STAR TREK: EQUESTRIA

by Alicorne

CHAPTER FIFTY SIX- Prelude to a Picnic

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

PRELUDE TO A PICNIC

“You see, this is why I just love ponies!” The Doctor fairly sprang away from the wall. “No other species has such breathtaking range or potential. Oh, they stumble along their path now and then but even when they fall flat on their faces they pick themselves up and carry on. They might not have a clear idea of where they’re going but they have faith that it’s somewhere better. It’s not just an Earth Pony thing, you know, all Pony species have that same wonderful spark…” His sometimes unfathomable eyes rested on me warmly. “In some individuals it just shines brighter than in others.”

There were a lot of things I could have said just then but that statement triggered a memory of a quasi-historical musical I’d watched with Sunny. Learner and Low’s Canterlot, I believe. It might have been the last remnants of the Janx, but before I could stop myself I was quoting from the last line of the story.

“…Less than a drop in the great blue motion of the sunlit sea. But it seems that some of the drops sparkle. Some of them do sparkle!” I fixed the Timelord with my eyes as sternly as I could. “Is that it, Doctor? I hate to disappoint you but I’m nothing special. I don’t believe in Fate. I’m just a Pony in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m no heroine… but I’m not going to back down from a job just because it’s hard work.”

“Don’t you believe in yourself, Starry-Eyes?”

“Individuals don’t exist in isolation, Doctor. One person by themselves can’t accomplish much unless they form the nucleus of a larger group.” I shrugged. “It’s basic biology. A cell by itself is nothing but if it’s part of a larger, organized system like a body… well, that’s another thing altogether. A person is the sum of their friends. By myself I can’t do this but with my crew and my ship we’ll find a way to pull this off… or die trying.”

The Doctor looked like he was going to say something heartening but I stopped him cold.

“Look, don’t patronize me! Don’t patronize us! I’m not being noble or aspiring to be an inspiring martyr. I damn Discord for putting us in this situation and damn you for not being able to handle him yourself! This whole state of affairs stinks floating in liquid hydrogen! It’s just our bad luck that we have to sort it out as best we can. Sympathy and wishful thinking isn’t going to be enough. I just hope we can get out of this with as many of our skins intact as possible!”

“Ah. …And who decides whose skins will be sacrificed?”

“I’m in command here, Doctor. If we can get away with just one casualty then I’ll be it. Case closed. End of discussion. A lot of good Ponies died in the War while I got by on sheer luck and Augmentation…”

The Doctor’s brow furrowed. “Survivor’s Guilt Syndrome? I could tell you a thing or two about that! Surely you don’t think …”

“I’m not worth them, Doctor! Too many really good and brilliant Ponies lost their lives while I made it through and for what… for this to happen?” I didn’t realize it but I’d clenched my fists. I took a breath and continued in what I hoped was a calmer tone. “It’s not even our fault, damn it! Celestia let that whacko son of a bitch loose thirty centuries ago and left us to clean up after her!”

“I see… now you’re angry with Celestia I take it?”

“Yes... No!” I sighed. “Damnit! What’s the point of being a

Goddess if you can’t foresee the consequences of your own actions?”

“Well as far as titles go…” The little Timelord offered. “The whole ‘Goddess’ thing never came about until after she… they… left. I’m curious, what does your history say about Cadence and Twilight Sparkle?” His bright brown eyes smiled disarmingly at me.

“On Equestris they don’t figure into it at all. I heard after I joined Starfleet that Cadence ruled the mythical Crystal Empire while Twilight Sparkle was Celestia’s personal protégé or something.” I shrugged. “Assuming it existed in the first place, The Crystal Empire is now just a carbon layer deposited around Earth. It was an early target. There apparently was a tradition that the place by its very existence promoted peace and harmony throughout the world. I saw pictures of a crater with a balefire plume that was never extinguished. I was told it was a memorial of the place. I wanted to see it but Sunny wouldn’t go. She talked me into going to Carnival in a place called Rio instead. Come to think of it, we never did get to go to Canterlot either…”

“Cadence was her ever-so-great Grandmother as a matter of fact.” The Doctor said quietly. “Is it any wonder why she wouldn’t want to go? It would rather be like you wanting to see that place in Hindia where Khan was, um, conceived.”

“Khan was…!” I snapped back, halting myself just in time to keep from saying…

“‘Real’ was what you were about to say, I believe.” The Doctor sat down and remonstrated to me with one eye. “What is it about the evil that Ponies do that they will believe in while the good…?”

“Why in Hell would I want to see Khan’s birthplace except to relieve myself on his grave?” I plowed on when I saw him open his mouth to speak. “I know! I know! There was never any body! He pulled out on that Mystery Ship in 1995 rather than take his lumps when his enemies got the upper hand. And he called us Colonists ‘cowards’!” I fixed him with one of my own eyes. “Or are you going to tell me that the conspiracy nuts were right and he never left? Like Hitter bugging out to some base in the Antarctic at the end of the Second Phase of the Great War or something.”

“I wouldn’t presume to tell you any such thing. I never met Khan… though I did lock Hitter in a closet once!” It was his turn to keep me from saying something just then, forging straight ahead before I could even draw a breath. “The two of them are way too much of a Hot Topic, temporally speaking, for anypony to meddle with. People like Hitter and Khan are effects, not the causes. In the terms of my people their careers are Fixed Points in Time. Removing them, not matter with what good intentions, would be disastrous for the Timeline. And the Timeline is in trouble enough, trust me!”

I raised a cool eyebrow. “… You get that just because I don’t know about this Cadence or Twilight Sparkle? Look, a lot of historical data was lost in the Eugenics Wars? Half of Earth’s history is up for grabs these days! All anypony can do is to pick up the pieces and carry on and make damn sure that it never happens again!”

The Doctor shook his head and stomped a forehoof emphatically. “History is being rewritten, overwritten, and ultimately doomed to be deleted when the Timeline loses its integrity entirely and collapses into sheer chaos! …Unless you manage to prevail in the near future.”

“Fine!” I snorted impatiently. “Tell me what I have to do to make it happen! You’re the one watching everything from Mount TARDIS with the whole thing laid out at your damn hooves! What do I do next? Well?”

I glared down at him and he set his teeth, took a deep breath and met my eyes resolutely.

“Captain Starry-Eyes.” He said calmly. “I realize you’re under a terrible amount of stress and I am sorry, I am so, so, sorry! Realize, please realize, that this Fixed Point in Time is a grey area to me. Because of what Discord has done. From this point on the History that Was teeters on edge, the smallest nudge from any direction could topple it. Let me give you an analogy! Ponies think of time as a linear sequence of cause and effects leading from the Past toward the Future when, instead, it’s actually a great, huge ball of timey-wimey stuff that…” He trailed off, frowning. “Yeah… it’s gotten away from me again, I’m afraid.” He looked up at me with a helpless grin. “That’s the trouble with trying to explain four-dimensional quantum spacetime foam to a three-dimensional brain.”

“Oh, for the love of…!” I suppressed an urge to grab him by the bow tie and shake his head like a maraca. My own head was beginning to pound and I was feeling like sharing the sensation. Instead I took a deep breath and counted to 600 in base six numbers. After a few moments I continued.

“What do you mean by ‘grey area’?”

“Right! I mean that, although I know what will happen… what should happen…, all the possible ways for the situation for the resolve itself are all viable at the same instant. Each possibility is valid and has an equal chance of success compared with all the others. All the possible ways to fail are equally empowered. The upshot is that, given the state of the Timeline, I cannot rely on my foreknowledge as an absolute guide. The fine details are a blur now… and it will only get worse as we approach the Moment of Crisis with Discord.”

I chewed that over in my head, and a moldy bit of ration bar that was!

I rubbed my forehead while I cudgeled the Mare In My Head to activate certain mental subroutines to deal with the more uncomfortable aspects of my burgeoning hangover.

“If I read you right… you’re saying that we’ll effectively be rewriting History from this point forward, forcing it to conform to the original format. And if we get too many things wrong…”

“Pfft! Chaos!” The Doctor nodded grimly. Then he went through one of his mercurial mood changes again. “But it’s not as hopeless as it sounds! I still have the TARDIS data banks to use as a template. Their data exists outside the sphere of influence of Discord. Unfortunately, though, I am only free to move through those particular sequences of History that he hasn’t muddled.”

“…Because he’s in effect creating a separate Universe, one that you simply can’t function in. Am I correct?”

“Just so. But cheer up! He isn’t omnipotent… yet! We don’t have to have everything one hundred percent correct. We just need to keep the Timeline intact enough to keep going. We have a margin of error that gives us a little wiggle room as it were. Just take care of the high points and I’ll get around to doing the fine work soon enough!”

K-9 choose that moment to make a noise somewhere between a burst of white noise and a snicker. The Doctor cocked an irritated eye at the bot while I forged on.

“Oh? And how much of an error margin is that?” Truth be told, I was more than a little surprised to hear it… as well as a little disturbed. It was somehow disquieting to realize the Universe wasn’t running at one hundred percent efficiency!

“The last time I looked we have a whole seven or eight percent. And eight percent of infinity is quite a bit once you think about it!” He smiled a sunny smile, looking uncomfortably like a certain Faery.

“What?” I stared hard at him. “But any percentage of infinity is still infinity! Talk about your irrational math!”

“It still puts the odds in our favor though, doesn’t it?” So help me he looked a little hurt that I’d pointed that out!

“You’re just indulging in semantics! Fine, you want to have fun with words? This cuts both ways, Doc! Our chance of failure is also infinite! Holy Luna in a hypermass…!”

“Discord has been after you a long time, Starry-Eyes, don’t give up now!” The Doctor said mildly.

I stopped, disoriented by the sudden change of subject.

“Look, the last few weeks have seemed like a few years but…”

“But it has been years! I won’t presume to comment on a Lady’s age, but it has been decades I should think. Remember! I told you that you… you, Starry-Eyes, are an important part of History. Without you Celestia and Luna remain legends and the Federation goes down into obscurity drowned in a Galaxy of turmoil and, well, chaos! Think, Starry! If Discord takes you out of the equation he’s won! Based upon what I’ve read of your personal History he’s been trying for a long time. Think!”

The Timelord’s voice remained mild and reasonable but the urgency in his tone held me in chains of duranium and his eyes blazed like tractor beams as he proceeded to get his point through my thick skull.

“You led a pretty horrible life on Equestris, didn’t you? Your Mother died when you were just a little filly. It was an accident as I recall. …An accident on a world of technologically proficient Ponies who couldn’t afford the loss of a single life. It nearly ruined your family. Your Father’s work suffered and you were in financial distress. There was no way to afford the cost of a higher education for a bright and gifted child. Given the nature of Discord I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t have a cloven hoof in exacerbating the more rebellious aspects of your nature… by which I mean your tendency toward homosexuality, not to put too fine a point on it. Would you be interested to know that Topaz Lode only exists on the Equestrin Personnel Files for a period of only a year? Only long enough to set you on a course of behavior that put you at odds with your culture, making it that much more difficult for you to be anything but another miner who never gave a thought to seeing the stars. I’m told that it was a clerical error aggravated by the destruction wrought on the central database by one of raids by the Orion Mining Syndicates. In any event you never saw her again after she accomplished her… or should I say his purpose. If it’s any consolation, though, yours was not the only life this individual, ah, tampered with. Feldspar, I daresay, was just a little bit of fun on the side. A pointless bit of further amusement at somepony else’s expense.” He paused and smirked. “Rather puts his recent gender-swapping stunt into a new perspective, doesn’t it? … Oh dear!”

I’d sagged back against the wall, feeling sick. It was Time Travel all over again! I gagged and it was only my Augmented biocontrol that kept me from losing my breakfast. As it was I’d already leaned forward out of pure reflex, aiming for the little toy dump truck though it didn’t have a Tellarite’s hope in a Tea Party of coping with could have happened.

I put my hooves on my knees and rested there, taking several deep breaths while the Mare In My Head engaged the manual overrides on my upper digestive system.

“I’m all right! I’m all right!” I said, more feebly than I cared to sound. I had to swallow hard when I made the mistake of thinking about what I was going to say.

“Topaz was Discord? I had… sex… with Discord???” I said thickly, breaking into a cold sweat while I fought off a wave of nausea. Even after all these years I wanted to take a boiling hot shower with lots and lots of disinfectant followed by choice organ replacements and gene therapy!

“Oh, Holy Humping Luna doing a lap dance…!” I moaned. “Just kill me now!”

“If he was in his right mind he would have done so.” The Doctor said, tapping the side of his head and then making a circular motion. “But he isn’t and he didn’t. He wanted… wants you to suffer. I have no doubt that… if he wins out in the end… he’d take great pleasure in tormenting you with the news. His desire for revenge makes him even more irrational. I have to wonder, though…” He trailed off, looking thoughtful.

“Now what? ...If you’re gonna tell he was my Daddy I’ll paste you right here and now!”

“What?” The Timelord looked startled, then waved a dismissive hoof. “Oh no, nothing like that! He’s been waging a relentless campaign aimed at crushing your spirit and keeping you from ever leaving Equestris. Obviously and thankfully it didn’t work. After so many millennia he still underestimates the tenacious Earth Pony Spirit, doesn’t he? I just wonder if he didn’t find himself caught up by his own scheming.”

“You’re changing the subject again.” I swallowed again, hard! “Thank you and continue!”

“Oh, that’s just another example of the whole timey-wimey thing, isn’t it?” He tipped me a winning grin and continued. “I just had a thought…”

“Congratulations, Master!” K-9 put in, tail whirring as it wagged.

“Oi! That’s just about enough out of you!” The Doctor scowled at the cyber-pooch with no real rancor. “Aren’t you supposed to be on clean up?”

“I have completed my task already, Master.” The little bot said primly. “The remains of one phased-energy weapon with Arcane enhancement collected and en route to Reclamation.”

The Doctor ran a mildly interested eye over the junk in the toy truck. “Well that’s about the most constructive use for a thing like that isn’t it? Really though, if you just wanted something to smash there’s any amount of old bric-a-brac knocking around here you could have had a go at.” He began poking a hoof through the collection of ruined parts. “Somewhere I have a collection of pottery from a place called Kelba on world called Tohn, makes an amazing noise when you bash it against a wall. Made with a sort of memory ceramic, pulls itself back together good as new when you’re done! The potters there literally put themselves out of business after a couple of generations, fascinating stuff! …Haven’t quite worked out how it does it yet, though. Hmm…”

He separated a tiny component from the rest. “You might want that one back. It’s dilithium, isn’t it? How quaint! It’s at quite a premium at this point in time if I’m not mistaken. If you’re intent on throwing the rest away I’ll take it off your hooves. Transtators are handy things for tinkering.”

“You are an expert in tinkering… as opposed to serious technical expertise, Master.” K-9 observed.

“I put you back together as I recall!” The Doctor said archly.

“One sterling success set against countless half-successes does not constitute evidence of true expertise, Master.” The little bot stated. “Mistress Ditzy was extremely helpful in my reconstruction. She has true talent when it comes to higher cybernetics. Her insights into the problems with the Chameleon Circuit…”

“Bah!” The Grumpy Old Stallion aspect of the Doctor’s personality came shining through. “Miss Doo is a truly wonderful person and a wonderful Companion…”

“Merely a ‘Companion’, Master?” The electronic pooch made that snickersound again.

So help me, the Doctor blushed! He grumbled. “She’s a talented amateur, hardly a qualified TARDIS technician.”

“You never completed the requisite training, Master.”

“Oi! Hold it right there, you tin-plated…”

“Keep the junk, I’ll write it off as ‘Lost In Combat’.” I jumped into the verbal fray. “What about Discord’s scheme?”

The Timelord, who had whirled to face the snarky dogbot, kept whirling to regard me.

“A-hem! It occurred to me that Discord had a talon in bringing about the Eugenics Wars. If Khan had won he and his would surely have killed off your Colonist ancestors. After all, in their eyes, your lot would have been ‘defectives’. If that had happened you would never have been born. If you’d never been born he’d never be able to enjoy tormenting you. He couldn’t have it both ways… yet. He must have hatched the Augment plot when the Prism was far less powerful.” He made a face. “…Or, perhaps, he hadn’t at that point even hatched his Grand Design. Hard to fathom the mind of a lunatic, though… and don’t you say one word along the lines of ‘Like minds thinking alike’!” He kept on whirling until he was able to point an accusing hoof at K-9, who raised his mechanical head to look at him inquisitively.

“Too fast for you, wasn’t I?” The Doctor said smugly. He turned back to me. “That’s the limitations of a purely cybernetic brain for you! All the processing speed in the Universe isn’t a match for good old organic spontaneity!” He actually buffed a hoof against his coat and paused to admire the shine, clearly pleased at cleverly making his point.

“There was no need for me to speak, Master,” The little bot began as he turned away with his cleaning charges in tow. “…When the facts plainly speak for themselves!”

The Doctor didn’t quite grind his teeth!

It was time for me to be diplomatic, or at least tactful. “So he couldn’t have Eugenics Wars and me both…” I had a sudden thought of my own. “Unless he rigged the outcome!”

“Of course he did!” The Doctor said irritably. “How else could the Superponies have lost? They had enormous advantages in technology, surprise, physical capability, you name it!” He paused to collect himself and continued in a calmer tone. “Off the cuff I’d say he organized the splinter groups that began the War allied with the Superponies then sought domination on their own, Colonel Green and the others. It the classic cause of military downfall, too many fronts to fight on. Not even the Superponies could pull it off! …Though I wouldn’t put it past Our Boy to have facilitated Khan’s escape from Earth. It would be just like him to keep the old villain available for more mischief later on, don’t you think?”

“I …don’t know what I think any more!” I found myself leaning against the wall again for support. “I honestly don’t know what I feel worse about, having been tricked into having sex with Discord… or the fact that he played around with the lives of billions just to make sure I’d be there for him to gloat over in the future. All together that’s quite a load in the old ore cart!” I rubbed my forehead and closed my eyes. “My head hurts, my heart hurts, and I’m slagging exhausted. I want to find Sunny and get this show on the road while I can still stand.”

The Doctor looked me over not unkindly for a moment. “Well you know what they say, there’s no rest for the wicked! Come along my Good Captain, just one more thing to do before we deal with the Werewolf!”

“Great.” I said with all due enthusiasm. “What’s next?”

“Don’t you remember? You must be in a bad way!” He gave me a playful poke on the knee. “We’re having a picnic!”

Comments

[meerkat8472]

She had SEX with DISCORD!? Oh Sunny is not going to be happy about this. Poor Starry is going to get an earful.

[Alicorne]

5247212 Let's keep our fingers crossed that Sunny's gonna be in a forgiving mood! ...What IS it about Starfleet Captains and their amorous hijinks?

[Darth Wedgius]

Wow. Starry out-Kirked Kirk!

Nicely done -- elements of the plot are what Enterprise's time war could've been if they'd had a plan.

[Booster Spice]

Thatsan awful lot of recent, given a couple millenia, history that Discord has been playing with. Is the Prism gaining power from the self containment of the alternative universe Discord is creating, so he doesnt actually have to reach that last point in order to cause a catastrophic cascade failiure with enough energy release, like the trans dimentional rift powered by a Supernova?

[Alicorne]

5249852 I'd have to say that the Prism, being a distilled reflection of its creator, is gaining in power not only from the souls of those sacrificed into its being but from the Chaos it creates. I envision it as a snowballing effect. The more Chaos in the Timeline the more powerful it becomes. ...But what hath Chaos wrought? The Prism is more than a tool... and it's beginning to realize it! *Cue dramatic music*

[Alicorne]

5248388 I always thought it was a pity that Enterprise's time (No pun!) was cut short. I recently invested in Netflix (PLUG!) and am currently enjoying the series from the beginning... with no commercials! Yee-Haw!!!

In Captain Starry's defense, she thought it was only a roll in the metaphorical hay. Aside from the unfortunate Topaz incident she's not had many carnal encounters. For those with a prurient curiosity, she wasn't a virgin when she came to Earth. In the spirit of true Scientific inquiry she took a walk down the 'other side of the street' (Wink, wink. Nudge,nudge!) as it were... one time... and she wasn't impressed. She's been a student of Sappho ever since and now worships at the altar of Solar Cross. (Whom she regards in awe, though she'd never publicly admit it!)

[Alicorne]

5060016 Yup I figured more conservative elements in Starfleet Bureaucracy might want to stifle or distort the records... that's why I got a plan for getting the info back! (Gee, I should have said 'Spoiler Alert!' first, shouldn't I? Can you guess what it is? Bwahahahahaaa! *Is brought back to his senses by a judiciously applied (Empty!) bottle of Janx!*

Dammit, Starry! Ahem! Which character were you referring to? Starry or the Doctor? Just curious!

[doctorwhoo]

i like your wrighting

[doctorwhoo]

5325267 ...And I like your spelling!