Breaking Barriers

Posted on Sat Jan 14th, 2023 @ 2:23am by Ensign Raven Windancer & Lieutenant Mark Valleroy & Corey Valleroy & Connor Valleroy

Mission: Lower Decks
Location: Holodeck

Raven had asked Lt. Mark and his nephews to come to the Holodeck for a little fun, with an under current to get to know them better. She'd picked a ranch that was reminiscent of Ancient Earth's Wild West era with her own personal twist: unicorns, pegasi, alicorns, griffins, and dragons occupied the stalls instead of normal horses. Raven was brushing a pastel green alicorn with a golden horn, hooves and wings.

Mark, Corey, and Connor headed to the holodeck. Mark had been a bit curious as to the invite from Ensign Windancer. Upon entering the holodeck they looked around at what they found - an old West style ranch setting, but with creatures out of a fantasy book occupying the barn's stalls, with the ship's conn officer brushing one of them.

Moving over to her, Mark said, "Interesting setup you have here, Ensign."

"Oh! Good Morning, Mark, er, Lt.. Yeah...I kinda go for the unconventional. Guess that's one of the reasons I'm still a bit reckless sometimes. These must be your nephews. It's nice to meet you both. You're Corey, and you're Connor, right?" Raven guessed, smiling as she pointed at first one then the other.

"Yep, that's us," Corey said. "So, what is this place?" he asked, looking around.

"It's a barn from Earth's Wild West town of Tombstone, Arizona. I put in the exotic animals to give the place a more intriguing feel. The straighter answer to that is that I was kinda wanting to show both sides of me: the Starfleet side, and the more 'normal' side. That is, sigh. Starfleet got me out of a rough situation, and I've been having a tough time making friends and getting settled here. I want to interact with as many crewmembers as I can outside of our work situations so that I can get a feel of who they are when the rank comes off," Raven winked at Corey, hoping that was the answer he was looking for. "You can pick any creature you want, I made sure that despite their looks, they'll obey whatever you tell them to do...unless you try and get them to battle, THAT'S the only 'no' in here," Raven giggled as she picked up a saddle and started tacking the alicorn in front of her. "Oh, tack's in that little room over there," Raven pointed with her chin at the tiny room in the corner.

"No fighting?" Corey said. "Awwww!"

"Now Corey," Mark said, "remember we're guests here. We abide by the rules set down by our esteemed hostess."

"Yes, Uncle Mark," Corey replied.

Soon the three Valleroys had each selected their own animal - Mark selected a blue and white dragon, Corey selected a red and gold griffin, and Connor had selected a black pegasus - and after a bit of working with the equipment were able to get the saddles on.

"So, I'll be going on the obvious assumption that this is the part where we take flight?" Mark said to Raven.

Raven grinned mischievously, then, quick as lightning, she snapped her fingers, and all four creatures took to the sky. "Okay! Now we're gonna learn how to control them while in flight. It's just like flying a simulator: right and left are the easiest, then up and down are a bit harder because they...ops!" Raven laughed as she flew her alicorn THROUGH a cloud instead of OVER it. "Give it a try!" Raven giggled as she got her alicorn under control and brushed cloud from her black jeggings and pirate style maroon button down shirt. Raven relaxed into the saddle to watch and see how the three boys handled their beasts.

The three quickly got the hang of handling their respective animal. Corey and Connor were soon letting out whoops of joy, and Mark even seemed to have a bit of a smile playing on his face. "Fascinating program," Mark soon called out to Raven.

"Yep! It's super fun, AND helps keep me sharp while relieving stress," Raven answered as she looped her alicorn up and over Mark's dragon. Then Raven dove down between Corey and Connor. "Alright, boys, wanna try an obstacle course?" Raven asked as she came back up, waggled her eyebrows playfully.

"I'm in!" Connor said.

"Me too!" Corey responded, not willing to be outdone by his kid brother.

"You sure?" Mark asked the two. "You really think you can beat the ship's senior pilot in a game involving piloting?"

"Hey, what do you think all those computer games we've played are for?" Corey asked. "Do you think they're just for fun?"

Mark turned to Raven. "Seems you have yourself some challengers," he told her

Raven laughed. "Ok then! Computer, set up Sky Course 0991," Raven ordered. The sky around the quartet temporarily shimmered, then aerial hoops, a few swinging obstacles and even a few draw-bridges appeared along with multicolored orbs. "Obviously, going around the outside or underneath the swinging obstacles will obviously cost points, orbs are worth between 5 and 40 points, and creativity point vary. The one with the most points wins. Are there any questions and would you like a demonstration?" Raven asked.

The three Valleroys looked at each other for a moment. "Nope, I think you covered it pretty well," Mark said. "Now, let's all see if our actions can back up our big talking." He added a wink at the end.

"Alrighty then! Three. Two. One. GO!" Raven waited til everyone had gotten in position, then dropped her hand, and they were off!

The four were off. The course was challenging, but eventually all four crossed the finish line.

"Congratulations, Connor! First place in your first Pegasus race! Second place is nothing to sneeze at for your first Griffon ride, Corey! Mark, that you beat me on your first dragon ride, that's some fine flying! Are you guys SURE you haven't done this before!?" Raven laughed, quite taken aback that the supposed rookies had ALL beaten her at something she thought she was Queen at.

"Well, I think all the computer games they play might have had something to do with it," Mark said to her with a laugh and a wink. "Although you sure you let us come in the order we did just to be nice to us on our first time?"

Raven flipped upside down and fake glared at Mark. "If I say yes, you'll get mad, but if I say no, you'll think I'm lying," Raven started to laugh from her inverted position. "Dang it! I was trying to stay serious! I honestly thought I could beat you all, but apparently I'm not as much of hot shot pilot I thought I was," Raven's laughter finally calmed down to a snicker as she righted her mount. "Seriously though, ya'll did an amazing job out there!" Raven beamed at the three boys, pleasantly surprised that she was actually ok with losing for once.

"Don't sell yourself short," Mark said. "You simply went up against some opponents without knowing what we were capable of. That's part of the fun, and judging from the looks of these two," and he indicated Corey and Connor, "I think you may have a chance to have a rematch or two in the near future."

"I'll try not to. Ha, that's for certain! I'll definitely be practicing for our next meeting!" Raven chuckled, urging her alicorn and giving the three a high-five as she flew over them.