into all this anyway.”

“Apple Bloom and Scootaloo are still in school right now,” said Dash. “I’ll get to them when they’re free. I just thought the more the merrier, you know? I might even ask Big Mac if he wants to give it a try later, as well. But… look, AJ, if you really don’t want to do this, you don’t have to.”

Applejack looked at her friend and said, “Well, I don’t know…”

“I can understand if it’s too difficult for you,” said Dash, affecting an innocent tone of voice. “There’s no shame in giving up. Some ponies just aren’t cut out for this sort of thing. I totally get that.”

The orange earth pony’s eyes narrowed. “Ya’ll sayin’ I ain’t got what it takes to keep up with ya, is that it?”

The blue pegasus grinned devilishly. “I don’t know, AJ. That’s up to you. Do you think you have what it takes?”

Applejack mirrored Dash’s grin. “’Course I got what it takes. However…” She turned to Worf. “I think I’d rather train with him. I much more liked the look of your routine from the other day. What’d ya call it again?”

“Mok’bara,” said the Klingon.

“Mok’bara,” repeated Applejack. “It seemed more… down-to-earth than all that fancy high-flying stuff that you were doin’, Dash.” She expected Rainbow Dash to take offense at this and was mildly surprised when the blue pony instead got a contemplative look on her face.

“You know, Worf,” said Rainbow, “I actually wouldn’t mind doing a few of those exercises with you myself. It can’t hurt to know more than one discipline, after all.”

Worf smiled and said, “Yes, I will be glad to teach you. We should have plenty of time for me to at least train you in the basics, anyway. It takes years to fully master, of course. But then, once we open the portal back to the Federation, there’s nothing stopping you from seeking out the teachings of a true master of the art. For that matter, there are many other martial art styles to be learned as well, if you care to try. Even just on Earth, there are other forms such as aikido or judo, or you could seek out a Vulcan teacher of Suus Mahna, among many others.”

“Awesome!” said Dash. “I’ll definitely keep it in mind.” She glanced at Applejack. “Well, there’s no time like the present, I guess. What do you say?”

“I’m more than ready, if you guys are,” said Applejack.

“Very good,” said Worf, “then let us begin.”

---

“So, Data,” said Geordi, as the two of them strolled through Ponyville, “now that we’re down here, where’s this unicorn of yours? I’m looking forward to meeting her.”

“I am uncertain,” said Data. “Perhaps we should ask around.” He shifted the box that he was carrying to his other arm.

“That’s as good an idea as any,” said the chief engineer. “Let’s ask that pony over there. She appears to be a mail carrier, so maybe she can point us in the right direction. Hey! Hey, miss!” He hurried in her direction, as it appeared that she was about to take flight and leave, having just delivered some mail.

The gray pegasus paused and turned to face them. “Are you talking to me?” she asked. “I didn’t lose something again, did I?” She began looking around behind her, checking to see if there was any mail on the ground.

“I do not believe so,” said Data. “Your name is Derpy, is it not? I recall seeing you at the party from a few days ago. You were one of the ponies delivering the food.”

“Yeah, I’m Derpy, and… I’m sorry I almost dropped it,” said the pegasus, hanging her head low. “They always tell me I need to be more careful, and I try, I really do, but things just slip sometimes.” She stopped speaking and stared at them expectantly, as if waiting for them to say something.

“Is there a problem?” asked Data, after a couple seconds of awkward silence.

“Aren’t you going to say something about them?” asked Derpy.

“About what?” said Geordi, tilting his head slightly in confusion.

“My eyes, of course,” said the pony, a hint of frustration and sadness in her voice.

Geordi raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Derpy sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s just that a lot of new ponies make fun of my eyes when they first meet me, or at least make some insensitive comments about them. Even if they don’t mean to hurt my feelings, they still do. I try to stay cheerful, but I get really tired of it sometimes, you know? Just because my eyes look like this doesn’t mean I’m crazy or stupid. So… I just thought I’d go ahead and get it out of the way just this once by bringing it up myself. Get it over and done with and move on to better things.”

“I still don’t understand,” said Geordi. “Do you have any idea, Data?”

“I believe she is referring to her strabismus condition,” said Data.

“Ohhh,” said Geordi, frowning slightly. “I get it now.” He looked down at the gray pegasus. “Derpy, I never would have known if you hadn’t mentioned it. My VISOR doesn’t allow me to see such details. And, trust me, maybe aside from Data here, I’m the very last person who would make fun of someone because of an eye condition.”

“Huh?” said the gray pony. “How come?”

“Well… I’m completely blind myself, Derpy,” said Geordi.

Derpy’s jaw dropped. “You’re… blind? Wha…?”

Geordi pointed to the VISOR on his face and said, “You see this? This is what allows me to see. Without it…” He reached up and removed the device to show her his own, purely white eyes. “…I’m not able to see a thing.” He held down the VISOR for a moment, and then returned it to his eyes.

“Oh… oh, I’m so sorry,” said Derpy, completely abashed. “I didn’t mean…”

“It’s okay,” said Geordi. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I know what it’s like to be teased because of something you can’t do anything about, and I know how frustrating it can get sometimes. I’m Geordi, by the way, and this is my friend, Data. Anyway, we just wanted to ask you for some help.”

“Well, anything you want, just ask!” said Derpy, feeling suddenly cheerful. “I’m your pony! That was my last delivery, so I’m free for the rest of the day, at least until Dinky gets home from school anyway.”

“Thank you, Derpy,” said Data. “Do you happen to know where we could find a unicorn named Lyra Heartstrings? I have something to give to her.”

“Oh yeah, I know where she lives,” said Derpy, nodding enthusiastically. “Her home is on my delivery route, and I was just there a few minutes ago. She lives with Bon Bon, and it’s not too far from here. I can take you there if you want!”

“Lead the way,” said Geordi, motioning with his hand.

They followed the gray pegasus for a while and soon arrived at what Geordi assumed was their destination. He was proven correct when Derpy trotted up to the door and knocked on it. A few seconds later, the door was opened by a cream colored pony with blue/pink hair.

“Oh hello, Derpy,” said the pony. “I didn’t expect to see you again today. Did you forget to deliver something?”

“Hi again, Bon Bon,” said Derpy. “Nah, I didn’t forget anything this time. I’m just here to help these guys out. They’re looking for Lyra.”

Bon Bon’s eyes widened when she noticed the human and android. “Oh, I see. Well, I’ll tell her you’re here right away.” She turned and cupped one of her front hooves to her mouth. “Lyra! You have visitors!”

“Be right there!” was the response from somewhere within the house. Another few seconds later and the green unicorn appeared at the door. When she noticed Data, and especially when she noticed the box he was carrying, she broke into a grin. “Is that what I think it is?” she said excitedly. “Oh, but where are my manners? Come in, come in! You too, Derpy, if you’re free.”

The three visitors followed Lyra and Bon Bon into the living room of the house. Lyra flopped down on the sofa in what, to Geordi, seemed like a rather human-like sitting position, which looked pretty odd for a pony. Bon Bon just rolled her eyes and took a seat next to the unicorn. She sat in a more pony-like fashion.

Lyra gestured to the other free chairs nearby and said, “Have a seat.” After everyone was seated, she looked at Data. “I can’t tell you how excited I am right now!”

Data nodded and said, “Yes, that is evident from your demeanor.” He placed the box on the table in front of the unicorn.

She quickly opened it up and gasped in amazement. “Wow! They’re even more awesome than I thought they would be! You even matched them to the color of my coat and everything!”

“As you requested, they have been designed to work with your magic,” said Data. “However, some testing and minor adjustments may be needed, as I am obviously not very familiar with the intricacies of unicorn magic, aside from what I have observed from similar magic-powered technology.”

“Oh boy,” said Lyra. She lifted one of the hands out of the box with her telekinesis and fitted it onto the end of one hoof. Her horn continued to glow as she flexed the fingers tentatively. Then, a wide grin plastered on her face, she used the hand she was already wearing to reach into the box and grasp the second hand, which she placed on her other hoof. “This is so cool!” she squealed happily.

“I’m sorry,” said Bon Bon, looking at the hands dubiously, “but that has to be the creepiest thing I have ever seen. Still…” She smiled at the unicorn. “…I’m happy for you, Lyra. I know you’ve been dreaming of something like this for a long time.”

“Yeah, this is one of the best days ever,” said Lyra. She jumped up from the sofa and stood upright on her hind legs. “I never thought the day would come when- ack!” She overbalanced and started to fall forward. As she fell, she held out the hands in front of her and automatically opened them so that the palms were facing downward, which she used to catch herself on the table. “So cool!” she said again, grinning up at the others. She pushed herself upright again, but this time she overbalanced in the other direction and ended up in a sitting position on the couch again. “Heh heh, I guess I should have asked you for some human feet as well,” she said. “Ponies just aren’t made for standing upright like that.”

“Hey, I know!” said Derpy. “You should take some lessons with Rainbow Dash! She can teach you how to stand up on your hind legs.”

Lyra turned to face the gray pegasus and asked, “What sort of lessons?”

“She’s trying to start up some karate classes,” said Derpy. “You should have seen her! She was standing upright just like you were just now, but she was doing all these crazy punches and kicks and cool poses and stuff. When I was delivering her mail one day a couple of weeks ago, she offered to teach me and I jumped at the chance.” The gray mare frowned. “I’m not sure what happened, though, but I think I… kind of broke her gym. I don’t know if she’s going to give me another lesson any time soon.”

“You know what? Maybe I’ll do just that,” said Lyra. “And if she takes me in, I’ll tell her you referred me and put in a good word for you, Derpy. Maybe she’ll give you another shot. You want to try it too, Bon Bon?”

“Oh, no,” said the earth pony. “No, no, no. All this walking around on two legs and the deal with the hands and all that stuff is your thing, not mine.”

“Suit yourself,” said the unicorn. She turned back to the guests. “Care to join us for lunch? I made a pair of chopsticks that I’m just dying to try out with these babies.”

“Sure,” said Geordi, nodding politely.

“When in Rome,” said Data, causing La Forge to just shake his head in amusement at the android.

“Got any muffins?” asked Derpy.

---

“This? Right here?” said Dr. Crusher. “This is very nice.” She, Troi, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all submerged up to their chins in a mud bath in Ponyville’s spa.

“Isn’t it, though?” said Rarity. “Fluttershy and I make it a point to come here at least once a week.” She closed her eyes as Aloe began to spread green mud on her face. Shortly afterward, Lotus applied a couple of cucumber slices to her eyes.

“My mother would absolutely adore this place,” said Troi. “If all goes well, perhaps I’ll bring her here someday. After we open the portal, she’ll likely be sent here at some point on official business anyway, so we might as well make the best of it.”

“Oh?” said Fluttershy. “Why would your mother be sent here?”

“She’s the Betazed ambassador to the Federation,” explained Troi. “There will almost assuredly be a delegation of ambassadors from many worlds sent here.”

Rarity sighed. “Applejack was right, wasn’t she? Things are never going to be the same here after we open this portal, are they?”

“Well,” said Crusher, “that will depend on you, of course. Your leaders have every right to tell us to shove off and leave you alone entirely, if that’s what you choose, and we will abide by that. On the other hand, however, you might be able to apply for Federation membership. While you don’t have space flight, which is generally one of the requirements for full membership, I’d bet you’d still be eligible for associate membership at the very least. And I know they’re going to want to assign protectorate status to this world, regardless of whether or not you actually become Federation members.” She smiled up at Aloe and Lotus, as the two twins began to apply the mud facial to her.

“Protectorate status? What does that mean?” asked Fluttershy.

“It simply means that this world would be under the protection of Starfleet,” said Troi. “There would be nothing intrusive, of course, but given that this portal will provide a direct line of travel between here and Earth, assuming Q is telling the truth of course, this will definitely become a high priority region for Starfleet Command. I wouldn’t be surprised if they want to build a starbase in this system at some point as well.”

“It all sounds so very complicated,” said Rarity. “It makes me glad, for once, that I’m not in Princess Celestia’s position. As for me, I just want to see if there will be any buyers for my dresses in your Federation.”

“Well, given what I’ve seen of your work, I’m sure you won’t have any problems with that, at all,” said Troi. She smiled and added, “In fact, I might be interested in updating my own wardrobe before we leave here.”

“Really?” said Rarity. “Well, then, I’ll have to design something extra special for you. Why, I think I’ll even delve into my stock of rarer gems for this one. Oh, the ideas are already beginning to spring to mind. I almost want to leave right this very minute to begin work on it, but… that would be a dreadful waste of this perfectly good mud bath.”

Crusher sighed contentedly. “Yeah… I don’t even think a horta would be able to dig me out of this right now.”

“It really is a wonderful way to spend the day, isn’t it?” said Fluttershy.

“That it most definitely is,” said Troi, tilting her head back as the two spa twins began to apply the mud mask to her face.

---

“What a horrible way to spend such a wonderful day,” said the voice from directly behind Princess Celestia, making her flinch as she was about to begin penning the final letter she needed to send out to the zebra nation concerning the portal.

“Discord,” she said, closing her eyes and slowing her breathing after the momentary shock. “Why are you in my personal chambers? Again, I should say.”

“I much preferred your other room, back in the old palace,” said Pony-Q. “Of course, I only saw it once, briefly, from the balcony outside. You know, even when I had made the palace my own abode during the time of my… madness… I never violated your chambers. It just didn’t seem right, somehow.”

“Yet you violated so many other things during that time,” said Celestia, not turning to look at him. “Again, Discord, why are you here?”

“So it’s Discord, is it? I thought you had resolved to call me Q,” said the burgundy pony. “Finding old habits hard to break, are we? Well, I don’t mind.”

“Discord… Q… whoever you are now,” said the Sun Princess, “I really need to send this last letter out, and you’re distracting me. What do you want?”

“Let me take care of that,” said Pony-Q. He tapped a foot against the floor and the previously blank page was instantly filled with words, each of them written in Celestia’s own style of writing. “Is that suitable?”

Celestia read over the document and furrowed her brow. “It’s… exactly what I would have written,” she said. “How…?”

“Child’s play, my dear,” said the burgundy pony. He reached around her and picked up the letter, ignoring the fact that she shrank back slightly at his invasion of her personal space. He bound the scroll and applied the appropriate seal to it. “I’ll just send this on its merry way.” He held the scroll up in front of him and breathed out a puff of dragon fire onto it, watching as it burnt away and the ashes winked out. He stepped back once again.

Celestia finally turned to face him, but didn’t say anything. She merely stared at him in a mixture of annoyance and… something else.

“I merely wish to talk with you,” said Pony-Q. “The last time I was here, I was most upset, and I don’t think we parted on the best of terms.”

Celestia sighed. “Discord, you corrupted both my sister and me and left us fighting over whether it should be eternal day or eternal night, causing the sun and moon to rise and set at a crazy, breakneck pace. So yes… I would definitely agree with you that we’re not on the best of terms right now.”

“Right now? As in the present?” said Pony-Q. “I was hoping that things would have mellowed out a bit since then. Seriously, Celestia, I don’t want us to be enemies any longer. In fact, I never considered us to be enemies, even during the worst of it all.”

“You tried to kill us,” said the Princess incredulously. “And, according to you, you would have succeeded if your Continuum or whatever you call it hadn’t brought you to heel. I still find it difficult to believe that your powers truly are greater than those of the Elements of Harmony. It is almost unthinkable.”

“Your relics really are incredibly powerful, I’ll grant you that,” said Pony-Q. “But they are indeed but a candle’s flame compared to the heart of the galaxy that is my own power. I’m not bragging when I say that, I am merely stating fact. And yes, while I did try to stop you from using the Elements on me, which would regrettably have ended your life, don’t forget that I also saved your life after you banished Luna to the moon.”

There was the slightest hitch in Celestia’s breathing as he said the last. “No,” she said softly. “I have not forgotten that. After sending my baby sister away, I… I just didn’t care anymore. I knew that the Elements would balk at being used in such a way, and indeed, I felt that horrible wrenching as their essence left me forever. I should have died that night. But… then I felt your presence. It was all around me, healing me. I don’t know how you did it, given that you were still trapped in the statue. And, at the time, I didn’t know why you did it either. I still don’t, really. I wasn’t even sure you still had awareness after your imprisonment…”

Pony-Q looked her deep in the eyes. “My dear Celestia, I was aware of everything. Every night, when you would come out and sit on the bench next to my statue and tell me of your day… that was the highlight of my existence at the time. It was the only thing preventing me from falling back into madness once more, I think. When I saw you lying there on the stone path next to me after Luna was gone… I don’t know what happened myself, or how. All I know is that the thought of your essence winking out forever filled me with absolute terror. I would have done anything to save you, and… apparently I did. Not even the Continuum could understand how I managed to temporarily break the bonds they had placed upon me. And, for that matter, I dare say I very likely would have done the same for you even if I had been successful in breaking your connection to the Elements the first time. Hell, I probably would have even saved your sister as well, even though she hated me, and still does even now.”

“Then why, if you still cared about me so much, did you return to your old ways when you broke out of the statue?” asked Celestia.

Pony-Q sighed. “I thought I made that clear. I was angry that you had taken Luna back into the fold after so short a time had passed. A thousand years. What is that to us? Nothing. She tried to destroy the world! I merely toyed with your little ponies for a few millennia. And yet I was to be trapped in a statue for eternity?”

Celestia closed her eyes as though she felt a migraine coming on. “Discord, please stop. Yes, I know that if Luna had succeeded, the world would have been doomed. But we are talking potentialities here. She could have destroyed the world, but she didn’t, because I stopped her. Who is to say that if she had defeated me and proceeded with her mad scheme that she wouldn’t have come to her senses on her own and returned the world to normality once she realized what she was doing?”

“Then why stop her?” asked the burgundy pony. “Why not just let her darken the world for a while? You could have saved yourself a whole lot of trouble and then would have had the ability to say ‘See, I told you so,’ when she saw what was happening.”

“I couldn’t take that risk, Discord,” said Celestia. “I didn’t want to risk that even one of my little ponies might not survive the ice age that would have followed, or that creatures in other nations would have burned alive in the inferno that would have engulfed the other side of the world. And, well, you were aware of Luna’s state of mind at the time, right? It’s possible that she actually would not have returned to her senses. I was even afraid that she might still be in such a state after she was brought back after a thousand years. Even worse, I was… and still am… afraid that it might have been more than just my baby sister inhabiting her body at the time. If she had been… …still, as I said, it was all just potentialities. What you did, however, was already etched in the stone of time. It had already happened. You needed to be stopped, and we stopped you.”

“And then you stuck me out in your statue gallery and let birds crap on my head for thousands of years,” said Pony-Q. Then he sighed wearily. “Look, my dear Celestia, I really didn’t come here to rehash the past, except insofar as to assure you again that I meant what I said before. My apology was and is most sincere. Listen, I know that it’s a lot to ask of you, but can you forgive me? After all this time?”

Celestia sighed. “You do indeed ask much of me, especially considering what you did to my parents. I… I can’t just forget or ignore what happened.”

Pony-Q lowered his head. “I expected as much.” Then he looked up at her again and said, “I can bring them back, you know.”

“What?!” said Celestia, sharply.

“Your parents,” said the entity. “I can bring them back. Time isn’t as immutable as you think it is. Temporal manipulation is nothing to me. I can make it as though they never left in the first place. Is that what you want? Would that make you happy?”

The Sun Princess stared at Pony-Q for a very long time, saying nothing. Then she slowly shook her head and said, “No. What you propose goes against nature. They are gone. My sister and I have long accepted this. I… I am offended that you would even offer such a thing, but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.” She fixed him with her eyes. “What game are you playing here, Discord? What is your reason for doing all of this? Bringing the human ship here, wanting to open the portal, what do you get out of it all?”

Pony-Q turned his back on her. “Even when I tell you the absolute truth, you still doubt me. You are very much like Jean-Luc in many ways, you know that, Celestia?”

Celestia smiled at this. “Well, I’ve only known him for a very short time, but I believe I will take that as a compliment.”

Pony-Q rolled his eyes, though she didn’t see it as he still had his back to her. “I’m serious. I am not playing any games here. What I get out of this is the connection that is made between you and the humans, and I don’t just mean the literal connection via the portal. I spent so much time among you ponies. A lot of that time was spent being a huge jerk to you, I admit, but even then, I couldn’t help but be impressed by you lot. And though I’ve only spent the tiniest of fractions of that amount of time among the humans, I have also grown to know them as well. That said, both of you are still a great mystery to me in many ways, but there is one thing I do know. Simply put, you have a lot in common with one another. And, given that there have already been connections between you in the past, after a fashion, I decided to take it upon myself to introduce you to one another. That is all, nothing more and nothing less.” He turned to face her again. “If you want anything more from me on the subject than that, then I am sorry as I have nothing more to give you.”

Celestia watched him for a bit more, and then nodded once. “I’m not sure why, or if it’s a wise thing for me to do, but… I believe you.”

“I guess I’ll take what I can get,” said Pony-Q with a sigh.

“There is another issue that concerns me, however,” said Celestia. “Pinkie Pie…”

“Oh?” said the omnipotent entity. “What about her?”

“I have little understanding of what you have done to her, or the transformation she has undergone, but… was it really wise to give her such power?” asked Celestia. “I grant that it was indeed what saved us in the end, but…”

Pony-Q shook his head. “I did nothing to her, except to give her the guidance that she needed to come into her own power. This was not something I gave to her from the outside. She has had this power within her all her life, as did her lineage before her, though never even remotely to the extent to which Pinkie herself has it. Even if I had not sped up the process, I don’t doubt for a moment that she would have eventually realized her power on her own at some point, and probably sooner than later.”

“But… what if something happens to her?” said the Sun Princess. “As you well know, power can corrupt. I have seen it happen…” She looked away momentarily with a rueful look on her face. “I don’t want to see something like that happen again. And this time, if she is as powerful as you say she is, I dare say there wouldn’t be a force on this world that would be able to contain her if something did go wrong, especially since she, herself, is one of the Bearers of Harmony on top of everything else.”

Pony-Q nodded. “Yes, I see what you’re getting at, but you don’t have to worry. I will be personally keeping a close eye on her. Let’s just say that if she begins to act up, it will reflect poorly on me in the eyes of the Continuum, and I could do without that bother. In fact I intend to have a little chat with her about this very topic before I leave.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Pardon me if your promises don’t reassure me, Discord… Q. Still… I suppose that there is nothing that can be done for it now, one way or the other. I shall have to trust that you know what you’re doing.”

Pony-Q looked her in the eye. “Dear Princess Celestia, I have accepted the fact that you can’t forgive me for what I’ve done to you. And I know that even though, deep down, you still do feel something for me, I accept the fact that you will never feel the same as you once did, all those millennia ago. I… suppose that’s for the best, in the end. Still, while I know that we will probably never again be close, I do hope that we can at least part more amicably than last time?”

Celestia gave him a half-smile and said, “Yes, I suppose we can at least do that much. Although you still seem to sow chaos in your wake even now, at least this time you didn’t cause my ponies any undue harm, not directly anyway. And, in your own way, you did help us to overcome this situation, even though, again, the whole thing was brought on by your arrival here in the first place.”

“Again, I’ll take what I can get,” said Pony-Q, with a half-smile of his own. “Besides, my dear Celestia, I never said that I would be leaving you forever. I may just return again, someday.” In a burst of light and sound, the burgundy pony was replaced by the draconequus form that Celestia knew so well. “And when I do, I may even decide to resume this form, just for old time’s sake. And so, I won’t say goodbye. I’ll simply say… ‘See you later.’” His half-smile became a full grin. With a jaunty wave, Discord disappeared in a second burst of light and sound.

Celestia watched the space he had occupied. She considered his final words and honestly couldn’t decide whether she was dreading it or actually looking forward to it.

---

“And here it is,” said Twilight Sparkle with a flourish of her hoof, “the Ponyville library. Yeah, I know it’s not nearly as big as the one you made for me on the ship.”

Commander Riker surveyed the large room and nodded in appreciation. “Maybe not, but it definitely has a charm to it that the one the computer made lacked. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the holodeck, it is that no matter how impressive the facsimile, nothing quite compares with the real thing. In most cases, anyway.”

“In most cases?” asked Twilight.

“Well,” said Riker, a bit hesitantly at first, “there… was this time when the ship was undergoing some maintenance and upgrades at Starbase 74, under the hands of some people from a race called the Bynars. One of the things they did was to enhance the holodecks. And… it was because of this that I met Minuet.”

The unicorn raised an eyebrow. “Minuet? Who’s that?”

“She was part of a plot by the Bynars to hijack the ship,” said Riker. “They were somehow able to create a holodeck program so incredibly lifelike that it was difficult to tell the difference between her and a real woman. And… what a woman she was…” He got a faraway look in his eyes for a moment, but when he noticed how Twilight was staring at him, he coughed and said, “Sorry.”

Despite everything that they’d talked about the night before, Twilight still found herself blushing and feeling the slightest tinge of unwarranted jealously, for which she mentally kicked herself. She tried to divert the subject by asking, “Well, did it work?”

“Did what work?” said Riker, still a bit lost in thought.

“Their attempt to take over the ship, I mean,” said Twilight.

“Yeah, it did,” said the first officer. “Both the Captain and I were in the holodeck when it happened, and had been completely cut off from the rest of the ship, communication-wise. Everyone else had been tricked into evacuating the ship due to a fake containment breach in the warp drive. After that, the Bynars successfully took control and brought the ship to their homeworld. Captain Picard and I finally became suspicious when Minuet kept trying to keep us from leaving the holodeck, so we finally realized something was going on. When we confronted the Bynars, we learned that their intentions were not malicious. They were merely trying to save their homeworld. Even so, stealing a starship is pretty serious business.” Riker sighed sadly. “For me, however, the worst thing about it was that when I returned to the holodeck later, Minuet was… gone. I was never able to bring her back after that.”

“Why not?” said Twilight, not all that thrilled that the topic had drifted back to the holodeck woman again. “What happened?”

“The computer just couldn’t recreate her,” said Riker. “I suppose after their plan had been accomplished, all of the reprogramming that they’d set in place for hijacking the ship was removed, and this included Minuet, sadly. It really felt like losing someone, you know? I mean, I know she was never real in the first place, but…” Once again, Riker noticed the look on Twilight’s face. “I… I’m sorry, Twilight. I wasn’t thinking. I should have realized this would have been something of a poor conversation topic, especially after everything we talked about last night.”

“No,” said Twilight. “It’s not your fault. I’m the one who should-” Before she could finish what she was saying though, there was a pink burst of light and party cannon sound in their midst and suddenly Pinkie Pie was there with them.

“Hey chums, why so glum?” said the pink pony as steamers and confetti flittered to the ground around her.

“Gah!” Twilight was staring wide eyed at her. “Pinkie, what the hay?! You almost gave me a heart attack!”

Pinkie picked a stray bit of confetti out of the unicorn’s mane and said, “Sorry for bursting in like this, but I just happened to be passing by outside and I felt some seriously negative energy flowing out of this place. So, of course, I just had to pop in and see what was up and if there was anything I could do to make it better.” She looked back and forth between Twilight and Riker and she broke into a grin. “Aha! I know what this is all about, and I know just the thing.”

“What are you talking about?” said Twilight nervously. She still wasn’t even remotely accustomed to the fact that her friend was now essentially a being just like Q. Pinkie bent her head in close to Twilight’s ear, cupped a hoof near it to keep Riker from hearing, and started whispering.

“What?!” said Twilight, her eyes widening even more than before. “No, Pinkie! You can’t do that!”

“Sure I can,” said the party pony. “Just watch!”

“No, wait!” shouted Twilight, but Pinkie had already tapped the floor with a hoof.

Twilight disappeared in a pink burst of light. When the light faded, there was a human girl standing in her place.

“See?” said Pinkie. “I even remembered the clothing this time.”

Twilight looked down at herself in her new human form. She was wearing a light purple tee-shirt which had her cutie mark emblazoned across the chest, over which was a darker purple, unbuttoned denim jacket. She was also wearing a layered denim skirt of similar colors that came down to her knees. On her feet was a pair of dark purple Mary Janes, as well as a pair of light purple socks, the tops of which disappeared somewhere high beneath the skirt. The human girl looked at Pinkie Pie with eyes wide with fright. “What have you done, Pinkie?”

“What does it look like, silly?” said Pinkie. “I turned you into a human just like I said. Don’t worry, I’ll change you back in a bit, but you should take advantage of it while you have the chance.” The pink pony nodded her head toward Riker a couple of times and wiggled her eyebrows. “Eh? Eh?”

Twilight shook her head furiously. “Pinkie Pie, no! This is not cool! I want you to-whoa!” She had started to take a step forward but managed to trip herself with her own unfamiliar human feet. Luckily, Riker was there to catch her before she fell. She looked up at him and when she realized that she was blushing madly even in the midst of her shock, it only made her that much more upset. “T-thanks. Please, can you help me to the chair over there?” Riker nodded and did as she asked before turning to Pinkie Pie.

“I was afraid something like this might happen,” he said, his voice firm with indignation on Twilight’s behalf. “Pinkie Pie, I know how you feel right now. You feel like you can do anything you want. And for what it’s worth, that’s probably a justified feeling, because you very likely can do exactly that. It’s a very intoxicating one, I know that much. I felt it myself when Q gave me a taste of it. But what you have to realize is that just because you can do something like this, it doesn’t mean that you should do it.”

Pinkie frowned. “But… but I just wanted to make Twilight feel better.”

“Does it look like she feels better to you?” said Riker. He wasn’t being deliberately unkind, like he would have been with Q himself, because he knew that Pinkie’s heart was in the right place, but his tone of voice made it more than clear that he did not approve of this. He looked down at Twilight. With his hands still resting on her shoulders, partially entwined in her purple/pink striped hair, he could easily feel her shivering at the shock and fear of suddenly being in an unfamiliar body, though he had a feeling that the fear might be partially directed a bit more outward at the moment as well.

“P-pinkie, I know you meant well,” said Twilight, her voice quavering through unfamiliar vocal chords, even though it mostly still sounded like her voice as a pony. “But... I don’t want this. Change me back into a pony. P-please?”

Pinkie looked back and forth between Riker and Twilight. “I… I’m sorry, Twilight,” she said, hanging her head low and closing her eyes. “I’ll turn you back to normal right this minute.” In yet another burst of pink light, the purple-attired human disappeared and was replaced with the familiar purple unicorn.

Twilight sighed in relief. She started to say something, but then she got a better look at her friend. Neither she nor Riker could hear anything, nor could they see her face because she still had her head bowed, but they could tell from the way Pinkie’s shoulders were shaking that she was sobbing silently.

“Pinkie? What’s wrong?” said Twilight. When the pink pony raised her head, the look on her face broke Twilight’s heart.

“I knew this would happen,” said Pinkie Pie, her voice hitching and real tears streaming down her face. “I even warned Q that this would happen when he first told me about my powers. I told him that I’d lose all my friends. That you’d all be scared of me and hate me.” Twilight noticed with horror that the curls in Pinkie’s mane and tail were starting to unravel. Her thoughts drifted back to the nearly disastrous surprise birthday party that they’d thrown for Pinkie over a year ago. She remembered the rage in the normally perky pony’s voice as she had lashed out at all of them. She also recalled the worry in Rainbow Dash’s voice when the pegasus had later secretly confided in Twilight about what Pinkie had been up to when Dash had found her alone in her room.

“Oh, Pinkie Pie,” said Twilight, rushing over to her friend and nuzzling her. “I don’t hate you at all! How could you possibly think such a thing?”

“But you are scared of me,” said Pinkie miserably.

“It… it was just a momentary shock,” said Twilight. “T-that’s all.”

“Don’t lie to me,” said Pinkie, new sobs starting to overtake her again. “You know how much I hate that. And I know you know that, because you’re thinking about it right now. I’m a freak now, remember? I can read every thought in your head and sense every emotion you’re feeling. You’re remembering my birthday party and are worried that I might go crazy again like I did then. And you’re worried about how angry I might be because Rainbow Dash shared my secret with you, but you are trying not to think about how much worse it all might be this time since I now have the power to reshape reality. You’re scared to death of me and what I’ve become. I… I’m a monster now. I should move to the Everfree Forest, but I won’t because I don’t want to scare Zecora and Steven away. Maybe I could move out to the desert… no, then I’d scare the buffalo away. M-maybe I should leave with Q and live in his Continuum, if they’ll have me.”

Twilight felt tears stinging in her own eyes. “Pinkie Pie… if you truly can sense what I’m feeling, then you have to be able to feel how very much I love you. You’re one of my best friends. You were the very first pony I spoke to when I arrived in Ponyville. You went out of your way to make me feel welcome here and I will never forget that, even if I didn’t really appreciate it at the time. While I may indeed feel a tiny bit of… apprehension… at the news of your newfound powers, I’m sure that will pass soon enough, and it will never, ever overpower the bond of friendship I have with you.”

“That bond was with the old Pinkie Pie though,” said the pink earth pony. “You know, the one who didn’t have reality warping powers.”

“Pinkie, just last night, you used those very powers to save my life,” said Twilight. “And you saved all of us from the Borg. It’s not inherently a bad thing that you have them.”

“And yet, now,” said Pinkie, her sobs renewing once more, “I’m using them on you for trivial things, against your will. I guess it’s just in my nature to be a stupid, frivolous little pony. It was in that Gabby Gums article the other day, and even Fluttershy said the same thing, and it’s all true! I’m sorry, Twilight, I’m so sorry! I just wanted to make you feel better, but I royally screwed everything up. I’m just a freakish monster who doesn’t deserve friends like you and the others!”

“Oh, Pinkie…” said Twilight, her own voice choking up at her friend’s distress.

A fourth voice suddenly spoke from all around them within the room. “Pinkie Pie, you are not a freakish monster.” With a burst of white light and sound, Pony-Q was in the room with them. “And I have to say that it is insulting that you would think of yourself that way. What does that say about me?”

Riker, who had remained silent after Pinkie’s breakdown, sighed with heavy exasperation at the new arrival. “Q, this is probably not the best time…”

“On the contrary, Riker,” said Pony-Q, not even deigning to look in the human’s direction, “it appears that I’m already too late. It seems that Pinkie Pie has already done something that was probably perfectly harmless but which nonetheless frightened you frail mortals right out of your feeble little minds, am I right?”

“I turned Twilight into a human,” said Pinkie Pie.

“Oh please,” said the burgundy pony with a derisive snort. “See? What did I tell you? It was completely innocuous.”

Pinkie sighed and lowered her head again. “But… I did it without her permission and against her will. It was wrong.” She looked Twilight in the eyes and said, “I’m so very sorry. I only wanted to make you happy. Can you ever forgive me?”

Twilight smiled and said, “Of course I forgive you, Pinkie. Don’t worry about it. Like I said it was just a momentary shock, that’s all. If I’m still feeling a bit… nervous… about your new powers, well, that’s a problem with me and one that I’ll just have to work through myself. Don’t feel so bad, Pinkie. I know your heart was in the right place.”

“Oh Twilight…” said Pinkie, trying to curtail her sobbing.

“Oh spare me,” muttered Pony-Q, rolling his eyes. “Listen, Pinkie. I came here because we need to have another little… chat, and this incident makes it clear that we should have had it sooner.” He looked at Riker and Twilight pointedly and added, “In private, if you don’t mind?” When the unicorn and the human merely glared at him, he said, “All right, fine. Have it your way. Come along, Pinkie.” He tapped a foot on the ground and both he and Pinkie Pie disappeared in a white burst of light and sound.

“Pinkie!” shouted Twilight. “Oh no, oh no, this can’t be good! Did you see the look in his eyes?!”

Riker nodded, and the edges of his mouth turned downward. “He did seem a bit more annoyed than normal. I can’t say I understand what he’s thinking, even in the best of times.”

“But even worse,” said Twilight, “is the state that Pinkie herself was in.”

“Yeah, I noticed that…” said Riker. “Her hair suddenly went lank, and if my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me, it seemed that her colors were fading out as well. What does that mean?”

“It means that she’s in a terrible state of mind right now,” said Twilight, pain in her voice. “Oh, this is all my fault! I tried my best to make her feel better, but… I shouldn’t have let my fright show so much at the start. I shouldn’t have snapped at her like I did. I should have just played along with it. I should have…” She looked at Riker and then the intense emotions from the past few minutes finally proved to be too much, and Twilight sank down to the floor and started sobbing, rather similar to how Pinkie was earlier. “Now she thinks I’m terrified of her and that I hate her! It’s not true at all!”

“Twilight,” said Riker, kneeling down next to her. “You can’t blame yourself for this. It caught you out of the blue. Nobody would have reacted well to suddenly being changed into an entirely new lifeform like that.”

“She was just trying to help,” said Twilight. “It’s just that I think she doesn’t really understand this sort of thing… any more than I do, to be honest. She just… well, I don’t know what she thought I should do once I was a human…”

“It’s okay, Twilight,” said Riker, absently stroking her mane with his fingers in an attempt to calm her down. “Everything is going to be fine. I’m sure Q will bring Pinkie back safe. I don’t think he was truly angry with her, just somewhat irritated. Hopefully, his little ‘chat’ will be just that, and nothing more.”

Twilight closed her eyes and sighed. “That feels really nice. You know, when you caught me as I tripped earlier, there was a very brief second there while you held me in your arms that I deluded myself into thinking… hoping… that you were about to…”

“To…?” said Riker, though he had a feeling what Twilight was implying.

Twilight rose up on her forelegs, tilted her head up toward him and kissed him softly on the lips. At the mild surprise on his face, she started blushing again and turned her head away from him. “I’m sorry. I… really shouldn’t have done that. I know you don’t feel the same way about me. I’m… not in a very clear state of mind right now. Again, I apologize. It’s just that you’ve been so nice to us all and to me in particular. It’s going to take some effort… and the way you’re still stroking my mane there really isn’t helping me to clear my head… though far be it from me to tell you to stop, mind you.”

Riker cleared his throat and stood up, with Twilight rising to her own feet a few moments later. “Sorry. Er… well, I’m glad you’re feeling better now, at least. And… well… one little kiss isn’t going to hurt anything, right? But… yeah… for now I think we should focus on the situation with Pinkie Pie.”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, I agree. I’ll go and gather my friends and we’ll try to think about a way to deal with this. We can’t let Pinkie keep thinking the way she is now. Powers or not, she’s still our friend, and I know that none of them would want her to feel this way any more than I do. I just… hope we actually get a chance to tell her.”

“I will return to the ship, then,” said Riker. “We’ll scan the planet and the rest of the star system and see if we can detect them anywhere. That said, I wouldn’t put too much hope in us finding them until Q is good and ready to be found again. The best we can hope for is that Q will return her back here safe and sound. I doubt he would do something so brash as to harm her or… worse, especially given that he was the one who taught her how to use her new powers in the first place. It’s simply not his style, at least based on everything we do know about him.”

“I really hope you’re right,” said Twilight. She smiled and added, “Thanks again for all your help.” She turned and started for the door of the library, on the way to find her other friends.

“Don’t mention it,” said Riker, with an answering smile of his own. He tapped his combadge. “Riker to Enterprise. One to beam up.”

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[Kevin Lee]

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Lyra: "♪♫"
Bon Bon: "Mr. Data! What have you done!? You've just unleashed a MONSTER! Now, I have to come out of RETIREMENT!"
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Geordi: ""
Derpy: "Muffin?"