//------------------------------//
// Part 2 
// Story: Dislocated 
// by panurge 
//------------------------------//

Celestia passed a scroll to Twilight, "We will be using the grounds outside the Ballroom for the gathering and I thought you would like to go over  the guest list.”

Twilight looked over the list and she gasped, “Did you really need to invite him?”

“Now Twilight, Blueblood does have some official court duties to perform.”

“What? No! I'm talking about Discord.”

“If we are to ensure trust of those from another world we should not hold back anything.”  

“So, show them the good and the bad as well.”

“Oh, Discord isn't really bad.  He's just...strange.”

“That's the understatement of the millennium.”

“Oh Twilight, everything will be fine.”

Twilight winced and thought, "No, she did not just say that."

The grounds outside the ballroom extended to a slope at one end with a stairway that went down to another level that had an area large enough for Marla's ship to park out of the way.
Ferrous was explaining the planed arrival, “Once the ship ports in on the probe beacon they will home on my datapad signal.  We will then all meet on the lower level.  The probe is about where I first arrived near Terrace.  Which way is that from here?”  Then several hooves pointed towards a group of mountains off in the distance.  “Right, then they will come in from that direction.”
His datapad sounded a new message,  “They will be arriving shortly but they need time to change out a new relay then they will travel here.”
A few minutes later, Celestia with Twilight and her friends gathered at the bottom of the stairway while Ferrous stood by the landing area to meet Marla's ship.
As the ship approached quietly they could make out the shape.  Head on it looked oval side to side and straight from the rounded nose to tail.  About eight meters wide by twenty-five meters long.
Twilight watched as a door opened on the side of the craft forming a ramp.  She recognized Albion galloping out first and leaping at Ferrous tackling him to the ground then proceeding to kiss him frantically.  The rest of them walked out upright and from pictures Ferrous showed her she could identify First Commander Coulomb, whose fur did not match the color she saw from the pictures, now being a patchy mismatch of grays and browns. Then came red furred Edmund and a light brown wolf a bit shorter than the others named Sniggles, a tan ferret named Neesha then the two meter tall, black furred, feline looking Marla.  Albion and Edmund had dark blue vests like Ferrous, all the rest were wearing a dark gray vest with an angular symbol on the left breast pocket.  Coulomb was wearing a cap that set just between his ears with the same symbol.

Albion was very loud, “I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!”

“Whoa, it’s all right, calm down.” Ferrous held tight trying to comfort her.

Coulomb motioned the rest to move on, “They’re going to be awhile, they can catch up later.”
Coulomb turned to the princess,  “Thank you Your Highness for inviting us to visit. The Creator and the Captain wanted me to convey their apologies for being unable to attend due to their overseeing five other projects.  And please forgive my appearance.  I ran out of time to acquire a decent pelt, and Ferrous and Albion may be delayed in joining us right away.”  He turned his head to the side, “Mute your comms you two and do try to attend some of the festivities.” 

Celestia then spoke “Commander Coulomb, I welcome all of you to Canterlot, the capitol city of Equestria.  Please consider yourselves our guests.  Shale we proceed?”

“Certainly Princess.” and the group except for two guards at the stairway moved off to the tables setup just outside the ballroom.

As they started off Twilight looked back at Albion and Ferrous then quickly turned away as she felt her face get very warm.
Then she heard from above, “Excuse me, Twilight, is that correct?” and looked up to see Marla looming over her.  She also noticed that where the others were able to run on all fours Marla was built for biped motion.

“That's right.”  Twilight nodded.

Marla continued, “I noticed you look a bit uncomfortable.”

“Well... they seem to be...umm...very open.”

“They tend to have no modesty.  I have lived with them for a while and it took some getting used to their antics but I have become accustomed to finding couples mating in the park.  And the corridors.  Transports, trees, fountains-   Would you like to take a camera crew and document their mating habits?  They would be more than happy to provide the narration.  Probably show off to the camera.”

Twilight felt her cheeks get very warm then Marla said, “Oh, too much information?”

Twilight started moving toward the gathering, “Why don't we wander over and check out the food tables.”

Marla laughed. 

As they approached they could hear Coulomb speaking, “-no power at all.  My suit and body had just shut down.  From where I had fallen I could still see the building, then the second floor exploded.  All at once I felt power return and saw a limp body flying among the bricks.  On reflex I was able to get up and jumped to intercept before I considered I was trying to catch a mass more than twice my size.  I remembered I had some antigrav units that were left over from an experiment and turned them all on but they didn't help much with the momentum already built up.  We hit the ground and skidded about two meters.  She was unconscious and her suit was torn but we managed to get to her ship before she asphyxiated.”

“For which I shall be forever grateful.” said Marla.

This produced some excited murmurs from the gathered audience then Celestia spoke, “Excuse me Commander, not to change the subject but I have to point out that you seem to be losing your fur.”

He looked down and saw his pelt peeling off in several places, “Oh fer...sonova...gyaah, I'm falling apart.  Marla!  Do you have any glue on that ship of yours.”

“All I have is an industrial adhesive, but it would damage the backing to your fursuit and add buildup on your surface covering making replacement difficult.  Manufacturing will not be happy with you.”

Then Sniggles said, “Just take off the whole pelt. I, for one, think you look very nice in carbon fiber and Kevlar.”

Coulomb removed his vest, “OK fine. Help me with this. The seams are already loose just pull them apart.  And remember the head fur is still mine.” then he muttered, “Even if most of my head isn't.”

Twilight looked at Marla with a puzzled expression.

Marla responded, “We probably missed his story of how he was crushed in a docking bay accident.”

Twilight looked back at Coulomb, “How bad...?”

“Seventy percent of his body was unrecoverable.”

Twilight hissed an intake of breath as she cringed and watched what was essentially Coulomb's friends ripping his skin off.  What remained from neck to hind paws was a matte black surface.  It almost looked as if he was wearing a stealth suit save for the reddish gold tail.

Celestia then said,  “Commander, do not be concerned about your appearance, you look quite distinguished.

“There, see,” confirmed Sniggles, “You will be just fine till they can make you a new pelt.  Marla, could you hang on to this please?”

A satchel of unknown black material seemed to appear out of nowhere over Marla's shoulder and the remains of Coulomb's pelt floated in.

Coulomb continued,  "I think I have delayed things enough, shall we proceed to the food?”

They all collected plates and found places at the tables.  Light conversation with some of the invited dignitaries accompanied the food.  Rarity relayed her appreciation of Ferrous to Commander Coulomb. 

Rainbow Dash asked Sniggles, “So, what do you guys do for fun?”

“Marla and I spar for martial arts training.”

Marla called out from where she sat, “Is that what you call it?  I thought you were using me as a practice dummy.”

This prompted chuckles from most of the visitors then after Neesha stopped laughing conversations returned to general chatter.
Twilight heard one of the Canterlot dignitaries mention a trade meeting. 

Rarity was sitting across from Marla, “Excuse me, but could I look at that, ah, pelt?”

“There is not much to see, it is mostly scraps from manufacturing.”

Rarity took the remains of the pelt in her magic and examined it closely.  “Well, no wonder it fell apart.  This stitching in atrocious.  And the pieces aren't organized at all.”

“They were in a hurry, grabbed what leftover scraps they could find and threw it together.”

“That's no excuse for not doing a proper job.  Adequate planing could have saved time then it would have held up and looked more appropriate.”
Rarity found her saddlebags and brought out scissors with needle and thread.  She quickly separated and rearranged the pieces then started to put them back together. “Now see, a task can be done quickly without sacrificing quality, for the stitching and the appearance.”

Marla was amazed with the needle work progressing at in incredible rate.  She saw Rarity turn back to her bags to get another spool of thread with hardly a pause in the stitching. “You make that look so easy.  I can't come anywhere close to that fine control, and I have been training for weeks.  Juggling mountains is easy but the tiny stuff is work.”

Rarity paused slightly at that statement then continued, “Perhaps you try too hard.  If you are comfortable with large objects then work on fine control on the large scale then move to smaller objects when you are relaxed.  If you can be relaxed as you manipulate objects then the more complicated routines will become easier.” 

“I think I've been looking at it wrong.  Now that makes makes more sense.  Blue has been coaching with mathematical terms.  I'm an engineer and he tends to lean to the technical aspects.  Maybe I should come here for lessons.”

“Celestia's school for gifted unicorns should have some excellent tutors.”

Rainbow could be heard nearby, “I want to see them do the star!”

Edmund replied, “As soon as Ferrous gets here we can see about setting up-”

“HELLO HELLO!  Sorry I'm late.  Just being fashionable.” Discord broke in appearing over the gathering in a reclining position, at this point all the visitors collapsed except for Marla.
The entire crowd around them gasped at once.

“DISCORD!” shouted Celestia, "You were told they were sensitive to magic and were instructed to suppress yours!"

“Oh dear, It completely slipped my mind. There, taken care of.  My my, what an interesting reaction.

Marla ran, or more like glided over to her friends. “They’re all out cold.” 

Rainbow Dash was in Discord's face, “What did you do?!”

“Me? I just got here.”

Rainbow glared at him, “Can-it Discord, you know what I mean.”

Discord glowered back, “Rainbow Dash, I assure you this was all an accident.”

“Yeah, right.”

Marla was trying to get Sniggles to respond when Ferrous arrived carrying an unconscious Albion.  “What happened?  I got dizzy and Albion passed out on the way here.

Twilight answered, “Discord didn't suppress his magic when he arrived.  They all collapsed.”

“But I didn't.  Hang on, I want to try something.” and he placed Albion on the ground.  “Discord, could you release your magic?”  

Suddenly Ferrous felt like the ground was moving under him and had to sit hard then fell over. “All right!  Turn it off!” then he started to feel normal again. “That was way too intense.”

Discord laughed, “That was delightfully interesting.”  

Twilight sighed and facehoofed, “Alright Discord, you've had your fun, now can you try to revive them.”

“I suppose you insist.” and he snapped his talons.

Groans and mutterings of “What was that?”, “So dizzy.”  as they were helped up.

Twilight made sure they were alright then turned to give Discord a stern talking to only to find Fluttershy apparently doing just that.  Twilight could almost make out what she was saying.

Turning back to the visitors she could see Celestia apologizing for the incident and Marla intently looking at Discord.

She turned her attention to Ferrous at her hooves, “What were you doing interacting with Discord like that, you were acting way too familiar.” 

“Heh, I guess I was focusing on the experiment so I didn't really think about it.”

“Didn't think!  You didn't... didn't... you, uh, yeah, experiment." (big sigh) "As if I didn't know what that's like."

Albion wobbled next to Twilight and looked down at Ferrous, “Are you alright?”

“I'm sure I'll be fine once the ground stops moving.  But I didn't pass out, just got dizzy.  That means we will adapt.  How about you?”

“Yeah, feeling ok now.”  She then turned to Twilight, “Oh Hi, I'm Albion.  So nice to finally meet you, Twilight.”

“Hello, it's good to finally to meet you.”

“I would like to thank all of you for taking care of him.”

“I'm not sure that's deserved, Equestria has not been kind to him.”

Ferrous replied, “But its people have.  And I have survived.”

Albion helped Ferrous up, “We were designed to survive.  Just look at Coulomb.  Granted, if he hadn't had medical attention he wouldn't be here, but it's possible to recover from massive damage.” 

Ferrous responded quietly, “After observing him when it first happened I wondered if he wanted to.”

Twilight was taken aback, “Oh...ahh...he's not...umm.”

“Don't worry about it. He says he is still adjusting.  After 6 years.  He sometimes has to deal with the feeling that his body is not him.”

Twilight was watching Coulomb, “Did they really replace his entire body?”

“All but the internal organs. His skull was nearly shattered so that's now acrylic.  The body is all mechanical with artificial muscles separating the organs from the mechanisms.  And he only has a portion of the original organs.  The kidney he has was donated by the one he rescued.  And his heart may be failing.”

“Where did you hear that?” exclaimed Albion

“I was talking with Fran just before we transferred to moon base.  Apparently the artificial blood he runs on is damaging his heart muscle and valves, the rest of his body is adapting ok but the heart is losing the ability to repair quickly so they are working on a mechanical replacement.”

Twilight sat in awe a few moments then said, “I'm going to talk to him.”  then looked around and found him in a discussion with Sniggles.  She was animatedly talking and Coulomb held up both fore-paws and nodded.  Sniggles bounced happily then bounded off to the gathered  delegation. 

Twilight then approached, “Excuse me Commander, do you have a few minutes?”

“Of course.

Coulomb noticed her less than happy expression then started singing, “Smile your little smile,”  held out a teacup, “Take some tea with me a while,” she took it in her magic then he made motions with one paw,”Brush away that dark cloud from your shoulder.” Then he held paws to each side of his muzzle, “Twitch your whiskers.  Feel that you're really real.”  turned to the table and picked up a cup for himself  “Another tea time, another day older.” 

She found his response both confusing and humorous which distracted her enough to not notice she was smiling.

“There, you look so much prettier when you smile.  Now what would you like to talk about.”

Twilight felt her cheeks burn.  “Ahh, well, I'd like to talk about...you?”

“Certainly, I'll grab a pot you pick a spot.”

She looked around trying not to giggle and saw groups in various places.  Pinkie and Neesha by the pastries.  Fluttershy and Discord picking out salads.  Ferrous, Albion and Edmund with Rainbow and Applejack.  Marla with Rarity.  Other invited attendees were scattered about mingling and another group around Sniggles and Celestia, then she saw Blueblood with a clipboard taking notes.  The toothy smile he had was a bit disturbing.

Twilight found an empty table and Coulomb followed.  He filled their cups and she sorted out the questions she wanted to ask.  She could hear Applejack talking with Edmund and vowed not to get involved.

“Yer sayin' my butt's too big?”

“No no, not at all.  You have a highly developed build that takes years to achieve.  The well defined muscle groups,  the powerful legs, the firm solid buttocks-”

“So, my butt's too big.”

Edmund tried to clarify over the snickers of Rainbow Dash, “I was trying to say that Rainbow has the lean muscles of a racer and yours are the solid muscles of the power lifter.”

Albion nudged his shoulder, “You're staring.”

“I'm admiring a prime athlete.”

Albion grinned at him, “You're attracted to her!”

Applejack exclaimed, “What!”

Edmund countered, “I'm just making a professional observation.”

“Well, that would explain the drool.  Admit it, you find her extremely attractive and you can hardly keep your paws off.”
Rainbow was trying to hold back laughing behind her hooves,  Albion prodded, “Come on, say it or I'll say it for you.”

“Ok ok.  Applejack, you have the most finely developed power muscular tissue of anyone I have met.”

Albion was not impressed, “Oh fer- no!  What he's trying to say is you have the sexiest behind on six planets.”

Rainbow lost it.

Twilight heard the laughter and made a note to ask later.  

Coulomb was saying, “I was more concerned that the kidney would be the first thing to fail, never considered the heart.  Very surprising.”

Twilight could hear Rarity at the next table, “Marla, you must try these. They have the most divine chocolate-”

From all the visitors at once, including Marla a shout of  “NO!!” 

Coulomb had turned so fast his tea cup emptied to a spray and all went quiet with shocked expressions everywhere.

Marla then responded with a bit more control, “No, no thank you.  I have a bad reaction to chocolate.  Sorry.”

Coulomb turned back to Twilight, “Please excuse that outburst.”

“What was that all about?”

“It's just that all of us saw her flake out on chocolate.  It took four days for repairs and she needed almost a day and a half to recover.”

“Repairs?”

“Several walls and a gravity generator.”

“Chocolate caused all that?”

“A half cup of chocolate covered coffee beans.  For her, chocolate has a euphoric, hallucinogenic affect and greatly impairs her thought processes.  She neutralized gravity in one section of the ship then the generator tried to compensate and burnt out.  We have redesigned and updated everything.  Then her flying was unstable and she crashed thru some walls.  Yeah, she discovered a method for making herself fly.”

Twilight was trying to process this information when Pinkie dove under the table giggling loudly then was suddenly quiet followed closely by Neesha who stopped and excitedly said to Coulomb, “She can warp space like me!” then disappeared with a thwump.

Coulomb put his paws over his face, “Oh great.  She found someone to play seek and tag with.” 
Twilight was a bit confused, “Seek...what?”
“Neesha and her brother play it.  All over the ship.  They can sense each others presence, so they can teleport to the general area and try to tag the other.  The rules are a bit vague, but then they are the only individuals capable of teleportation.”

“Wait, didn't your ship teleport to get here?”

“Marla's ship was built with that ability and we are just learning how her tech works. We are trying to adapt it to our ship. Until then Nash and Neesha do all big ports and Marla’s ship for small groups.  In this case we had to track a signal so her ship is the only one with tracking capability.”

Twilight looked around and saw Pinkie looking over an upper level balcony.  Then a hole opened behind her and Neesha leaned out and slapped Pinkie on the butt and shouted, “YOU'RE IT!” then ducked back and the hole vanished.  Pinkie dove into the nearest potted plant.

Coulomb was also watching with a questioning look, “I'm guessing Pinkie Pie can sometimes sense Neesha?”
From Coulomb's pocket a series of beeps called for attention.

“She calls it her Pinkie sense.  It let's her predict...happenings.”

“I'm sure Neesha can find ways to bypass that.  She has had a lot of practice with Nash.” then Coulomb pulled his datapad from a vest pocket. “Excuse me a moment.”

He read the message and his eyes went wide as he read for a while then he looked up and stared straight ahead and said, “Oh f-”

“Commander, what's wrong?”  Inquired Sniggles, “You look like there is a problem.”

He then passed the datapad to her and after she read for a bit said, “Oh f-”

“That's what I said.”

Sniggles responded with,”Oh my god!” and reached out and touched Coulomb on the chest with his datapad then he grinned and sang back, “I can't believe it.”
Then they both started singing, “I've never been this far away from home.”

They continued to sing then Marla stood and with a questioning look spoke, “Commander?”  He then held up the datapad  while continuing to sing and it glided over to Marla and hovered in front of her face.  After she read her gaze then snapped back to Coulomb and he pointed at Twilight.  Marla then looked at her and the datapad zipped over and set down on the table.

Marla then said, “Excuse me, I know this one.” and went to join in the singing.

Twilight read the displayed message.


To: First Commander Coulomb
From: Sturlaour Leadtech
Subject: Really out there

We have pinpointed your location. Pinpoint being a relative term.
The relay's signal is coming from NGC4375.  Approximately 127.63 mega parsecs distant.
Everyone here is in wow mode for the moment.
We have new insight on the workings of the drive system and we should be able to finish integration fairly soon and a redesigned probe should have a zero delay link.

End message.

Twilight's thoughts were busy processing this new information.  She used the datapad to do research.

Celestia sat next to Twilight and asked, “Do you know what's going on?”

“I will soon.  I just need to look up some definitions, complete some calculations- I love this thing-and make the translation to...no, that can't be right.  Wait, double check the numbers aaannd it checks out.  That just doesn't seem possible.” 

“What is it Twilight?

“I translated distance and have a big...huge...just look.” and Twilight passed the datapad to Celestia.

After a few seconds she started to laugh.  “Now I understand the song and dance.”

Ferrous and Albion joined the singing for the last 2 verses then all returned to their previous seating.

Marla returned grinning, “That was fun, I don't get a chance to join in a flash-tune very often, I haven't learned many yet.”

Then Edmund raised his voice, “Now I recall we have a request from Rainbow Dash for a live performance of the Tri-x-star.  Marla, we may need your assistance.

“Excuse me again.”  Then Marla joined the three friends a short distance from all the tables.

Albion was bouncing while seeming to discus something with Ferrous then he laughed and Edmund just stared at her.  Then she clasped her paws under her chin and seemed to be pleading with Edmund.  He then gave a big sigh and dropped his head and Albion jumped forward with a smile and wrapped him in a big hug.

They moved to stand next to each other and Marla approached then Edmund looked at her and held up three digits. Marla looked at them for a few moments with mouth agape then turned to the gathering.

“Your attention.  The area will be affected by gravity approximately three times the normal.  If you would like to know what they will be experiencing I can setup a demonstration.

Twilight looked around and all present seemed to be curious so Twilight nodded to go ahead.  Marla watched her datapad and for 3 seconds they all felt what 3 G's was like.  A collective wow confirmed they all had the idea.
"And now for the performance."
Applejack groaned and Rainbow shouted, “Alright!”  

Marla studied her datapad.  Ferrous sat, took a deep breath and nodded.  Marla looked at the datapad intently while the three friends were showing signs of increased stress.  Then Marla gave a ready signal.  Ferrous placed his paws by his shoulders and the other two joined paws with him and each other.  They pulled themselves into place huffing and puffing with great concentration struggling against the pull.  When they were in position Ferrous slowly stood and extended in an agonizingly slow process panting heavily.  Their movements slowly achieved the final form with teeth gritting determination.

“There it is!” said Marla with the response of much hoof stomping and hollering.

Albion said through clenched teeth, “Normal!”

When normal gravity returned, Albion and Edmund broke contact and together they dropped to the ground.  They all fell back panting.

Twilight released the breath she didn't realize she was holding while Rainbow was shouting, “That was awesome!”

Applejack was holding her hat tightly against her chest and had such a look of relief you would have thought she had participated.

“Well.” said Coulomb, “They will need a while to recover.”

Twilight asked, “Marla was controlling the gravity for that performance?”

“That's right, she can control gravity and subatomic forces which allows her to produce force fields to manipulate other objects.”

“I heard her mention juggling mountains.”

“We did a test on an uninhabited planet.  She was moving entire mountain ranges.  She could take this mountain we are sitting on and toss it into orbit with little effort.”

“How...how does...”

“That’s really complicated.  I have 3 answers, long, short, and simple. What would you like.”

“Let’s try simple.”

“She directs the universe with what she wants and the universe complies.”

Twilight looked at Coulomb with a confused face. “What? Like spell casting?”

“From what I understand of the reports I've read you have to put energy into a spell and the more complicated the spell the more energy needed.  A part of her mind is entwined with the fabric of space-time.  No matter what she wants the universe provides the energy.  All she has to do is direct her concentration.  With nothing more than a thought there is no difference in effort from tossing this mountain or collapsing this planet to fit into a nutshell.”

Twilight blanked out for a few seconds. 

“We are still trying to find her upper limits, there has to be a top-end somewhere. The main thing you need to remember is that she is terrified of herself.  I think she has been fighting panic from the moment she left her home.  And every time she wins a fight she gains more control.  I don't think she will ever lose her fear but that seems to be what keeps her stable.”

“What if she lost control?”

“We try not to think about that.  The chocolate incident is the closest she has come to losing it.  You might want to watch the video records.  They captured the whole-” 

A cry was heard from one of the guards on the far end of the grounds, “Assistance!  One of the visitors fell from a balcony!”

Twilight looked at Coulomb in time to see him leap.  He was there in two bounds and she saw Marla fly to the same place and felt the rush of air from her movement then she saw the rest running.  Twilight decided to teleport expecting to see Neesha but she heard Coulomb saying,  “Nash! Wake up! What are you doing here!”

Nash slowly opened his eyes and groggily spoke, “Hi Commander, did everyone make it back ok?”
“What?  Nash, you're in Equestria, how did you get here?”

Nash looked around and his eyes opened wide in shock, “Oh cobol.”

“Nash?”

“I felt Neesha trying to 'port, I sensed she was bringing extra mass so I thought she was making an emergency jump but she seemed to be having trouble so I linked to assist.  The best description would be that I was flung.  Or hurled.  Or something like that.”

Twilight looked around and shouted, “Where's Pinkie Pie!”

Nash looked at Twilight, “Probably with Neesha.  In our docking bay.”

Laughter burst out nearby.  Discord was rolling on the ground in tears laughing.  “Oh, thank you.  Thank you for inviting me.  I haven't been this entertained in centuries.  And I thought it was going to be boring.”

Coulomb did not see the humor.  Celestia stood beside him, “You look distressed Commander.”

“Definitely.  I've got two of my people displaced and a local citizen caught up in the mess. So, I am a bit stressed.”  He pulled out his datapad, “I'm sending a message home to look for them.  The new relay should get a message thru in a few mins so we should get a response fairly soon.”

Nash stood by Coulomb with an equally worried expression, “Can anyone tell me why I'm not splattered everywhere?”

Coulomb stared at Nash blankly then uttered,  “Crap.  The combined angular momentum should have you smeared all over the countryside.  What about Neesha?”

“The docking bay dampers can compensate for that mass up to half light speed.  I have no idea what happened to my momentum.”

Coulomb seemed to be thinking intently for awhile before saying, “Too much wrong all at once.” then he started breathing hard.

Celestia was concerned, “Commander, you don't appear well.”

“Just a little light headed.  It should pass by the time they reply to my message.”

“If you are certain-”

From Coulomb's pocket a series of tones demanded attention.  Coulomb grabbed his datapad and almost shouted at it, “What!”

“Whoa, calm down, you're not supposed to die yet.  We have the unexpected guest settled in, she's with Neesha baking cookies.  Medical is getting ready for you to have your heart replaced, when they're ready Neesha will port you in.”

“From a hundred twenty eight mega parsecs?  Hold on, how are we talking real time?”

“Coulomb, we are here.  Look at the place where you arrived.”

Everyone looked to the mountains.  The 12km long ship known as Infinity's Road could be seen hovering over several peaks.

The voice from the datapad continued, “This is a bit of an emergency, your monitor was showing a steady drop in blood pressure.  We finally got the artificial heart fixed and a med team is prepping, you will be taken to surgery as soon as you are on board.”

“How did you get here so quick?”

“Well, we predicted your heart would give out in about 15 to 20 mins and we needed several hours after that to finish fixing the heart and installing drive systems.  So we cheated.”

“What do you mean cheated?”

“Once we got the drive system operational we set speed directly away from your position and ported. Your location is far enough away to give us a time shift back far enough-”

“YOU WHAT?!  Let me talk to Blue.”

“Uh, Creator and Captain are on moon base.”

“They gave approval?”

“They don't know we're gone, we will just hang around here till jump time and arrive back right after we left.”

“Who approved this operation!

“Charolais ran it by the council and they said go.”

“You're sure they didn't say no and you creatively misheard.  I don't approve of any of this. You shouldn't play around with relativity like that.  Are you trying to prove the existence of continuity police?”

“Hush, they might hear you.”

Dammit Sturlaour, you are supposed to be crazy in name only, why do you insist on trying to prove it as fact?”

“My mate keeps telling me that.  Relax brother, just come in for repairs.” 

With a heavy sigh, “OK, fine, this isn't over.  I'll see you...whenever.  You know you are very aggravating at times.”

“Yeah, I love you too.  Now take better care of my kidney.  Out.”

Coulomb started shaking his head and muttering unintelligible sounds as he pocketed his datapad and walked back to the buffet.

Celestia stood by Twilight, “I am a little confused.”

“I think I know what's going on but I need more research.”  Then she got a big grin and started running and hollered. “Ferrous!  I need to borrow your datapad again.”

Once acquired she started requesting information from ships records then a voice from the datapad interrupted, “New user, please identify.” 
She was taken aback for a bit then replied, “Twilight Sparkle.”

“User account found,  verify identity, communication with user Ferrous Data Analyst required.”

She was startled when she heard over her shoulder, “Confirm identity Twilight Sparkle”

“Thank you user Ferrous, voice print stored, full system access authorized, user Twilight you may proceed.”

Ferrous started laughing, “Now I'm jealous, I only have basic system access. You have access to everything except ship controls.”

“What was that all about?”

“Anyone can access a datapad, when you access the ship you have to have permission from command level, so ship's computer asked to verify the user.  Your access was already authorized, the computer just had to verify your identity.”

“It specifically asked for you.”

“You're using my datapad.  But you have full access to the entirety of ships data.  Have fun.”

She was not quite sure how to react for a few seconds then went back to research.  Just as she was starting to read the first documents she heard a shout.

“BEGONE FOUL DEMON!”

Then she heard Sniggles, “Frippin yap.  Marla's pissed.”

“Acptoo, are you trying to poison me?!”

Discord's voice, “It's just a little flavoring.”

“That's more than just flavoring!  Graahh!  Come here!”

Then she saw Marla marching to where Fluttershy was sitting with Discord seemingly in tow behind her with what looked like black bands wrapped around him.  He grinned and snapped his free talons.  He was immediately surrounded by a globe of sparks.  When they cleared his expression changed to one of concern and he tried again with the same results.  Then Marla stopped by Fluttershy, who crouched down and tried to hide behind her mane, "Hello."

“Lady Fluttershy, I believe you have some control over this creature so please inform your minion he shouldn't play with forces he is not familiar with.”  Then discord was dropped in front of Fluttershy and Marla leaned down and looked at him,  “Especially forces I don't fully comprehend myself.”  and she turned to leave.

Discord snidely responded, “Really now, just what forces could you possible be dealing with?”

She paused as she started to walk away and turned back, “I have been told that theoretically I have the ability to kill stars.”

As she walked off Discord muttered, “I think I'm in love.”

Coulomb met Marla for an explanation.
“He tried to give me a chocolate drink.”

“How much did you get!?”

“Don't worry, I didn't ingest enough to cause a problem.  I don't even feel light headed.”

“If you start seeing walls melt have Nash get you somewhere safe.  If that's possible.  Rrrrrrr, this is getting more complicated.”

Coulomb stormed off cursing a bit too loudly.  All within earshot were shocked to hear a series of very  profane statements.  Marla started laughing and Sniggles ran up beside her, “I thought he always swears in Shulai.”

“I'm quite sure he is.  All I have heard since we arrived is my native Ansian.”  Then she raised her voice, “Careful Commander, everyone can understand what you are saying.”

He growled, “Oh, it just keeps getting better.  Let me guess.  Magic.”

A signal came from Coulomb's personal comm but his was the only side of the conversation that could be heard,  “What now?  How can I keep calm if everything is falling apart?  Yeah yeah, I’ll be ready.  Seriously?  Yeah, I'll let everyone know. Out.”

“Is something else happening Commander?”  Asked Celestia with Twilight standing next to her concentrating on the datapad.

“Well, it seems that Pinkie Pie and Neesha have commandeered Andre's kitchens and are on a baking spree with no sign of slowing down.  We may need to speak with you about trade to replenish ships stores.” 

Twilight snorted, “I wonder who started that.”

From the datapad the computer voice responded, “Original idea initiated by Neesha Telaport.  Expansion of idea initiated by Pinkie Pie.  Requisition of ships resources initiated by Neesha Telaport.” 

Coulomb responded, “Yeah, I'll have stores send a list of what we need, let us know what you would like in return.  Or we could just have a bake sale.”
He giggled a bit then started to walk off, looked confused and circled a few times then straightened his tail and with a huff planted himself like a tripod, folded his forepaws across his chest and closed his eyes.

Albion commented,  “He’s meditating.  He must really be stressed.  He doesn't get stressed!”

Twilight looked up from the datapad, “Well, I have found all the information I need.  I thought these wolves were just a little odd, but now I'm able to confirm without a doubt they are insane.”

Just then in the center of the grounds the air began to warp then a portal appeared.  Neesha jumped out and hollered “Time to go Commander, hurry, I need to get back to help Pinkie frost cakes.”

Coulomb asked, “Why are you frosting cakes?”

“Pinkie wants to have a party.  She calls it a 'Happy you won't die' party.” Then she grabbed Nash, “Hey, I'm older than you now!”

Twilight watched them leave and saw in the portal a hallway near an intersection where the ferrets turned a corner to the left then from the same direction a white wolf wearing the same vest type turned and stepped out of the portal and bowed deeply to Celestia.
“Your Highness, I am Lieutenant Commander Charolais.  I wish to express our gratitude for putting up with our excessive behavior and hope we have not disrupted things too greatly.  I also want to apologize for the accidental abduction of Pinkie Pie.”

“Think nothing of it, we have experienced much worse.”

“Thank you, princess, excuse me I have an incoming call.  Yes Neesha, what is it?”

“Pinkie finished frosting and wants to watch the operation so we will be – Pinkie! You're not supposed to be in there!”  a scream and a loud crash then Neesha hollered,  “Shit.” then the comm went quiet.

Charolais muttered, “Cobol.” then dropped to all fours and while moving off said, “Excuse me I gotta go.” and ran thru the rapidly collapsing portal then nothing was left but a tuft of tail hairs drifting to the ground.

All Celestia could say was, “He moves quite fast”

“She.”

“She?”

“You have to know what to look for.” Twilight winced.

“Can you find out what happened?”

“I...I think I can.  I’m not sure just what to ask.”  She turned back to the gathering, “Ferrous!”

“We're queuing up a video feed to all the datapads.”

All the guests present gathered around all the available datapads and watched a recording showing Neesha apparently making a call in front of a window to an operating room.  Then Pinkie Pie bouncing around in the room, bumping a table and a piece of equipment tipped over and a red furred wolf running into camera range.

Albion commented, “That's the new microsurgery tool. No no! Don't try to catch it, you won't- ahh!” Then a scream and a crash.  “Ooo, those are nasty cuts.” the gathered audience produced a collection of gasps. 

Ferrous remarked, “First rule of falling objects, Never try to catch sharps, just let them fall.  He should have stepped back.”

Marla asked, “Wasn't Dr. Mauler the only surgeon on duty?”

Sniggles replied, “Yes, that's right,  All we have left are first year interns.  The rest of the medical staff is spread out over 2000 parsecs on 6 archaeological digs.  And Doc Watt is teaching on Moon Base.  And all that is 30 galaxies from here.  We're gonna need another surgeon.”

The air warped near the center of the grounds and a portal appeared.  Charolais bounded out on all fours then stood up and announced, “We have need of a surgeon.”

Celestia stepped forward amidst a series of giggles, “I will consult with my staff.  If you would follow me.”

Twilight watched them enter the castle then turned back to the gathering.  As she approached she heard Ferrous, “So I calculate 47 minutes local time.  If they can get him on life support by then they should have time to install the new heart.”

Rainbow Dash said, “If they are from the future then we have already done this.”

“No, this is the first time.  The ships arrival was planned from the original time stream, that is looped back from our linear time which has become part of this stream and you will experience that reality as part of ours as one linear stream, that's why we have to wait for the jump to take place so our stream completes and we don't cause a loop in the stream and can merge this one back to the first and it appears as one self-contained stream.  Wow, that sounded so much better in my head. We aren't quite sure how this will work, it's new territory for us.”

The silence that followed confirmed to Ferrous that he lost them then Twilight spoke.
“Yes, just as I thought, completely insane.”

This produced another series of giggling while Celestia and Charolais returned and entered the portal.

Sniggles spoke to Twilight, “You should be aware that anything you say in public may be repeated to the whole ship.  Also remember that we are very difficult to offend.”

Then from the open portal a commotion became shouts, “Wrong corner, that's a transfer point!”

Skidding sideways out of the portal a tabby fur patterned horse with an orange and gold colored wolf clinging to his back slid to a stop then galloped back in shouting, “Why does no-one tell me these things?!”

“They do, you just don't listen!”

Another voice broke in, “Watch it! Stay out of the high traffic areas you two!”

“Sorry Lieutenant!” could be heard fading away as Charolais stumbled out on all fours.

“I'm gonna skin them bo-” abruptly going quiet realizing where she was then padded up to Marla.  “With the micro tool damaged it appears we may need your telekinetic abilities to assist in surgery to attach the new heart.”

Marla started panicking, “I don't have any fine control yet.  I would cause more damage than I could fix.” she turned to Rarity, “But you have exceptional control.”

Then it was Rarity's turn to panic, “I can work with material and fabrics but-but medical applications?”

Twilight hurried over, “She's right Rarity, for something like this you even have me beat.”

Charolais turned to the gathering, “Princess Celestia is speaking with our council and would like those interested in trade to prepare for a meeting.  Details will be provided when available.”

Turning back to Rarity, “Please.  We are running out of options.  And I feel we're already pushing it with space-time continuity.”

“I understand Lieutenant.  It's just that I don't feel comfortable working on someponys insides.”

“You can pretend you are working on plants, chromium oxide is green.”

Rarity and Twilight both starred at Charolais

“His artificial blood is chromium based so the oxide is green, that gives all his insides a green hue.  You didn't notice his tongue?  A bit harder with the eyes, the irises are almost the same color.  You would only be working on connecting the heart, the interns and the royal doctor will do the opening and closing but that is more like machinery.”

Rarity felt very unsure of herself but then she spotted Ferrous talking to a smiling Filthy Rich.  Looking at Ferrous brought to mind his actions.  He would not hesitate to render aid.  He saved my sister with no consideration about harm to himself.  He endured pain for one of my family, how can I not endure some personal discomfort for one of his.

“Very well, I shall assist.”

Charolais visibly relaxed, “Thank you so much.  Could you please follow me and we’ll get you prepped.”

Rarity followed thru the open portal then Neesha walked out and the portal collapsed.

“We’re going to have a concert party!  Uh, party concert!  We’re combining a concert with a party.  I’m setting up a portal between Canterlot and our park.”

“So that's why Tabby and Arnyea were running about.’ remarked Sniggles, “They are after supplies.”
A portal 3 meters by 20 meters appeared connecting to a grassy area leading to a stage platform being setup by several wolves and horses.

“Feel free to wander over to our park if you want but when they get started you will be able to hear them from anywhere.”

Twilight wanted to see the park ever since she read the description so she wandered across the portal.
"Park?" she thought "This is immense." She saw the stage that was almost against a wall and walked to the side of the portal then looked out across the grass that extended to a wall that was 2 km away.  Some walkways could be seen with benches placed occasionally.  Groupings of trees were everywhere. To one side it was almost 2 km to the next wall.  To the other side she could see a wall that was nearly 3 km away and then she noticed that it was a rectangle with the corners made into living space.  The corners of the area were like apartment complexes with balcony's, extending up for 2 km. She actually saw clouds. Past the clouds she saw the mountain range the ship was over.
“What?  That means when I look at the wall behind the portal I am facing the ground and when I look at the stage I am facing the sky.” 
She looked back out the portal to where the ship was parked over the mountains and tried to visualize her position.  

Rainbow Dash flew thru the portal, “Hay Twi, uh, what are you looking at?”

“You see those mountains their ship is hovering over?”

Rainbow looked back out the portal, “Yeah.”

Twilight pointed a hoof up, “There they are.”

Rainbow looked up and stared for a while then looked out the portal for a while then back up, “No bucking way.”

“I read a little about the ship's operations and how they control the gravity.  It's still a little surprising to see it in practical application.”

Twilight saw the tabby colored horse from earlier walking toward her, “Excuse me,  Twilight Sparkle?”

“Yes.”

He sat then reached into a satchel hanging off side, “This is for you.”  and held out a datapad.
She took it in her magic then he said, “Oh, and this.”  and held out what could best be described as a holster.  “I hope it fits, we got the measurements from Pinkie Pie. It should keep your datapad out of the way of any other bags or satchels.”

“My datapad?”

“That is yours.  Just turn it on and say ‘take ownership’.”

Twilight looked at the device and holster as a huge grin took shape on her face.  She put on the holster and turned on the datapad.  When the indicators were green she said, “Take ownership.”

“This unit now registered to Twilight Sparkle.  Do you want to transfer all previous search results to this unit?”

Twilight grinned again, “YES!”

“Process complete, system ready.”

She then did a very rapid piaffe with Rainbow laughing when from behind them they heard, “You seem very happy Twilight.”

“Princess!  They gave me my own datapad!”

“Charolais mentioned that earlier.  They believe you will benefit from their information stores.  She said you don't have access to ship controls because that is irrelevant to you.”

“Twilight!  Twilight!”  Pinkie Pie called out as she bounced over.  “I met a new friend at the hospital, hi Princess, hi Rainbow, and he was really down because his friend was stuck in the hospital so I thought he needed a party and then this concert was going to start and I thought we could combine it with a party and Neesha agreed and he really needs cheering up so I convinced him to come and the hospital staff will make sure he gets here then I can introduce you and we can surround him with friendship and happiness and make him feel better.”

"Weren't you going to watch the operation?"

“Excuse me.”  A voice boomed from the P.A. with a tonal quality equal to Big Mac,  Thoughts of Fluttershy and poison joke came to mind. “The music starts in 10 mins, that's about 16 minutes Equestrian.  But that is subject to change which is almost certain.”

Twilight recognized the horse on stage as Bang.  She was sitting and still looked larger than Big Mac. 

Pinky Pie bounced in Twilight's face  “We started to watch then when they finished opening all the panels that's where all the squishy stuff was and I didn't feel well so we left.  OH!  There he is."

Twilight saw a yellow furred wolf sitting in a net like chair on a floating platform.  All four paws were bandaged and the left foreleg in a cast.

Pinkie shouted “Ocher!  Over here!”

He turned to look and the chair turned to follow his gaze then moved to where they stood.

With no enthusiasm he said, “Hi.”

Twilight responded “You don't sound well.”

Pinkie was suddenly nose to nose with Twilight, “He's super depressed about his friend and he blames himself but it wasn't his fault, the walkway he was on broke and he fell but grabbed a pipe that was hot and burned his paws and he fell into a solvent tank then tried to grab an access ladder but missed and his foreleg went between the rungs and broke then his hind paws went into the solvent and got burned and he was choking on fumes and his friend Jean jumped into the middle of the tank and waded over and lifted him out now she's in the hospital with chemical burns over half her body and she's going to lose her fur and it may take weeks to recover if she can wake up.”

Ocher sounded a bit angry, “She should have waited for emergency services!”

Pinkie suddenly looked serious, “You were choking on fumes.  If you had stayed any longer your lungs would have been ruined.  You would have died Ocher, you would have died!

“But she almost died saving me.”

“What would you have done in her place?”

“I would...would have,”  he gave a great sigh, “done the same thing.”

“I've heard a lot of stories lately.  Isn't that what you guys do.  If there is a problem, jump right in the middle to help.  Even if you get hurt doing it.”  She gently placed her hoof on a bandaged paw, “Because it hurts worse if you don't.”

Twilight saw tears streaming off Ocher's face then her vision went blurry because she had tears in her eyes.  When she could clear her vision she saw Pinkie holding him quietly while he was saying, “I understand.  I see it now.”

Princess Celestia leaned down with a subdued voice, “This is a side of your friend I have not seen before.”

“I guess she does have her moments.” Twilight said with a tearful smile.

“If you will excuse me Twilight, I need to go extend invitations so I need to find Nash.  He and Neesha can each hold one stable portal. So he can set one to Ponyville.”

Ferrous and Albion arrived just as Celestia was leaving, “Did she just say she's going to invite more ponies for the concert?”

Twilight responded, “Probably a lot more.”

“Fantastic!  From what Albion tells me it's going to be- let's see, about 8 hours your time before we have to return the ship.  Lots of time to entertain and discuss trade.

Sounds of instruments tuning from the stage made everyone’s ears perk up.  Bang came on stage with an announcement.

“I have the latest update on Commander Coulomb.  Surgery is in progress,  by now they should be ready to install the artificial heart.”

Twilight was certain she heard a collective sigh of relief from the entire crowd.

Bang continued, “And so our orchestra will shortly start off with ahhh- a different playlist than was originally intended while a new portal connected to Ponyville is setup.  Are you sure we aren't going to get lost?   Oh, I’ve been informed that any confusion will be fixed tomorrow after the time difference has been corrected.  We have accommodations available if you get stuck on the ship and we will make arrangements for any of ours that might get lost here.” Looks off to the side, “So the plan is to prepare for no plan.  Well we heard what Twilight Sparkle said about us.  All in agreement say aye.”

“AYE!!” chorused the entire crowd of wolves.

“All opposed.” followed by silence.

“Well, we know who we are.” followed by a round of laughter.

Twilight thought out loud,  “They seem to make fun of themselves.”

She heard Ferrous off side,  “I told you we were terrible comedians.”

Bang continued, “Well then, that pushes our startup time back...hasn't been determined yet.  How about this. Tune up and I’ll work out something.  Unless our illustrious director has any better ideas.”

A voice was heard from off stage somewhere, "Couldn't think of anything better, carry on."

The band started tune up routines while Nash and princess Celestia arrived which prompted a fanfare that propagated to the entire band.  That finished and the band went back to tuning and practice patterns. 

Celestia raised an eyebrow at the band and Nash said, "They are always doing odd things like that, just ignore them.  But remember we will always have respect, even if we play at it the respect is still intended."

"What if one doesn't deserve respect?"

"We tell them how absolutely awful they really are ."  he sang.

She burst out laughing and it was a while before she could speak again, "Oh my, I can't tell you how many times I have wanted to do just that."

"I could ask the Creator if he is willing to rent us out."

Celestia was struck by another laughing fit.

"I'll just shut up and go find Pinkie Pie."  Nash wandered off in search of.  He was partway to the gathering when he stopped. "Commport computer,  do you have any idea where Pinkie Pie is?"

His comm unit responded, "left 24 ahead 17."

He adjusted his course to the left and started pacing off 17 meters.  He found Pinkie with Neesha and Sniggles. "The Princess wants Pinkie and me to go to Ponyville. 

Sniggles asked, "You need a ride?  Lets get Marla." then they all followed Sniggles.

Marla was sitting at a table having a conversation with Fluttershy when Sniggles approached, "Marla, we need a ride to Ponyville and your ship is closest."

"Sure thing." and Marla stood and took a step then she seemed to start a fall but corrected and was able to stand again, "Then again, keys are in it." and sat back down with Fluttershy.

"Oh dear, are you feeling all right?  It's that chocolate isn't it?"

"I'm not sure,  I don't feel that I should be piloting anything right now.  I just need to sit here for a while then I should be ok."

Sniggles said, "If you're sure."

"Just don't port within the atmosphere."

"Ok guys, let's go."

Pinkie hollered, "ROAD TRIP!  Oh wait, we won't be using roads.  AIR TRIP!"

So Sniggles, Nash, Neesha and Pinkie Pie ran off to Marla's ship.  Well, Pinkie pronked and the rest galloped.  Past the guards down the steps and into the ship.

Sniggles sat in the command chair, closed the door and started getting ready and Neesha got Pinkie settled in.

Pinkie asked, "Why don't you just teleport?"

Neesha answered, "We've never been there.  We need to know where we're going first.  Then we can get there from anywhere."

Nash responded, "And from what we just accomplished today I'm thinking literally anywhere may be possible."

"After we find out why you didn't spatter yourself."

Nash shuddered,"Oh, right."

Sniggles called to Pinkie, "I've got us up about 2KM which way to Ponyville?"

"You should see it to your left."

"Yes, I see it, on the edge of the forest."

"Stop over the middle and I'll show you where to land."

Sniggles set controls and Pinkie felt her nose and chin tingle.

"Shields?  I didn't enable shields."

Pinkie's eyes went wide, "WAIT!"

Everything outside was a blur.  Sniggles stopped the ship.  

Pinkie said, "That's way faster than Twilight's balloon!"

Ahead a few KM they could see a coastline.  Off to the right a city, "That's not Ponyville."

Pinkie looked, "Hmmm, that's not Manehatten.  I think it's Fillydelphia

Sniggles head went thunk on the console, "I am a certified pilot.  Marla taught me Ansian.  I can read Ansian."  She lifted her head and looked at the console, going over all the controls.  She shut her eyes hard, "Damn, that decimal point."

Nash and Neesha burst out laughing.  Sniggles just leaned back and sighed.

Pinkie said, "I thought you guys didn't laugh at mistakes.

Neesha looked at Pinkie, "She made a joke.  But you knew it wasn't right before we moved."

"My nose and chin went all tingly at the same time.  That means someponys done something wrong."
Pinkie waved a hoof in the air, "Lets back this puppy up!"

"I think I'll turn around and watch where I'm going."

"Ok, that works."

Sniggles retraced the course back to Canterlot.  At a more reasonable speed.  Checking for damage they might have caused, "If you see anything broken mark it and I'll take care of it later"

The Return trip was less than 6 minutes and they were able to get to Ponyville with no other incidents and dropped off Pinkie and Nash.  Nash ported Marla's ship back to its parking spot to save some time then followed Pinkie, she directed the portal setup right next to Sugarcube Corner.  Nash linked to a spot next to Nesha's portal in the ships park then Pinkie pulled out a megaphone and started calling ponies to come to the concert-party.
Nash walked thru and saw a growing crowd from the other portal and more starting in from Ponyville.
He pulled out his datapad and checked the time.  Nearly 4:70 almost time for mid-day break.  See how many are off work right now.  2317,
most of then will attend.  and about 1200 kids might make it.  Not enough data to estimate ponies.  
Still, "This is going to be a big party."