An off world wolf gets accidentally transported to Equestria, trying to fit in with pony life and recover his memories.
An off world wolf gets accidentally transported to Equestria, trying to fit in with pony life and recover his memories. Thinking he is lost and never going back to his previous life, he will find that true friends never give up on you. No matter how far they have to go.
The foals called him Doggy for lack of a better name, and it stuck. The mountain ponies had found him on one of the trails, unconscious. His fur and the material covering his body had been scorched and burned. They could see slide marks from far up the mountain side where he fell. The ponies took him back to their village to care for him even if they didn't know how he would respond to them. He awoke the day after he was found. He opened his eyes and saw the room, felt the bed and smelled something cooking. He moved so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. His ears swiveled and picked up kitchen sounds. He could feel bruises in several places but otherwise felt fine. He sat there for several minutes just staring ahead. He tried to remember, anything, but all he could bring to mind was a terrified face and lightning. Then he said out loud, “Can anyone tell me where I am?”
He heard clip-clops in the hallway then three pony faces were looking in the doorway. One looked back down the hall and hollered, “Pa, Doggy is awake.”
He tried to stand, got dizzy, sat back down, then his stomach growled. The pony hollered down the hall, “And he's hungry.”
Then the three faces looked at him again and he looked back. The picture that presented itself of those faces looking in the door struck him as humorous and became more so the longer they looked and he started to laugh. This made the faces all smile broadly which made him laugh again. Then the one he assumed was the eldest said, “Let's go help with the food.” and they all moved off down the hall. He was still smiling when he thought, “They called me Doggy. I will have to tell them...” and he thought hard for some time unable to complete the sentence. He put his paws to his head and told himself to calm down and wait. 'The memories may return.' He saw a pitcher of water on a table, grabbed it and downed almost half. Shortly, an elder pony entered carrying a small kettle in his teeth and set it down next to the water. The smell was very enticing and he saw a spoon in the kettle. The pony said “I hope that will be enough for you.”
“I'm sure it will be fine. Thank you.” and he took the spoon and started in. The flavor was wonderful and he suppressed the urge to gulp down the whole kettle.
“My name is Cliff Walker, welcome to our home. The kids called you Doggy when you were found. So what's your real name?”
“I can't recall anything about myself.”
“You remember nothing?”
“My last memory is of being surrounded by lightning. And seeing the face of another across a room, I think it was a room. She...she? She had this frightened look. I can't recall anything before that and nothing until I woke here.”
“Well, we can't just keep calling you Doggy.”
“I can't think of anything better.”
Cliff Walker thought for a bit then said “Well, Doggy, you are welcome to stay with us.”
“Thank You. You are most kind, and I would like to help out however I can.”
Cliff Walker smiled and said “That's appreciated greatly friend.”
The villagers were earth ponies with a few pegasi and one unicorn doctor. Sometimes Doggy would accompany the foals to school and sat with the children to learn of pony culture. The teacher, Miss Fair Air a pegusus, taught literature, history, math and some music. Doctor Woodfall would come in to teach science and a little about magic. He spent most of his time helping to clear old ruins of an ancient village to make room for farm land while trying to see into the nothingness that was his memory. He found that he could walk upright or on all fours but felt more comfortable on all fours when walking with the ponies. He could also run very fast that way and could outrun even the fastest of the villagers. He could easily move over the terrain of the mountain and used much of his free time to explore the area.
One day he asked about a cave he saw on one of the mountain tops.
“That belongs to a dragon.”
“A dragon? Here?”
“Yes, and you need to be watchful. He is bad tempered and will try to take anything he thinks valuable or food. We suspect he may be responsible for a few unexplained disappearances over these last few years.” “And how big is this dragon?”
“Just a small one. About 4 times as tall as you when you stand on hind legs.
Life in the village was peaceful and he started to feel at home. Sometimes when he explored the mountain he would travel to the valley floor. Occasionally he would see pony travelers on the road at the base of the mountain, deciding to keep out of sight so he wouldn't frighten them. The villagers had become accustomed to his presence but he realized he was not a native creature here and might scare others. One day he was on a lower trail and heard voices that belonged to a small group of ponies with a wagon traveling a trail below him. They were not locals and as he listened to their conversation it was apparent they were a bit lost after traveling a different route than normal. They had taken a wrong turn and now were going back to the main road. He dropped to the ground to keep out of sight till they passed. Suddenly there was a great whoosh overhead and a dragon dropped down in front of the travelers. Doggy moved to the edge and looked down to see the dragon looming over the ponies looking as if it was going to crush them or devour them to get at the wagon. He thought "This is a small one?" It moved toward the ponies and reflexively Doggy jumped. In his mind one thought screamed at him. "ARE YOU INSANE!?!" He landed on the dragons neck and grabbed. His forelegs were long enough and the dragons neck where he landed was narrow enough his paws connected then he squeezed as hard as he could. “RUN PONIES RUN!!” he shouted. The dragon shook and tried to remove him but lost footing in the loose rocks and slammed against the cliff face. Doggy fell to the ground and the dragon collapsed on top of him as they both passed out.
“I found a leg! I think. Help me pull!” Two earth ponies grabbed the leg and a unicorn tried to levitate the dragon enough to get Doggy out. “Now what?” “Put uh...it...in the wagon and lets move!” Doggy ended up in the wagon on top of some bundles and the group moved as quickly as they could away from the unconscious dragon.
Doggy woke in the rumbling wagon feeling very sore. He slowly sat up. He was in the company of four ponies. Three earth ponies and a unicorn. He looked around and saw they were traveling by a forest. He asked “Where are we?”
The unicorn said “Oh good you're awake! We are on the edge of the Everfree forest going to Ponyville. We couldn't just leave you behind so we brought you with us.
“You aren't afraid of me?”
“We were just a little but you did try to save us so we considered you friendly. And how are you after having a dragon fall on you?”
“I feel sore all over.”
The unicorn said “We had best get you to a doctor when we get to Ponyville.”
“The doctor at the village can take care of me. Oh! The village! How long was I out? How far have we gone?”
“It has been several hours now and Ponyville should be just around the next bend in the road.”
The sun was low in the sky so he knew he would have to spend the night. “I need to get word back before they start to worry about me.”
“The unicorn asked. “Where are you from?”
“A mountain village called Terrace.”
“Well, we can get a Pegasus to fly out and let them know what's going on. Oh my, introductions! Hello I'm Safflower, that's Ironwood pulling the wagon, Olive is on the left and Orchid on the right.
“I'm called Doggy.”
All together the ponies said “Hi Doggy.”
He tried to stay low in the wagon and not appear threatening as they entered town. They were attracting looks and he started to get a bit self conscious feeling that he needed to get cleaned up.
“Orchid, run ahead and find a Pegasus to fly an errand. Doggy, we will be here for a few days so we will get word back to your village you may be away for a while.”
“I have wanted to see more of Equestria. This seems as good a time as any.”
Orchid came running back “Hey, look who I found!”
The other ponies at once called out “Rainbow!”
“Hi guys.”
Rainbow Dash hovered above the wagon with one hoof scratching her chin. “Well, you're different. I'll bet Twilight would like to meet you.”
“I'm meeting all kinds of new ponies today.”
“So you live with the mountain ponies.”
“They found me and took me in.”
“Orchid told me what happened and I know where Terrace is. I'll let them know whats going on. Be back before you know it.”
And she was off like a shot. Doggy was amazed at the speed. “How fast can she go?”
“She can do a sonic rainboom.”
It took Doggy a few moments to process what was said then muttered “Mach 1 without mechanical help?”
They moved further down the street then a pink pony came bouncing toward them shouting “There they are Twilight. I told you I saw something you should see.” Safflower and the rest said “Hi Pinkie Pie, Hi Twilight.”
“Hi everypony. Pinkie told me you brought a visitor.”
“Hi, I am known as Doggy.”
“Wow, you are a strange one. NO! That's not what I meant! I didn't...that is...you're...different.”
“Yeah, that's what I hear.” he said with a smile.
“Well Doggy, I'm Twilight Sparkle and this is...”
“There's Fluttershy!!!” and Pinkie Pie bounded down the street.
“Pinkie Pie.” Twilight sighed watching Pinkie go, then turned back.
“If you wouldn't mind, could you step out of the wagon so I can get a better look at you?
Doggy slowly climbed out trying to be casual and dropped to all fours. Twilight walked around him studying his build.
“You are kind of like a diamond dog but more like a wild wolf. You have a more cylindrical torso and heaver muscled legs.”
“The doctor at Terrace said I was double muscled.”
“Ahh, that would explain it. And your gray fur pattern is interesting.”
“Yeah, I finally got the scorched spots out.”
Pinkie and Fluttershy arrived just then. Fluttershy questioned “Scorch spots?”
“The ponies that found me said I looked like I stepped out of a fire.”
“Oh my, what happened to you?” asked Fluttershy. “If you don't mind me asking.”
“I remember being engulfed by a ball of lightning and nothing before that. I have almost given up hope my memory will return.”
Pinkie started bouncing with a big grin “I know I know! The memory spell! The one you used to save us from Discord!”
“I don't know Pinkie. This is a different circumstance.”
“Oh go on, you can make it work. I know you can.”
Wellll. Alright. If Doggy doesn't mind me using magic on him.”
Doggy smiled “Hmpf, magic. Sure, fine. Just don't be offended if I don't expect much.” and he sat and waited.
Twilight looked straight at Doggy and moved to touch her horn on his forehead. Her horn glowed and his eyes widened in surprise. Then his eyes opened very wide as he stood straight up and his mouth opened wide to scream because his brain was on fire but he blacked out before he could make any noise. His body went limp and crumpled in a heap on the ground.
Several ponies screamed at once “DOGGY!”
Twilight was aghast. “No no no no no no no! This shouldn't happen!”
She put a hoof on his shoulder and shook him pleading in her mind that he wasn't dead and pleading with her voice “Wake up Doggy, please wake up.” His eyes opened and she sighed with relief. Then he suddenly sprang up looking like he was ready to run. She looked at his eyes and saw the intelligence she detected earlier was gone and had been replaced by something feral. Then she realized he was terrified. He jumped over them and took off down the street with speed she couldn't believe.
“After him!” and they all ran as hard as they could but he gained distance. Twilight gathered her magic and teleported in front of him. He leaped over her without a pause. Twilight saw another friend walking along the street. “APPLEJACK! STOP HIM! Yeah, right.”
He zoomed past Applejack and seemed to be gaining speed all the while and passed the edge of town with all the ponies chasing after him. He was a ways out of town and in mid stride when the pain in his head returned causing him to blackout again. He hit the ground limp and skidded to a stop raising a cloud of dust. Applejack arrived first. “Tarnation, what is this critter?” She checked for signs of life, found he was still breathing and waited for the others to catch up. When they got there Applejack said “He just collapsed at a full run.”
They checked him over for injuries not sure what to do next. Fluttershy said “My place is closer. We can take care of him there.”
He woke up on a couch. His head throbbed. “What party did I get this hangover from?” Then he heard Twilight.
“Doggy, I am so sorry I did that to you.”
“Oh! Right. What happened? I saw your body start to glow and suddenly I'm lying here with a headache.”
“You don't remember running out of town like a scarred rabbit?”
“No nothing.”
She sighed heavily. “I repressed memory instead of recovering. I'm not sure what happened. Please forgive me Doggy.”
“Ah 'ts OK. And call me Ferrous.”
There were a few moments of silence before he realized what had happened. He sat up slowly and smiled. “And the face I saw on the other side of the room, her name was Albion. We were friends. She and another named...ahhh...Edmund. They were my best friends at the base. What base? Arr! I can almost recall but not quite. But I remember my name!”
Twilight sighed with relief. “Well, it didn't completely fail. But I'm not going to try that again.”
Then he looked around at his surroundings. “Where are we now?”
“This is Fluttershy's home. It was the closest place to care for you. Oh!, Rainbow Dash just got here with your belongings and was just about to tell us about her trip. Wait. Did you say you saw my body glow?”
“Yeah, you had an aura all around you. That's not normal?”
“No. When a unicorn uses magic only the horn has an aura.”
“Hmm. Well, I can see into the infrared and ultraviolet ranges. But this was a golden color. I must be able to see something unspecified.”
“I'll want to talk with you about that more when you are feeling better, I'll make a note. Oh, Rainbow. You were going to tell us about your trip.”
“Yeah. When I got there and told them what was happening they gave me this vest and said they fixed it up for you and put everything back in the pockets. They even gave you a few extra bits. They said you helped them get ahead with work enough that if you want to travel go ahead. Just be sure to send word how you are doing. And when I left, a dragon was waiting and started chasing me. I knew he was no match for my flying, so, I was kinda playing around. Last I saw of him he was plastered on the side of a mountain. Oh yeah, I'm awesome. So, anyway here's your vest.”
He started to stand but got dizzy and sat back down. His head throbbed harder and he had to lie down again. “Maybe later.”
Fluttershy said. “It's getting late. Maybe we should put you to bed.”
“Just help me get to the backyard and I'll be fine”
Fluttershy was shocked. “Oh no. I have a bed all ready for you.”
“But I am filthy. I don't want to dirty your bedding.”
“You're not filthy. We gave you a bath while you were unconscious and brushed your fur. You are very clean.”
He thought that the smell of flowers he detected was the normal scent of Fluttershy's house. Upon further inspection it was he that smelled like flowers.
“Wow, I am clean. Well then Ms. Fluttershy, I will gladly accept your offer of a bed. Lead the way.” so he stood up from the couch and promptly blacked out.
Albion checked her datapad “This is supposed to be an airlock activated by pressing the left button next to the door.” Ferrous tried the button. Ancient machinery came to life and the door slowly closed. The room quickly pressurized and a yellow light came on over the opposite door which became the only light in the room. They checked their suit indicators and found the air to be compatible so they removed their helmets. “Not too cold in here and the air seems okay.” Albion gave a “Ha! That's what the report stated also. Now we open the other door with this button.” Then the inner door moved to the side to reveal a dimly lit corridor with another door at the end. “The main room is on the other side of that door and they included pictures of what we need to check.” The door opened and they entered the dim room then Albion gasped, “This doesn't match the report.” On the right side of the room where most of the consoles should be the wall had collapsed inward and wreckage was strewn all over. More consoles were seen on the far wall next to a pair of columns. One of these had fallen against the back wall and it was bent out of shape. Albion sat at one of the consoles. “No wonder they couldn't find a signal from here.” Ferrous slowly walked around the wreckage. “What does all this do?” “The report states that from the other moons they have found, only part of the transmitter has been determined and they haven't figured out the rest yet.” Ferrous moved over to the columns and inspected a console. “Maybe some of this still works.” Albion responded, “If I read this correctly then all of the controls that I see are turned off. I think this was never activated before the damage happened.” “You can enter that in your report. What data were we supposed to acquire?” “Follow this sequence.” she said handing her datapad to him. Ferrous looked over the settings then handed back the pad and set the controls on the console he was near then turned to Albion as she said “Great, this is not responding correctly. Probably too much damage.” Then something that sounded like an alarm went off and Ferrous was engulfed in a ball of lightning. He heard Albion scream his name then everything seemed to dissolve to nothing.
Ferrous sat up tangled in blankets. He was breathing fast and he gradually realized it was a dream. As he calmed down he felt exhausted and fell back on the bed. He starred at the ceiling and recalled just how it happened, just like the dream, how he must have arrived here from Earths moon. Light came in the window at a low angle. He thought. “It's early. Or it's late. Hope it's early.” He got up and made his way unsteadily, even on all fours, down the stairway to the main room where Twilight, Fluttershy and another pony he didn't know sitting at the table. Then he saw Rainbow Dash lying on the couch.
“Ferrous!” Twilight's glum face lit up with a smile. “I was so worried about you. We got you into bed after you collapsed and I stayed with you all night. I just got up after sunrise and you seemed to be resting peacefully so I came out for breakfast.”
“I have never had so many people concerned about my well-being before coming here. My two best friends back home watched out for me. But here, the villagers, the ponies with the wagon, you and your friends...I'm very grateful. And I don't think we have been introduced, as he looked at the unfamiliar pony.” “Hay there. Ah'm Applejack. I saw you collapse out on the road.”
“I think maybe it's a good thing I missed that part. Glad to meet another friend.”
He sat at the table and saw a bowl of fruit. “Apples! I haven't had an apple in forever.” He grabbed the apple and took half in one bite then happily munched. “OH! And I remember how I got here. We were investigating an artifact on earths moon then we activated damaged equipment and here I am.”
Twilight pulled out a parchment and quill, “That could be significant, I'll make a note.
Fluttershy said. “When we were giving you a bath I noticed writing on your ear, what is that? If you don't mind me asking.”
He reached up and held his left ear. “It's information. I think I need to see it.”
Twilight said “Here, I'll write it down.” And as he held out his ear she copied what was tattooed on the inside as he tossed the rest of the apple in his mouth.
He looked at the paper for a bit then the memory suddenly popped into his head. “Yes, that's my project details. That's the Genetitech Labs logo, Hamburg facility, creators ID, project ID, gene series and version. We got the tattoo shortly after birth.”
Twilight's eyes opened wide. “That means you are a genetically engineered life form?”
“Yes. And if you call me a gelf I'll smack you.”
Twilight gave a snort, then said “I have only read about theories. I didn't think it was really possible. So you don't have parents.”
“Not in the traditional sense, we call BK127E our creator but reference him as father. My birth mother was a husky. Mom and Dad were professors at MIT. And you haven't the slightest idea what all that means.”
Twilight said “I will make a note to go over that with you. Right now let's finish eating.”
“Yes, good idea. Ah! Carrots! I'm glad the creator made us omnivores.” and Twilight scribbled another note.
Ferrous had his fill then asked for his vest. He unrolled the vest of many pockets which had an angular symbol on the outer left breast pocket.
“I'm not sure what I have. The family that took me in were repairing it so I haven't seen it for a while.” He found a pouch of bits that felt quite heavy. “I think they are a little over generous.” Then another pouch. “Yum, jerky bits. Albion gave me this when we were getting ready for the trip.” He was about to eat one but decided it may not be viewed well by those present. “Hmm, sunglasses. Tool pouch. Comm link. Ah! My datapad.”
“What's that?” asked Twilight.
“Datapad. This device stores, catalogs and retrieves all types of information, does calculations and analysis and detects some aspects of the world around you.” Twilight looked intently with wide eyes at the datapad. He touched the pad and the screen lit up. Then a voice from the data pad said “You have three unopened messages.” Ferrous stared at the screen for a few moments before saying “They must have been sent before we went out to check the artifact. OK, first message. Oh, too bad. I missed a meeting three weeks ago. Next. North polar survey data completed. Final report summary needed. Ha! Not gonna happen. Next. Oh. My. Wow.”
Twilight leaned to see. “What is it Ferrous?”
He turned the screen so they could see. “It's the three of us doing the Tri-x-star. Where you hold your body in an X shape and hold paws to form a star.”
“I see that's you...and …you are holding up the other two?”
“That's Albion and Edmund.”
“Which is which?”
“Albion is the black and gold fur, Edmund is the red fur.”
“You said Albion was female and I can't tell the difference”
“That's easy. See here, males are oval shaped and females are triangular.”
“Ohh! Well! Yes! Thank you for pointing that out.”
“Rainbow snickered then asked “What's that red sign on the wall?”
“That's the gravity index warning for the gym. We had it set to 2 Gees
Twilight's eyes went wide and she said. “Now let me get this straight. You are standing holding two others in an upright star pattern with double gravity. That means you were holding 4 times your own weight”
“Plus my doubled weight and maybe a bit over. They both have about 4 kilos more but I have the stronger legs. Hey! She included the video.” They all watched the screen showing Ferrous sitting with paws near his shoulders, then the other two clasped his paws and then each others paws over his head and pulled themselves to the upper position. Ferrous slowly stood and they moved to the final star pattern.
Applejack remarked “Dang! That hurts just watchin'.”
“And Albion wants to try again at 3 gees.”
That produced a pained sound from all of them.
Ferrous stared at the display for a time then said sadly “I'm never going to see them again. I am lost. They most likely think I am dead and I will never see them again. Edmund always joking, Albion pretending to flirt wh- Oh. I am such an idiot.” Tears started to stream down his face.
“Are you alright?”
He sobbed “That thing you did with my memory, I thought of her and remembered everything about her, all the things we did together, every thing she said to me.” His voice got louder. “She cared. She cared for me and I didn't notice! All of her flirting was genuine and I didn't piece it together, I just brushed her off! I must have hurt her terribly and she never let on! Now I can't go to her and tell her how sorry I am for not seeing.”
“Oh Ferrous. I wish there was something I could do to help.”
“Yeah, just kick me in the back of the head. You could generate enough force to shatter my skull. Then push me in the creek and I will just sink out of sight and not be a bother anymore.”
“FERROUS! That's horrible.”
“Sorry, I feel really bad right now. I was so rotten to her I can't believe she stayed a friend.”
“That is what true friends do. They will stay with you no matter what and they will care for you even if you forget them sometimes.”
Then Ferrous had more tears streaming off his face. Twilight put her forelegs around him and said “We are your friends now, you can rely on us. And from what you said there may be a way to trace back where you came from.”
He sobbed out, “Really?”
“Yes, I think so.”
He looked back to the data pad and stared at the pictures with a new feeling of hope.
Twilight thought he needed a distraction so she asked. “You said your datapad held information. What else can you show us?”
“I should probably show you the creator.” He made some claw taps on the screen, “Display Creator's portrait. And this is our creator.” and he turned the display so they could see.
Fluttershy screamed “DRAGON!” and hid under a chair before she remembered it was only a picture.
Twilight was confused. “You were created by a blue dragon?”
“Actually he's an engineered lizard about a meter tall.”
Twilight asked “Does he breath fire?”
Ferrous laughed “No, he doesn't breath at all. He wasn't designed for that.”
Twilight rubbed her temple with a hoof. “Ugh, now I'm really confused.”
“Well, for a complete explanation you need to start with the creator's creator and read their biographies”
“Wait. Just how much information does that thing hold?'
“Several libraries worth of books, audio files and video.”
Her eyes focused on the datapad and stared with her mouth open then asked, “Could you teach me how to use it?”
Ferrous, Twilight and the Cutie Mark Crusaders reached the library.
“Does Pinkie usually grab people off the street for a party?” asked Ferrous as he pulled streamers out of Twilight's mane.
“Quit often.” responded Twilight brushing confetti out of Ferrous' fur. “Of course it was your welcome to Ponyville party.”
“Well it was...really fun.”
As they entered the library Twilight called out “Spike! I'm back. Brought company.”
Ferrous was surprised when he saw a tiny dragon enter the room.
“Hey Twilight, about time you got back...Woah! A diamond dog? No, uh, doesn't look right.”
Ferrous brought a paw up and waved, “Hi. I'm Ferrous, I come from off planet.”
Spike starred blankly then Twilight spoke up, “Spike, take a letter, then we can get the Crusaders organized.”
Twilight dictated a letter to Princess Celestia explaining the plight of Ferrous then set Spike to helping the crusaders with their research.
Twilight set out cushions for all then Ferrous gave her a crash course in datapad operation while the Crusaders looked at various books.
Ferrous browsed the library shelves while Twilight browsed the datapad.
After a while the crusaders with some discussion high hoofed and together exclaimed “Cutie Mark Crusaders prospectors, YAY!” and headed out the door.
Twilight looked at the door and sighed heavily then looked back at the datapad as Ferrous pulled a book off a shelf and sat at the table.
Ferrous heard Twilight say “What? That doesn't make sense.” then looked to see a puzzled expression on her face.
He asked “What do you see?”
“Well, I was searching mathematics and now I have a file labeled 'Bang and her group performing at the Park Backward concert.'”
Ferrous snorted then let loose with a laugh that needed some time to bring under control, “She..HA!..has.. has a band..HA! called...mmmph..Divide by Zero!” then he gave in to another fit of laughter.
She looked at the datapad then back to Ferrous then facehoofed and groaned.
Out of curiosity she opened the file. A video of the group playing hard rock started and she was very surprised with the members. “Ponies? And a bird? And one of you.”
“The wolf on keyboard is Joanna, the macaw at the microphone calls himself Banshee, and yeah the horses. Bang on drums Pettifog on guitar and Gerta on bass.”
“They are very tall. And they have paws?”
“You will need to read from the ships history for an explanation. Index, history, IR citizenry, Open section 3. There, that should get you started” The datapad queued up a page and Twilight started in on a history lesson and Ferrous found his own reading material.
After a while the library door opened and Rarity trotted in saying, “Twilight, have you seen SweeEEEEEEEE!!!” and Rarity backpedaled.
“No Rarity, it's not a Diamond Dog. He comes from another world.”
“What? Well, I..I see...yes, he is a more...handsome specimen than those ruffians.”
Ferrous said “I really must learn more about these Diamond Dogs I keep being compared to.”
“And more educated too. But, as I started to say, have you seen Sweetie Belle?”
Twilight replied, “The Crusaders ran off somewhere I'm not sure which way.”
“I really must find her, mom and dad will be here and we need to get ready.”
Ferrous brought up a paw, “Umm, if you need help, I could track them.”
“Well, I wouldn't want to bother...”
“It's not a problem.” Ferrous cut in, “I can find them faster. I already have their scent.”
Twilight said, “Go on, the faster you leave the faster you find them.”
“Alright, just follow me.” and he headed out the door.
Rarity looked at Twilight. Twilight motioned to the door, “It's alright, go with him.”
Twilight watched Rarity leave then went back to studying the datapad. As she was reading she noticed a symbol that had been red change to green. She thought, “He said green meant good. So I can ask about it later.”
Some time later Apple Bloom suddenly burst in shouting, “Twilight! Twilight!” which startled her and she almost dropped the datapad. “They've taken Mr. Ferrous to the hospital.”
Twilight was so shocked she had trouble speaking right away, “Wa..wa..what happened?”
Applebloom started talking very fast “We went by a warehouse and Scootaloo saw a loading ramp and wanted to practice a few jumps with her scooter and she was getting real good then we started to leave and Mr. Ferrous and Rarity showed up and Sweetie Belle said do that again to show them so Scootaloo made another jump but landed crooked and ran into the end of a stack of crates and barrels and the whole stack fell and Sweetie Belle was in the way then Mr. Ferrous jumped and curled around Sweetie Belle and the stack fell on them and Rarity was screaming then everypony came running and helped uncover them and Sweetie Belle said she was ok but Mr. Ferrous was knocked out and when they picked him up Sweetie Belle was covered in blood but it wasn't hers cause her horn went thru Mr. Ferrous' neck and they carried them both to the hospital!”
Twilight stood with her mouth open trying to process what Apple Bloom just said and hardly believing she said that in one breath. Twilight grabbed her bags and ran out the door hollering “SPIKE! I have to go!” They galloped to the hospital and arrived while the doctor was stitching the neck wound. Rarity was in the waiting room with Scootaloo and a cleaned up Sweetie Belle.
A teary eyed Rarity said, “They checked Sweetie and she has a bruise on her chin but otherwise no injuries. Ferrous has torn skin and muscle on his neck and a concussion. Her horn missed the vital areas and the doctor says he is a tough creature and should recover just fine. Oh Twilight, I saw Scootaloo hit the stack and saw it start to topple. I levitated her out of the way before I noticed Sweety Belle right under the falling barrels. Then Ferrous leaped into the middle of it all and saved my sister.” Rarity grabbed Sweetie Belle in a tight hug tears streaming off her face.
“Rarity it's ok, it's over now.” gasped Sweetie Belle
Twilight said, “Well I'm glad you're safe, I hope Ferrous will be alright as well.” sounding a bit worried. “He is really something. Saving Ironwood and his friends. He just leaped into danger trying to rescue them. And that was before he regained his memory. That means protection is a basic instinct, it's a major part of who he is. I wonder if that applies to all his kind.”
Doctor Stable came in to report his progress, “The wound has been closed and he has been moved to a recovery room. I don't know how long before he regains consciousness.”
A nurse entered then, “Doctor, could you come check on this please?”
“Um, yes, excuse me.” and the doctor followed the nurse.
Twilight and Rarity shared puzzled looks and waited. After several minutes the doctor returned also looking puzzled. “Well, it appears that he is a fast healer. The first stitches I put in have started to heal over already. At this rate I should be able to remove all the stitches in about an hour.”
Rarity said,”Well then, we should go meet mom and dad then we can come back later.
“Alright Rarity, I'll see you then.” and Rarity and Sweetie Belle left. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom went to tell the others what happened. Twilight stayed with Ferrous and studied his datapad. She devoured information even if she couldn't understand all of it.
The doctor came in to remove the stitches. He started to pull the first of them and Ferrous started to wake up. “How is Sweetie Belle?”
“Just a bruised chin, she went home with Rarity. How do you feel?”
“Got a sore throat.”
“Well, her horn hit a lot of tissue in your neck so that's not surprising.”
“Ow, how long was I out this time?”
“About an hour.”
“AN HOU.. oh right, I'm thinking in two time scales.”
Twilight looked at Ferrous with her head tilted, “What's that again?”
“Back home our days are divided into 10 increments that are referred to as hours and translates to somewhat less than 28 of your hours by my calculations.”
“So one of your hours is just less than 3 hours of our time?” “That's fairly close.”
Twilight said,”Your memories seem to have returned more completely now, you may have total recovery already.”
He huffed, “Lota good it'll do now.”
“Ferrous, it's time you talked to Princess Celestia. I'll setup a meeting.”
Twilight pulled out paper and quill from her bags and started to compose another letter.
The train ride to Canterlot was uneventful but Ferrous still enjoyed the scenery. Some ponies stared for a while when he got on then went back to their normal conversations. Twilight sat next to him with her notebook and his datapad learning about his culture and the details of where he lived. At one point on the trip Twilight commented on Sweetie Bell's rescue. “I don't think we can thank you enough for saving Sweetie Bell. If you hadn't been there-”
“Nothing would have happened.”
“Huh. What?”
“If I wasn't there Rarity would have been delayed finding them, they would have moved on and none of that would have ever happened. So my very existence caused the problem”
Twilight was unable to think of a response.
Ferrous then said, “I think of it as odd timing. But don't think on it too much, you'll give yourself a headache.”
As they pulled in to Canterlot Station she gave back his datapad and gathered her things. They attracted more stares as they stepped on the platform and headed for the castle. Twilight snickered at Ferrous acting like a tourist looking at all the sights and taking pictures. They entered the castle, Twilight and some of the guards she recognized giving each other polite nods. Then they proceeded to the main hall and Ferrous admired the stained glass till they entered the throne room
“I haven't met royalty before. I have met dignitaries but no heads of state.”
“I'm sure you will like Princess Celestia, she is the most- PRINCESS!” Twilight shouted and ran ahead. Ferrous turned to look. His vision was overwhelmed by a golden light that enveloped him like a warm blanket, filling him with a sense of comfort...security. Time seemed to slow. He could hear noises like someone talking far away. Then the light moved away and he felt unbalanced. He was trying to regain his footing and side stepped into a wall bouncing off and falling to the floor.
Twilight ran up to Princess Celestia, “I'm so glad you could arrange to meet my friend.” “No trouble at all Twilight, I have been looking forward to meeting him. Is there a problem? He looks a bit shocked.” Twilight looked back to see Ferrous back where she left him, not moving, stopped in mid stride. She ran back to him, “Ferrous? What's wrong?” and she waved a hoof in his face. She heard his breathing slow and then listened for his heartbeat.
“He's barely breathing and his heart is slowing!”
“I'll get help.” said Celestia as she went out one of the side doors. She shouted, ”Summon the court physician!
Twilight saw Ferrous start to move again, side stepping into the wall then he collapsed. He gradually came to his senses finding himself on the floor. “What is it with me and bright light?”
“But there's no bright light in here.”
“Not now. It left.”
Twilight was very puzzled then she was able to piece together an idea.”What do you see?” As she levitated her bags.
“You're surrounded by a golden glow. But your horn glows purple.”
Celestia called from the corridor, “Twilight! I have the doctor!”
“Quick, put on your sunglasses!”
He reached into his vest and moved the sunglasses to his face just as Celestia rushed in. Now he was able to see an aura around her without being overwhelmed altho he did feel light headed. He bowed then returned to a sitting position. “So wonderful to see your loveliness I am strange in your presence. Wait. I feel silly by your adorableness. No, that's not right. What am I saying? he drunkenly turned toward Twilight.
She responded with, “Ferrous, close your eyes. The sunglasses aren't enough.”
He came within two millimeters of bashing his nose on the marble floor. “Forgive me princess that was totally inappropriate I don't know what is wrong with me.”
Twilight could see a smirk on Celestia's face and it was obvious she was trying not to burst out laughing.
The doctor asked, “Am I still needed?”
“I believe you may go.”
Twilight said, “I think I know what's happening. He can see the magical power around you and it overwhelms his senses and affects his mind.”
Celestia responded, “Oh, I will just need to suppress my magic a bit. There you may look now.”
Ferrous cautiously sat up and removed his sunglasses. He was able to look without feeling weird. “Thank you princess, that is much better. Well, if I get too inappropriate you know how to shut me up.”
Celestia snickered, “I'm sure that won't be necessary.”
“Oh my, I just realized how many of my kind would take that as a straight line, myself included. We are terrible comedians.”
Twilight cut in, “Is that why you came up with that head kick comment?”
“Well, I must admit..” a guitar cord came from his pocket that attracted all eyes to his vest. “It's just a message, I can check it later.” then he inhaled sharply with a shocked expression.
He opened his vest, reached inside, pulled out his datapad and checked his display.
“There's a signal. There's a message.” and his paws started shaking. A shudder ran down his back. “Twilight, please. I don't think I can hold on to it.” and he shakily passed it over to her.
She took it with her magic and started reading.
To: Ferrous Data Analysis From: Edmund Technical Design Subject: Found you
Albion hasn't stopped bounding around since we detected your telemetry. She doesn't trust herself to produce a coherent sentence yet. After three weeks of research we created a relay probe and recreated the accident that sent you away. (Once I mentioned the idea she took over the project) Infinity's Road is now in moon orbit. Sturlaour built the probe using Blue's new comm designs which are supposed to be a couple levels beyond the first prototypes. Transmission delays for your position are roughly 4340 seconds one way but I don't have the math to calculate your distance with the current channel yet. We are gathering a rescue team. Coulomb, Neesha, Sniggles, Albion and I. Marla's ship will be able to track the probe. We are hoping the telemetry is accurately showing you are alert and in good health. Send details how we are to come get you.
End message.
“Well.” stated Celestia “We should prepare for guests.”
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.”
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."
