Let the games begin!
Let the games begin!
"Captain's Log, Stardate 44165.1:
It has been three days since Q’s announcement of the game he intends to play, and he has at least kept his word by giving us the full three days to prepare. In the past, Q has never allowed such time for preparations, which leads me to believe that his game will be that much more challenging. I have done all I can to prepare short of going to the surface myself.
All civilian personnel and their families have been evacuated to the saucer section, which was successfully detached from the rest of the ship. Despite Q's hold on the Enterprise, preventing it from leaving orbit, the saucer section was successfully able to break orbit and start heading for Starbase DS4, where they can arrange for a tow back to the starbase. We will rendezvous with them at DS4, once we are able to do so.
After detecting a scan of our ship coming from the surface, we had begun a preliminary investigation into the energy source of the scan until Lieutenant Commander LaForge informed me of the technological level previously held by the pony society, and how they had given it up for a simpler, more peaceful lifestyle.
The princess has provided Geordi with usable information regarding the source of the unicorn’s abilities and how to manipulate them. She has been working with Geordi, in communications with Engineering, to modify the sensors to detect these ‘Monoceros particles’. When the sensors were brought online it revealed a fascinating discovery. Monoceros particles are actually quite abundant in space but are heavily concentrated in this particular system and on the planet below. This could account for the ‘anomalies’ that have been observed here.
The unicorn ponies appear to collect these particles via their horn in order to use their ‘magical’ abilities. The particles are found throughout the environment, however higher concentrations appear to radiate from the unicorns' horns in an almost glowing effect when they're being used. The particles also tend to follow the unicorns in their wake, leaving a trail behind them. In addition, we have detected the same wake in all the areas of the ship where Q has been recently.
This leads to a correlation which would suggest that the source of Q’s ‘god-like’ powers may be the very same as these unicorns. Our Engineering team is currently working on a way to negate the particles, potentially rendering Q powerless.
The research, thus far, has led to the development of a Monoceros Particle Shield, which we believe is capable of preventing Q from eavesdropping any further. All plans, meetings, and communications are now being conducted under these fields and similar fields have been created by the unicorns on the ground for their own preparations.
It would appear that the details of the ponies’ preparations are rather vague and at best, almost whimsical. I am not entirely sure what their intentions are, and I believe that certain details are being deliberately kept secret even under the field for an as of yet unknown reason. We will know within the next few hours whether either of our preparations will be effective or even relevant to Q’s game.”
* * *
Captain Picard finished his log entry and turned off the particle shield he had been using while making his entry. He then headed for the battle bridge. Entering the bridge, the captain ordered, “Report.”
“All preparations in place here and on the ground, sir,” Lt. Cmdr. Data replied.
“Good, good. Now we’re just waiting on…”
“Me?” Q said stepping onto the middle of the bridge from nowhere. He was in his human form wearing his matching Starfleet uniform. Today his pins reflected the rank of Admiral.
“You,” the captain continued finishing his sentence; his tone matching the look of anger that had instantly appeared on his face. “Well Q, let’s get this over with, but first the rules if you please. And they had better be fair and surmountable!”
“Now since when have you known me to play fair Jean-Luc?” Q answered with a puzzled look on his face. “I don’t see any reason to start now.”
The captain was already starting to lose his patience. “Damn it Q, your games have been known to cost lives! I will not stand by and watch one of my officers be killed for your amusement!”
Q gave a small laugh. “Come now, Picard. You know I haven’t actually killed any of your crew. They died in their service to God, King, and Country!” Q stood at attention saluting the fallen heroes.
The captain was growing weary. “Alright Q, let’s get this over with. What are the terms?”
Q’s smile didn’t lower a muscle. “Now, now Jean-Luc. Remember this isn’t your game…It’s theirs!” he said gesturing toward the main viewer, which currently had Equestria’s view from the ship displayed. “And we should really have this conversation in person with them, no? But first I think I need a change of wardrobe, don’t you? As much as I love looking like a soft pink mammal in uniform for your delight, I’ve always preferred a certain amount of randomness in my attire. After all, you creatures are all interchangeable anyway, right?”
As he finished his sentence, his body started morphing into the creature known as Discord to the locals, with one exception. He was still wearing his Starfleet uniform over his now furry chest. “There we are,” Discord said admiring his chaotic form. “Now I’m ready for the Ball! And Picard…kudos on the new particle shield. I won’t say if it will be of any use, but you may have finally found one tiny miniscule piece of the grand scheme of the Continuum...or not!”
With a flick of his fingers, Discord and Captain Picard vanished from the battle bridge and off the ship entirely.
* * *
The princess had been working side-by-side with Twilight and Geordi almost non-stop over the last few days. It was unheard of to have the Princess interact regularly with lower subjects for an extended period of time, let alone doing manual labor.
Secretly though, the princess enjoyed these rare opportunities where she could work like a commoner for a short while without her guards demanding, "Such work should never be done by royalty!" These unusual circumstances allowed her room to insist on helping directly. Twilight also relished the past several days getting time to work side-by-side with the princess...like equals...like friends even.
Their plans were being coordinated in the outpost that had been previously set up by Riker and the away team, prior to its discovery by the town. Geordi had been using Twilight’s magic to record, collect, and manipulate the monoceros particles. Troi had left the town with the evacuees to ensure their safety and maintain contact.
Pinkie Pie and Commander Riker had exchanged their coordination efforts and plans, much to the chagrin of Riker, who was not amused by Pinkie’s childish and hyperactive nature.
Several communicators were lent out to specific ponies to assist with communications. Based on the circumstances, the added damage to their culture in providing these communicators was minimal, as they could be locked onto and beamed away at the conclusion of Q’s game.
The princess also recommended bringing in the Red Guard to help. The Red Guard was Equestria’s Elite force of guards hand-picked by its captain. They were the closest thing to warriors that the palace could provide. The guard consisted of Earth, Pesagsi, and Unicorn ponies working together as one unit. They were a secret to the general public and the only guards who were allowed to be trained in lethal combat. Its unicorn soldiers were the only unicorns in Equestria entrusted with the secret ability to kill using magic.
The princess never wanted a standing army. To maintain such an army could only result in war. However, this small squad of around twenty ponies would be kept at all times in cases of emergency. As the princess could not be sure of Discord’s true intentions, the Red Guard had been called in to lend its support if needed.
Its leader, a tough bulky unicorn named Captain Orilius Torus, was on average two heads taller than any other pony, with thick black fur and a silver mane. His eye color was a deep crimson. His cutie mark was anything but; two crossed unicorn horns over a curved blade.
The Red Guard arrived in Ponyville and had setup their own positions and strategy independently from the rest of the group. When Riker first met the captain of the Red Guard, he knew right away this captain did not trust them and wanted to protect Equestria on their own. While Riker would have preferred a more open collaboration with the Red Guard, they settled on providing Capt. Torus with a communicator to stay in contact once the games began.
The princess, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Geordi and Riker were all continuing to work under the protection of the particle barrier, when Discord and Captain Picard appeared before them. “Well well, my little ponies! My have we been busy. Would you care to lower your shield and talk, or shall I just…” He took a step right through the barrier. It appeared to have zero effect on him. “…walk right on through,” he said with a wide grin.
“Discord!” grunted the princess, her nostrils flaring upon seeing him enter through the barrier. She beat her hoof on the ground to further express her frustrations with the creature before her.
“Yes indeed, princess. Would you care to go for the bonus round or just bow out now?” he mockingly asked, relishing in the princess’s anger.
“Twice you have brought chaos to my lands, and twice you have been thwarted! No matter what, this ends today!” the princess bellowed at him.
“Temper, temper your highness. But you are quite right in fact. Today IS the final day for one of you!” Discord’s laughter was growing louder and more agitating to those who were present.
“The game goes as follows, Celestia: Two teams will do battle. One will win the right to exist; the other shall be wiped from existence. Sound fair?” he asked gingerly strolling around the outpost as he spoke.
“You can’t expect us to fight each other!” Twilight suddenly shouted out to Discord, “We’ve bonded together now! We are allies, NOT enemies! You’re little trickery didn’t work!”
“Oh-ho Miss. Sparkle! So lovely to see you again. I don't know how true your statement actually is, but yes, you are quite right in that I will not be pitting you against each other. It would be too boring to the point of cliché. So…meet your new enemy!”
With a wave of his hand, an army of around one thousand soldiers appeared all around them. Their faces were sunken with slimy gray skin and four small, beady black eyes set apart in groups of two on an inward angle down towards the slits where their nose would have been. There was no hair to be found on the tops of the heads of those not wearing helmets. They had two thick hairy legs with hooves at the ends, like a monstrous version of a faun. Their bodies were lined with thick, heavy armor each individually decorated with anything from blood stains, to bones, to painted symbols across their breast plates. They were a warrior species, much like Klingons though much more primitive; bred for battle.
“Behold your enemy!” Discord yelled into the crowd of soldiers. Many of the soldiers laughed and started sharpening their weapons, most of which were large swords and battle axes. Discord looked back to Picard, Twilight, and Princess Celestia. “You see, one of you two races will be extinct by the end of the day,” he said with a cold calmness as though he were talking about picking which cake he wanted to partake in.
A sudden realization struck the captain. “You mean, these creatures are not your creation, Q?”
Discord laughed again. “Why should I need to do all the work? These handsome fellows call themselves the Bratak, a species which probably should be eradicated from the universe. They currently reside on a world slated for destruction by a massive meteor on its way in a few days. I decided to take a page out of your book Picard, and try to be more noble and help a poor helpless species. I offered them a chance to continue living their pathetic existence in exchange for a small favor: eliminating all of you!”
“Q, or Discord, or whatever you’re calling yourself these days. You cannot do this. These ponies know nothing of war! It would be a slaughter!” yelled the captain, desperate for a change to his game plan.
“I’m afraid the pieces are already in motion. Now, allow me to introduce you to the Bratak Leader, Ramzel 127,” he said pointing to an empty space instantly filled by an even larger and more grotesque warrior who looked as though he could have completed this task entirely on his own.
“Incidentally, you may want to note the 127 is a title to match his personal kill count as it were.” Discord smiled again in such a way that made Picard have to restrain himself from breaking his jaw.
“So the rules are simple. The two armies will start at opposite ends of the map, by which I mean Ponyville. Your leaders will remain in their home bases. Princess your home base shall be the Ponyville library, which I believe is Miss. Sparkle’s current residence. The Bratak home base has been setup on some rotting old farm on the outside of town. I didn’t have enough concern to see if there was anyone still living there, so I do hope there’s nopony there when the Bratak arrive.”
He gave a maniacal laugh that sent shivers down Twilight’s spine. She hoped Applejack and her family were all safe.
“Each leader must remain in their home base at all times. For this particular game, I’ve decided to make it more fun and make the leaders NPC’s or ‘Non-Player Characters’. You won’t be able to contact your people, and they won’t be able to contact you. If either leader is captured or killed, their people will be eliminated. And his includes you too Picard!”
The captain looked confused. “I thought this wasn’t my game?”
Discord stared at the captain. “Ah yes, captain, quite true. However since you decided to stay rather than taking my earlier advice and leaving, and since you have so graciously allied yourself with these ponies, you are considered fair game. It wouldn’t be very fair if your people didn’t play for similar stakes, right?”
Picard did not like the sound of that. “What do you mean Q?” he demanded.
“Just that if you are captured or killed during our little game, you will need to pay a price as well.”
“You can’t mean to wipe out the human race, Q? The Continuum would forbid it!”
“Quite right you are mon capiton, however since you are not the main leader as we’ve already established, perhaps a lesser penalty would be more prudent? Shall we say, all the men, women, and children currently on-board or docked at Starbase DS4?”
The captain had to step back. “Q, why are you doing this? This level of violence is too much even for you! You are intentionally starting a war!”
Discord’s smile finally faded. Leaning in so that he was mere inches from Picard’s face, he very quietly whispered, “This is beyond my control Picard. I’m afraid you don’t have a choice.”
Stepping back, he renewed his crooked smile. “Now that we’ve established the rules and met the contestants, I think we’re ready to start the fun! Let the games begin! ...And may the best pets win!”
In a flash, the soldiers vanished, probably teleported to their home base. Picard and Princess Celestia had also vanished, most likely to the Ponyville library. Twilight, Pinkie, Geordi and Riker remained behind at the outpost. Looking at one another, they nodded in agreement. Each tapping a comm. badge they carried, they began to issue orders.
“Twilight to Rainbow Dash,” Twilight called into her communicator.
“Rainbow here, go ahead,” she replied.
“Looks like Discord’s plan is to get us to battle another race. We’re going to need massive air support. How fast can you change our mega-cloud to produce lightning strong enough to bring down about a thousand buffalo-sized warriors?”
Rainbow dash took a few seconds to reply. “That’s a tall order Twi. But leave it to me and I’ll have our cloud plan with 20% more lightning bolts in 10 seconds flat!”
Twilight let a slight chuckle escape from her lips. “Heh, Sounds good. Twilight out.”
Riker meanwhile had contacted Worf. “…Worf, they mean to have us fight! These ponies are not prepared for this kind of fighting. We’re going to need more experienced fighters to assist.”
“Understood,” came Worf’s reply standing by a pavillion not too far from the forest. Tapping his communicator, he said, “Worf to the bridge.”
“Bridge here sir. Go ahead.”
“I require six security teams to beam down heavily armed, throughout the town. Tell them to be expecting a war and do not transport down anywhere near the farm just outside of the town.”
“Yes sir, I’m on it. Is there anything else you need sir?”
“Now that you mention it…”
Within a few moments, a Klingon Bat'leth had materialized directly in front of Worf. Grasping the handles with both hands, he slowly maneuvered the weapon around himself, warming up before the battle was to begin.
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And so it begins!
Big news for next week:
The Battle of Ponyville (Monday 10/29)
And the first chapter of my new story based on Chapter 6, and because of popular demand:
"The Great Pony War: The Legend of Hearth's Warming Eve" (Friday 11/2)
Heads will 'splode!
Apologies for the massive number of typos last week
Shoutouts to those who caught some of them for me:
GraphicalError, Stelith, and XCABAL
Well done, I can't wait to see where this goes! And I must say, even though it is quote/unquote Evil, it fits the darker side of Qchord.
Well done, I can't wait to see where this goes! And I must say, even though it is quote/unquote Evil, it fits the darker side of Qchord. As for the other story, I must say I'm excited!
this is going to be good.
'Monoceros'. Cute.
Wikipedia quote.
"The monocerus is a legendary animal with only one horn. It derives from the Greek word Μονόκερος, a compound word from μόνος (monos) which means one and κέρας (neuter gender, keras) which means horn. Although the name has been applied to a variety of genuine and mythological animals, it is usually applied to the unicorn[1] or rhinoceros."
1486379
Indeed! I've been putting random nuggets of mini-jokes and references throughout the chapters and I never know if people ever catch them. You've earned a yay and a mustash!
Finally, we get to the good parts!
Also, glad to hear that you're doing up the Origin of Heart's Warming Eve, but I must say, will the general population ever know of their true origins in the future, cause I feel that they should, since I know either way, Celestia can't keep this info on ice forever. Either they find out by accident or fate, or the Alicorn return to Equestria and tell them anyways. That's my two cents.
1486607
You may be correct and she may one day have to tell them, but based on the plot, I feel that that would be best left for another tale.
...I hope Starbase DS4 is in the same system as Equestria, because the saucer section only has sub-light impulse drives.
I suppose getting as far away as possible from Q's shenanigans is a good idea, but they don't have the cryotechnology to actually make it to Federation space. They are stuck here too until Q finishes messing around with the Captain.
1487115
I didn't want to try to go the DS9 route. Especially as Picard never explored the gamma quadrant. So I figure their location (which is not accurate to the location of the horsehead nebula in our universe which is about 1500 light years away), should be considered just beyond the federation past DS4 (which according to memory alpha is looking towards the delta quadrant, but still too far away). Assuming they're only a few lightyears away (maybe two days at warp 6), at full impluse, they should be able to send a message to the Starbase and arrange for a pick up / towing back to the base as they make their way away from the planet.
1487172
*Facehoof* Of course, call for a warp-speed tow over subspace. I have just been out-scienced.
1487181
Red Guard, hah
Well, another good chapter from you sir, and worth probably getting a D on my Essay for.
I just hope we eventually see some Barclay
And, depending how you're timelining this, could we ever see some Janeway? I remember Q tried to hit on her once... 
And, Just quickly, I think
would be "from breaking his jaw." as Picard has known him as Q, not Discord. (You could also put "Q's jaw", but that could get confusing)
1489111
Those wold be some interesting tie-ins, but I think at this point it would be hard to do now as we enter the (I don't know my literary terms) penultimate before the climax? Mini-Spoiler we've got about 5 chapters to go now I think. Cool thoughts though - Pinkie/Barclay combo would've been hilarious!
1488826
You know what...
By celestia you're right!
Hey look there's my name! I'm famous now!
Oh dis getting better n better. Although I do agree, this course of action is a bit extreme even for Q's standards.
1515570
Is it? My only response to that could be...
Muahahaaa! All is going to plan!
Bratak...
Bra'tac? Tek ma te!
Or am I overthinking, much?
Anyhow, nice work so far. And I have a feeling that Orilius and Worf would have an interesting meeting...
Keep it up!
So Worf has a Bat'leth. He is now 20% cooler.
You’re little trickery didn’t work
which I believe is Miss. Sparkle’s current residence
1. Your.
2. Extra fullstop.
4037988
He was already a badass 🤣
If I remember he had one in his quarters on enterprise
Worf was always hold back to do a epic battle, now he will have a story to tell to his family and enemy alike.
This sounds indeed to be out of Q usual actions, I guess this little war is a cover screen for something else.
Perhaps Discord is playing a villain to force the ponies to stop playing it save and return to be a space faring civilization.
Perhaps as preparation for the dominion war or the arrival of the Borg?