DisQord

by Midnight Sprint

Part 7: The Good, The Bad, and The Q

“I’ve gotta say, Pinkie, you’re taking being turned into a ‘human’ pretty well.” Twilight spoke sideways to the bouncy young woman waltzing along beside the group, playing with her fingers in almost a manner befitting a young child who was beginning to explore the world for the first time. This was understandable, realistically, despite the other ponies approaching the change in a more direct and less whimsical manner. “Well duh, Twilight. Why would I freak out? We’ve been through worse.” She answered light heartedly, though with a very valid point.

Twilight, Spike, and Rarity glanced at one another, and Spike shrugged. “She’s got a point.” The young dragon added, stating the obvious. Between turning to stone, frog-orange hybrids, and just about everything else from Poison Joke to Trixie, simply being turned into the same kind of creature that their new visitor was hardly seemed as vexing as, say, the Chyrsalis crisis. “Alright, then.” Captain Picard said bluntly, breaking the side discussion, “Who’s left for us to find?”

“That would be Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy.” Rarity stated. “They’re all a bit far away, so it’s anypony’s guess where they are. I’d wager Applejack would be our best bet. She works at Sweet Apple Acres, and is most likely there as we speak.” A valid point, Twilight thought. The ever-reliable Applejack had the easiest schedule to follow, due to her hard working nature, and her dedication to her family’s farm. “To Sweet Apple Acres, then!” Twilight exclaimed, pointing a finger instinctively, despite not actively knowing why exactly the motion came to her.

As the group marched on through town, Picard posed a question to the now humanized ponies. “That Discord fellow. You don’t suppose he’s going to drag us along on this redundant game of his, do you? Turning all of you into humans one at a time?”
Twilight frowned in thought, and looked to Spike curiously. “Well, I can’t really say, Captain. Discord is like a big, crazy child. He’s almost as likely to keep this going as long as possible as he is to completely changing his mind.” Picard let out a sound of quiet contemplation. He had posed the question about the use of his phaser weapon, but found it irrelevant, as the device had been removed from his person upon arrival in Equestria.

Twilight stated that she’d prefer to avoid weapons if possible. They always sought a method of subduing and stopping their adversaries, rather than inflicting any harm if possible. Picard agreed, his nature as a man of science and wit standing above his military knowledge and skill. The colorful squad of humans in chromatic Starfleet uniforms approached the edge of the town, where the dirt road to Sweet Apple Acres extended outward. Apple trees in the distance peppered the landscape, creating a beautiful field of green and red on the hills.

“Hey, what’s that?” Spike called out from Twilight’s shoulders, pointing into the sky above the farm in the distance. “Is that Rainbow Dash?” Something was whisking around the skies above Sweet Apple Acres, looping around the farm with no apparent purpose as it circled the barn. “What in the world is going on?” Twilight said, moving faster down the road, while still being wary of the limits of her new human body. Picard took the lead, with the others following at a hastened, albeit tentative pace. Fearful that Discord had gone to the farm before they were able to, they focused their attention on aiding the country pony if she were indeed in peril.

The group finally approached the main gate to the farm, when they saw that Rainbow Dash was indeed flying around the barn. At the closer distance, they could see that Applejack was standing on the second floor of the barn, leaning out the window where the pulley would lift hay bales. Various shouts of direction came from Applejack, as Rainbow Dash darted back and forth, evidently checking the rooftop for broken planks of wood and support beams. The group caught Applejack’s eye, and she simply hollered down without looking. “Oh hey, girls! How’s it goin’?”

“Applejack! Is everything ok here?” Rarity called up. Applejack followed Rainbow around the sky with her head, calling out a few more directions for the Pegasus. “Hey Dash! Put a couple nails in that corner beam, can ya?” AJ shouted, to which Rainbow confirmed with a “You got it!”, and flew to roof’s edge, and began knocking a crooked beam straight before beginning to fix it. AJ hollered down to the girls again. “Everything’s fine up here, gals. Rainbow’s just helpin’ me fix up some loose parts of the barn. The last storm that we had shook some wood loose up there!”
Rainbow stuck her head out from behind the wall for a moment. “Hey, it’s not like we meant for the wind to get that strong! Sheesh, you cause one little whirlwind and it haunts you forever.”

Applejack laughed it off, as Rainbow continued nailing the board. “Anyway gals, Dash’s wings make it easier for her to get to some of the spots that we’d need a awful big handful of Earth ponies to get to safely. How’s it-“ She cut herself off as she finally looked down to the group that Twilight had brought, and AJ’s eyes bugged out a little. She tried shaking her head, but it was clear that she wasn’t seeing things wrong. “Uhh. Dash? Can ya come here a minute?” Dash finished the last nail, and zipped over to AJ by the window. “What’s up, AJ? We done?”

Applejack raised an eyebrow and pointed to the others with a hoof. Dash slowly looked down, and jumped back in the air, with a sound that came out similar to ‘Eugh.’
“Is that… TWILIGHT? And Rarity? And Pinkie Pie and Lyra?” Rainbow Dash expressed in a very strange tone, that even Applejack had trouble putting a name on. AJ and Dash looked to one another before bursting out laughing. “What the hay happed to y’all? Ya look like-“
“Please, don’t say monkeys.” Picard requested before she had the chance to finish.
“Ah was gonna ask if Twilight had messed up a spell of some sort. Who’s this fella?” AJ mused down.

Picard went through the typical formaility of introducing himself, which even he had to admit, was getting tiresome at this point. All the moving back forth around town was one thing, but introducing himself properly at every meeting was becoming a chore. Due to the clear importance of the Six, however, he felt it necessary. “I take it you are Miss Applejack and Miss Rainbow Dash?” The captain inquired. AJ tilted her hat, and did her usual equine curtsey, while Dash flew down to meet the Captain face to face, giving AJ a chance to take the long way down through the barn.

“So you’re a Captain, huh?” Rainbow confronted Picard. “Eh. No offense, but you don’t look like much.” Twilight gave Dash a dirty look, making it clear that they were friends, and that the Captain was her guest and under her guidance in their land.
Picard answered cleverly, “Perhaps. But where I come from, you don’t gain rank for nothing. I lead one of the finest crews on one of the finest ships. The Enterprise is one of the fastest and most durable ships in our territory.” Dash raised an eyebrow.

“Fastest, huh? How fast we talking here? Because fast is what I do. I’ve heard of some boats before, but water isn’t exactly the fastest way to get around.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “He’s not talking about a ship that goes on water, Dash. Where he comes from, they have very different ships that can fly through the air, and through the stars!” Dash gave a look a surprise, quickly changing into disbelief. “Oh yeah? How fast can your ship go then?” Picard chuckled, and offered an answer quite plainly, which left the Pegasus’ mouth agape. “Faster-than-light travel.”

Rainbow shook it off, and spoke. “Okay. You’re gonna have to show me that sometime! I’ve never seen anyone, or.. haha… anything faster than me!” The clutter of hoofsteps came from behind Dash, as Applejack came galloping up from the barn. “Alright, so ah caught most of that. What’s goin’ on, Twilight? We’ve seen some weird stuff before, but… y’all look… really weird.” Twilight explained the situation with Discord, and proposed the general idea of the discussion as to whether or not Discord and Q were one and the same, or if somehow one of them pulled Picard into their world. The concept that they were indeed two different entities, let alone possible working together was more than a little frightening.

“Oh dear.” AJ muttered. “We gotta get to Fluttershy, then! We gotta hurry, and get the elements together!” Rarity suggested Dash take the initiative to show off her speed to the Captain, and get to Fluttershy’s cottage before Discord could do any more harm. “Alright, you wanna see fast, Captain? Check this out!” A loud thump resounded, as the immediate area darkened noticeably. Dash found herself bouncing headlong off of what seemed to be a rubber cloud. “Oohhhh no.” She let out in knowing distress.

“Ohhhh ho ho ho yes!” The ever-devious voice of Discord echoed. The creature’s horns and head protruded from behind the rubbery cloud, while his body formed out of the rest of the cloud’s mass, ultimately ending in the white tip of his tail. Twilight looked to Rarity and Spike, and whispered. “We need a distraction so we can get Dash to Fluttershy as soon as possible. AJ, think you can give me some help here?” AJ nodded, and ran behind Discord, trying to flank him.

“And just what do you think you’re going to do, Applejack? You ponies should know by now that you can’t stop Discord! At best you can hope to keep the chaos contained. But why not have a little fun!” Discord clicked his fingers, and a pile of hay tumbled onto AJ from above, leaving just her head poking out, her hat sagging down a little, and her eyes seething of irritation. Rarity’s voice darted from behind, causing him to turn around, and look upon the group again. “You are the most irresponsible, incoherent, and utterly uncouth beasts I’ve ever laid eyes upon! And that’s saying something, considering the Changelings were all made of carapace!” Discord yawned as Rarity taunted him, using his tail to cover his mouth, his arms and legs both crossed as though reclining in mid-air.

“Are we done yet?” He asked Rarity. “Maybe you’re just jealous of the fact that you look better as a monkey than as a pony?” All the group gasped except Picard. Even Lyra, who while she was not a close friend of the Six, knew them, and anypony knew Rarity was renowned as the fashion go-to-gal of Ponyville. “You! I! HOW DARE YOU.” Rarity huffed. Suddenly, applesauce smacked against the back of Discord’s head. He turned around instantly, and saw AJ bucking apples at him like projectiles. “Stop that, Applejack! Stop that this minute!” He cried, under a barrage of rejected apples from their harvest. “OW. I actually felt that one!”

Twilight looked to Dash, nodded, and watched as the rainbow Pegasus darted off into the distance at top speed. “That’s enough, now!” Discord exclaimed. “My word, Picard. Look at the sort you associate with now. After all you’ve been through and the kind of man you are, I would have expected you to stay in Canterlot, at least. How utterly dreadful these manners are!” Picard scowled. “I don’t know if you are Discord, or Q, or both, or neither! But We will get to the bottom of this, and you will answer for this misbehavior!”

Discord again yawned, as Applejack stopped her apple assault. “Well then, Picard. I’m sure you could use all the help you can get.” He twisted his body in mid-air like a spring, and coiled to face Applejack. “Let’s see how well you do on two legs, shall we?” Discord added a crooked smile, and released a white sparking blast at Applejack, before zipping up into the sky, where he lay flat upon a cloud, looking down at the grounded ponies-turned-humans. “Until next time, Capitaine! Hope you like your new crew!” The master of chaos’ form turned into cloud itself, before it all drifted away into the distant horizon.

In the midst of the clearing smoke where Applejack had been hit, another young woman stood up, wearing the same uniform as the other girls. Just like the others, the color adorning the top of her uniform was the same color as she had been while a pony. Orange filled the field on her top, with three apples as the mark where the Starfleet badge would rest. However, she maintained her cowgirl hat atop her tied blonde hair, which she appreciated at least. AJ walked nervously towards the group, getting used to the new form in fairly short order, just as the others had. “We gotta get to Fluttershy, gals.” AJ said. “If Discord finds her and Dash before we do, who knows what’ll happen!”

Comments

[Evil-Lovieness]

They always sought a method of subduing and stopping their adversaries, rather than inflicting any harm if possible.

...So how painful is it to be turned to stone?

“If Discord finds her and Dash before we do, who knows what’ll happen!”

How about the same thing he has been doing to all of you?

[Midnight Sprint]

2260108

Well, Discord didn't seem to be hurt by the stone, aside from being stuck, so in regards to the Elements effecting him, probably not painful at all. Probably just freezing.
And lol. You never know if or when Discord will step things up.

[Midnight Sprint]

2308422 I guess we'll have to wait and see! Knowing both Q and Discord, anything's possible.