The DisQord Continuum

The Apple That Fell On The Tree

Two hours earlier…

Lt. Cmdr. LaForge beamed into the city of Canterlot to set up additional cloaked sensors around the city and on the palace grounds. Wearing a holo-camo suit that rendered himself invisible, he walked right past the palace guards, who were completely unaware of his presence.

He tried to find the best positions to set up the equipment that would return the best results and have the least chance of being discovered. Looking up at the castle he saw the towers sticking up into the air that would give the best possible range. But the number of people moving in and out of the palace and the number of guards stationed throughout would make it a challenge.

Instead, Geordi decided to setup a few sensors around the palace gardens first and come back with a strategy for setting up more sensors in the towers later.  He made his way towards the gardens carrying his equipment in a large cloaked bag. He looked around for a decent spot to place the sensors that was unlikely for any of the ponies to inadvertently encounter it.

The gardens were vast. There were sections containing thousands of different types of flowers blooming in so many different colors that it would take many visitors' breaths away. There was also a labyrinth that could also take many ponies' breaths away; though for an entirely different reason. (Just outside the exit of the labyrinth, an elder pony could be seen resting on a bench panting and clutching his chest.) In one area, there were many different statues with plaques in front of them explaining who the figures were. Just beyond that was a fence surrounding the gardens lined with apple trees, whose bright red colors suggested they were perfect for eating.

Geordi decided to place a sensor unit up one of the apple trees and made his way over to them. He climbed up one of the trees, which was no easy feat inside the holo-camo suit. Pulling the equipment out, he began setting up the device.

This was the most difficult part of the installation, as the device, once taken out of its bag, would not be cloaked until it could be powered on. Geordi hoped the branches of the tree would be enough to prevent anyone seeing the device while he completed the installation. He took a second look around to be sure there was no one nearby. He spotted a small group of ponies over by an empty stone pedestal in the statue garden.

“Just stay over there, and I’ll be done in no time,” he thought to himself aloud.

He positioned the tripod stand into the first main split in the tree trunk and fired two peons into the wood to lock it in place. Carefully attaching the main unit to the stand, he then positioned the sensors facing toward the castle. Switching the unit on, the device gave a small whirring sound indicating he had installed it successfully. Flipping the switch for the camouflage cloak on the device, he watched it blend before his eyes into the background until he could no longer see anything but the tree.

He quickly breathed a sigh of relief now that the danger of being spotted was finally over. Looking down toward the ground to find his footing and start climbing back down, he stopped in his tracks. The very ponies he spotted earlier in the garden appeared to be headed straight towards him.

“Have I been seen?” he thought to himself nervously, watching them walking straight in his direction. He watched as they walked right up to the very tree he was squatting in. A white horned pony used her power to spread a blanket over the ground. A second started pulling out sandwiches.

“Just great,” he thought. “Of all the trees in all the garden, you had to pick mine to have a picnic under.” Tapping his comm. badge, which had been rigged to be audible to only himself, he whispered, “LaForge to Enterprise, unable to return to rendezvous point. Locals nearby are preventing me from moving. Requesting direct beam-out.”

Captain Picard, on the bridge of the Enterprise looked over to Lt. Cmdr. Data. “Mr. Data, lock on to Cmdr. LaForge. Can we beam him out of there without giving away his position?”

Data quickly assessed the situation from his terminal and responded. “No Sir, at his proximity to the indigenous life forms, they would instantly become aware of his presence, immediately followed by his disappearance into the matter stream.”

Responding to Lt. Cmdr. LaForge, Picard said, “I’m sorry Geordi, you’ll just have to wait until you can get to a more secluded area. We cannot beam you out in your current situation.”

“Acknowledged,” Geordi said. “LaForge out.” He silently sighed as he settled himself into a sitting position on one of the branches. He then waited for the ponies below him to finish their lunches.

After a while, an orange pony with what would seem like a tattoo of apples on her flank starting standing up. “Finally,” he thought. “I was starting to get a cramp up here.” He overheard the orange pony talking to her friends.

“That were some great sandwiches and salad there Twi, Fluttershy. How ‘bout I rustle us up some apples for dessert?”

“Eat your apples while you pack up and leave!” Geordi thought, the cramp in his leg began to pulsate. “Just hurry up already!”

He watched as the orange pony headed, instead of into her bag, right up to the very apple tree he was sitting in.  Turning away from the tree, the pony readied herself to kick some apples down from it. Realizing what she was about to do, he tried to grip tightly onto one of the branches as the pony kicked the tree hard.

The sensor, which was lodged firmly into the trunk, stayed completely in place. Geordi, however, did not luck out so well. The branch he gripped broke as the kick landed against the trunk. He plummeted from the tree right toward one of the ponies; a yellow pony with wings, who was feeding a small rabbit, and didn’t even look up as he fell right onto the top of her head.

*     *     *

Tears started forming in Fluttershy’s eyes as she started to softly squeak in pain. Her tears quickly became a flood of sobs. The other ponies knew something had just landed on Fluttershy, but they could not see anything.

Geordi opened his eyes. Quickly realizing the situation he was in, he scrambled up as fast as he could and tried to get away from the scene. However, he did not realize that one of Pinkie-Pie’s cupcakes had squished into the back of his suit. The ponies saw a squished cupcake get up from the sheet on the ground and started bouncing in mid-air away from them.

Rainbow Dash became enraged seeing Fluttershy cry out in pain and charged straight for the flying cupcake. “Oh no you don’t, Discord!” she shouted tackling the cupcake to the ground. “You will pay for making Fluttershy cry!” But the cupcake said nothing. Geordi realized he must be partly visible and struggled to reach his communicator for help.

Rainbow started thrashing at the invisible being she had tackled. Biting something that felt like a bag of sorts, she tugged and gnawed at it with her teeth until it popped off. Dropping the suit’s hood to the floor along with her jaw, Rainbow Dash stared at this strange head she had never seen before floating in the air before her. It definitely was not Discord.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Geordi yelled as three more ponies arrived staring angrily at him. “I didn’t mean to hurt your friend. You just surprised me when you kicked the tree I was in and I fell.” Geordi said, figuring the truth might need a little embellishing in order to minimize the damage he had caused.

As Rainbow Dash continued to pin him to the ground with her hoof, Twilight spoke to the creature before her. “What are you? And why can’t we see the rest of you?” Her voice was stiff and demanding with a tone of authority that almost sounded like the captain to Geordi.

“I’m…from out-of-town,” he frantically thought. “I was enjoying some apples from the tree when you kicked me down suddenly. I can make myself unseen so as not to disturb anybody.”

“Anybody?” said Applejack looking quizzically at the stranger.

Geordi realized there must be a small gap in the universal translator’s interpretation. Thinking back, he remembered one of them say ‘pony’ instead of ‘body’. “Any..pony?” he restated hoping that would work.

Applejack seemed to realize something in her head. “Then I rekon it’s as much my fault as yours you landed on top ‘a poor Fluttershy.” Her cheeks got a little red with embarrassment. “But you should ‘a told us you were up there. Heck we might ’a even invited you to join us!”

“But something about this isn’t right,” Twilight spoke just as stern and angry as before. “There’s no reason to hide yourself in the palace gardens unless you’re up to no good. There are plenty of apple trees and places to buy apples that aren’t in the palace garden. And why were you hiding in a tree that’s right by Discord’s statue?”

Geordi was searching for ideas, but the name ‘Discord’ threw his train of thought. “Discord? Who is that?” he asked.

“How could anypony not know who Discord is?” Rainbow Dash commented. “He’s only one of the biggest villains in Equestria!”

Geordi attempting to respond said, “I, uh…I’m just not from around here.”

Rarity, who had remained behind to tend to Fluttershy, had just caught up with them. “I’ve gotten the poor girl to calm down a bit, but I don’t like the way she looks,” Rarity said worryingly. “Something is definitely wrong. We need to get her to the hospital right away.” Twilight’s expression softened a little but she continued to gaze at the creature before her.

“Let’s get her to the hospital,” she said. “But we’re taking the stranger with us! Rainbow, fly up to the hospital and tell them we’re bringing in an emergency patient.” Rainbow Dash soared off up to the castle.

“Applejack, Pinkie-Pie, you two will escort our ‘guest’.”

“Can do!” said Applejack.

Pinkie-pie, the bubbliest and most vocal pony in Equestria, merely nodded with a stiff grunt, keeping her eyes on the stranger. She was not happy that this creature hurt one of her friends.

“Rarity and I will use our magic to float Fluttershy carefully up to the hospital,” said Twilight.

Geordi was amazed at this pony’s authoritative command and could almost swear he saw the captain in pony-form before him. He reminded himself to NEVER let the captain in on this particular thought! The orange pony behind him prodded him with her snout, pushing him toward the hospital. He obediently followed the group as they transported the injured pony to the hospital.

As they made their way through the gardens, up towards the castle, Geordi felt he had better say something. “Would it be alright if I turned off my…made my whole self visible? A floating head might disturb other people,” he said.

“Please do!” Applejack replied. “Ima bit disturbed myself! But what are ‘people’? You say some funny words mister.”

“ ‘Ponies’. Sorry. My kind are called people the way you are called ponies.”

Applejack seemed to understand. She said, “Ah, and what exactly are you ‘people’ anyways? I ain’t never seen your kind in Canterlot before; or even Ponyville where we come from.”

Geordi tried to tell them as much of nothing as he could. The most he could answer without giving away too much, the better. Switching off his holo-camo suit he said, “We come from a great distance away. I had traveled here just recently.”

They were able to see Geordi properly now. He was taller than each pony, but that was only because he stood on two legs instead of four. He was smaller in stature and was wearing clothes that Rarity nearly fainted just from the sight of. The de-cloaked suit was dark maroon when visible and was made of a material similar in look and feel to a bio-hazard suit.

“What is that horrid thing you’re wearing?” she quietly whispered, because she really didn’t want to know the answer.

In addition to the suit, the ponies also noticed the strange item that covered his eyes with small amounts of light flashing from the sides.

“What’s that doo-hickey on your face?” Pinkie-Pie, who, while still angry and stern at the stranger, couldn’t help but let her sense of curiosity get the best of her.

Geordi, who had been asked this question many times before, already had some preset responses depending on who was asking the question. In this case he decided to go with, “There like glasses to help me see, only my eyes are really bad, so they’re much stronger than regular glasses.” Despite the oddity of the look of his visor to the ponies, that answer seemed to help them accept it without further inquiry.

When they reached the hospital, the staff had a stretcher waiting for Fluttershy. She wasn’t looking well at all. Her face looked very pale and her eyes were in a daze. She wasn’t talking nor crying anymore. Her injury appeared to be serious. Her head had swollen where she was hit, and the skin had split open slightly causing bleeding that was beginning to stain her soft pink mane. Geordi thought to himself, that the doctors might not be advanced enough to help her the way Dr. Crusher could.

They rushed Flutteryshy into surgery. The unicorn doctor took an x-ray with his magic. The doctor and the nurse were looking back and forth from Flutteryshy to the X-Ray as they discussed what needed to be done.

In the waiting room, everypony was anxiously waiting to hear the doctor's prognosis. When he emerged from the operating room, he held a tight poker face that almost resembled someone trying to hold back a laugh. As he looked at each pony's and Geordi's faces, he said, "I'm very sorry...