//------------------------------// // White Gold // Story: Land of Light // by ISKV //------------------------------// For the first time in a week, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were seen outside their chambers after catching a bug that has affected a countless number of ponies all over Equestria. Both princesses were barely able to carry out their duties concerning their celestial objects. The Royal Astronomers Guild confirmed that while only a microscopic change in position was calculated, the sun and stars had been noticeably dimmer for the first time in a millennium. Just a few hours ago, Princess Celestia made a public statement that it was no more than an illness that cycled every few centuries or so. Day and Night courts are scheduled to resume tomorrow. The Canterlot Daily Staff wishes to remind their readers that while winter was scheduled to end one week from now, the extra snow heightens the chance of delay. We wish all a happy spring day! And may your hooves stay dry! *** Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up... The pegasi kicked and pushed the clouds, sending them to oblivion with a poof. A cold gust of wind blew across their noses, and a fresh batch of dark precipitation-heavy clouds rolled in. Let's finish our hol-i-day cheer... The ice slowly floated away in neat little squares as the ice skating ponies skillfully slid off of the frozen pond. Migrating birds landed on the chunks of ice, confused at the darkness and the lack of a bright sun warming the land. Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up... The snow had frozen the town shut. Shovels were tossed aside in favor of pickaxes. Only reluctantly did it slide off of the many roofs of Ponyville. Ponies below loaded the hard crystals into carts to be taken away. Cuz tomorrow spring is here... A few young squirrels scrambles out of their hole in a rush to get out and stretch their legs. Their parents slowly followed them while a yellow pegasus sighed at the rigid and inflexible schedule that forced animals to end hibernation while winter still had a firm grip. The younglings were soon chin-deep in the snow. Cuz tomorrow spring is here! Applejack hummed a familiar tune as she pushed her plow along a quiet area of Ponyville. The winter had been extremely cold, enough that it tamed the energetic spirits of the foals who were usually outside the second the first snowflake touched the ground. Blizzards piled layers of snow onto the little town, forcing all of the ponies inside for weeks on end causing countless cases of cabin fever. The apple farmer had enough time to play through an entire game of Monopony with her family. And that was with Granny taking hour long naps between turns. Usually she and her friends would've gone to see the traditional Hearth's Warming Eve plays, but they were canceled all over Equestria. But that was months ago. While the sun was still covered by thick layers of rolling clouds, the birds and the other animals had already begun their transition into spring. This area still had a few weeks worth of snow that had created a solid obstacle few would prevail against. Applejack was one of the few ponies strong enough, but it still tired her like an orchard full of apples still on their trees. Her head quickly rose when a few of her pegasus friends, including a particularly colorful one, called and waved from above a low floating cloud. While their words were lost to the wind, they got their point across and Applejack waved in return. Rainbow Dash jumped from her cloud and flew closer. "Hey Applejack!" the pegasus said as she hovered inches above the snow. "Howdy Dash!" she called. "Snow givin' ya trouble?" Rainbow playfully teased. "Well..." Applejack tapped her chin pretending to think, "If Ah remember correctly... YOU put it here!" "Ooh, something the mighty Applejack can't handle?" she snickered as she crossed her forelegs. "Naw, Ah'm just wonderin' how you got this much snow in yer sleep!" "Hey! I work just as hard as you!" Dash yelled. "Just not as long... Or as regularly." "Aw, Ah'm just playin' ya RD!" the pony laughed. The pegasus joined her and the ring of laughter echoed. "Say, could ya help me with the plow?" The sky blue pony's eyes bugged out, "So there is something the mighty Applejack can't handle." "After tryin' to buck the entire orchard by mahself, Ah learned." They both shared another quiet chuckle at the memory. Rainbow hovered behind the contraption and assisted. The snow proved no match against the two ponies. "...Why is there so much snow anyways?" "Yer the weatherpony! Ah though you knew!" "That's just it! We've tried controlling the weather, but it just kept getting worse! It's like one big Everfree! Didn't help that we all kinda got sick..." Applejack stopped the plow, "So... yer tellin' me that you didn't bring this snow." The pegasus shook her head, "Nope. The blizzard came out of nowhere." "I tell ya Dash-" Rainbow rolled her eyes, "Oh joy, here she goes..." "It just aint natural! We get a record breakin' summer and winter? The princesses-Sick? The sun and stars dimmer? Ah told ya Dash, and Ah'm gonna tell you again, somethin' ain't right..." The pegasus sighed, "Horseapples AJ. You're thinking too hard! Besides, Twilight trusts the princesses, why shouldn't we?" Applejack nodded, "Yer right. Not gonna think bout' it... Not gonna think bout' it..." As the pair resumed their crusade against the snow, the apple farmer resumed her humming and the pegasus joined in. As the Applejack hummed the fastest part of her song, Rainbow's wings quickened to match the tempo. "Woah Dash! Goin' a bit fast don'cha think?" Applejack worryingly said. The snow piled higher and higher in front of the plow, groaning as it reached its limit. "I didn't even eat breakfast yet! Can't wait to go faster?" she yelled impatiently. "And relax. It's not like we're going to-WOAH!" the pegasus yelled in surprise as the plow suddenly crashed to a stop. A shrill squealing could be heard as various metal parts buckled and bent under the force of two mares. Applejack face planted into the snow while Rainbow Dash tumbled hooves over head until she smacked into a tree quite a distance away. The apple farmer spat out a bit of snow while the pegasus rubbed her head from the impact. "Agh..." Rainbow Dash groaned, "What happened?" "Ah think we ran into a rock... Er... Somethin'." Applejack worryingly said as she escaped the contraption. "What'd we hit?" Rainbow Dash brushed away the snow on top of their mysterious object, then groaned in frustration. "Gr... Applejack! Help me move the plow." "Yep." The pair hooked teeth and forelegs on to wherever they could. The fastest flyer and the strongest mare were no match for some snow, and the plow soon reluctantly slid back. It was completely totalled and a few hooflengths shorter than it had originally been. "Oh, Big Macintosh's gonna hav'ta take a few days off fer this one..." The pegasus whistled, impressed with their effort, "You have to admit, that was pretty awesome! If I don't say for myself..." Applejack rolled her eyes, "Very nice RD. Now, let's see what we hit." A few taps told the two that a solid chunk of ice had been sitting in their way. This time, both mares whistled at the sight. "Well Ah'll be." She turned to her friend. "And Ah suppose this is natural too huh?" Rainbow Dash only shook her head. "I've never seen a storm make a chunk of ice this big..." An idea snapped into her head. She rose above the treetops. "Time for my patented Rain-Blow... Away?" The pegasus paused for a moment, then threw out the thought. Sucking in air and holding in a breath, the cyan pegasus violently dived down and pulled up right above the surface of the soft snow. Spiraling around, the small flakes began to rise until a miniature snow tornado formed. All of the snow around the mysterious object blew away in another small snowstorm, and Rainbow Dash hovered down. It was exactly what they thought it was. A solid chunk of ice sitting smack in the middle of nowhere. The pegasus yawned, "Oh look. A block of ice." Applejack sighed. "Ah can see that sugarcube." "Don't you mean ice cube?" This sent Rainbow Dash tumbling through the air in laughter. The apple farmer rolled her eyes yet again, but soon joined the pegasus. What the two mares didn't know, was that the pegasus' mini-tornado had blown a small hole in the perpetual layer of clouds above them. In a million-to-one chance, a ray of light struck the ice chunk, making it glitter bright enough that even Rarity would feel jealous. There was one thing odd about the reflected light though... "Hey Dash." The pegasus turned around. "Yeah Applejack?" "Bring your head here and tilt it to the left will ya?" "Why?" "Just do it!" She did. Immediately, she noticed that among the pure-white sparkles, there was a golden aura glowing around something... inside... Her eyes opened wide. "Is that... gold?" "Looks like it." "BUCK IT! BUCK IT! BUCK IT!" she screamed in excitement. The apple farmer turned and raised her legs. Years of intuition and a good amount of instinct went into her muscles as they got ready to hit once more. A dull thud and a sharp crack echoed through the sleepy town. A cloud of dust and ice shards was thrown into the air as the two covered their eyes. The chunk of ice had completely disintegrated with the largest piece no larger than a grapefruit. Always incapable of waiting, Rainbow Dash rushed to the ex-ice boulder and stuck a hoof in. She pointed to what looked like a golden hoof from a statue. It was dull, but still glowed yellow. "LOOK! APPLEJACK! WE'RE GOING TO BE RICH! Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh is this what Daring Do feels like every time she finds some lost artifacts or-" she rambled on and on while examining the found riches. "Listen closely' Dash," The orange mare's face turned serious, "that there's probly' somepony else's. Now if they come lookin' for it-" Rainbow Dash let loose a piercing scream and jumped back in horror. Never in her entire life had Applejack predicted that she would be the one to hear a scream from her. Pushing that thought out of her mind, she raced to the "statue." It wasn't a statue. It was a pure-white pegasus that almost blended in with the snow around her. Her mechanical right foreleg was what Rainbow had found. It resembled the Royal Guard's armor, thick golden plates interrupted by where her natural joints would've been. And visible between the armor plates were gears, hydraulics, and other technology that only Twilight could've understood. Engraved onto them were many variations of the sun, the most curious being a perfect copy of Princess Celestia's cutie mark. But what really made her stand out were her wings. Unfolded, they were twice the size of a regular pegasi's. They were mounted on two brass objects that were elongated and smooth, resembled the underside of a thin boat. On the "boats" were two ovals with grilles cut out off-center. Odd hexagonal markings ran from the tips of her wings to the mysterious objects. There were no straps that held them onto her sides, and our local rainbow-maned pegasus expert concluded that her mechanical wings were connected to her very bones. They turned around and raced back to town screaming the entire way. *** Twilight moaned as she slowly sunk into her comfortably hot bath. Her hooves were freezing and while her coat had somewhat insulated her from the elements, her skin underneath still needed to be warmed up. She held her breath and sunk beneath the thick layer of pink bubbles. "Twilight! Twilight!" Spike yelled. She was deaf to his call. Not exactly knowing why she was needed, he wasted no time and banged the bathtub. A gong that could be heard by her neighbors rang out as a purple unicorn shot up in panic, spraying soapy water everywhere around her bathroom. "Pft-SPIKE!" Twilight sputtered as she tried to clear her mouth of the taste of bubble bath. "Why did you-" "Rainbow Dash and Applejack are downstairs! They said it was an emergency!" The dragon interrupted. Twilight teleported downstairs without a single thought, suds and all. When Twilight's signature purple light flashed, the two panicked mares started speaking over each other. "TWILIGHT! Come see! There's a-" "Twi! Somthin' horrible's happened!" "-but then I poked around and found out that it wasn't a statue-" "-white like the snow! Golden wings!" "GIRLS!" Twilight yelled, sending drops of soapy water flying everywhere. The unicorn sighed, "I'm sorry for yelling, but what's going on?" Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other. They both agreed. "It might be better if you come and see." Twilight nodded, "Show me." Then she noticed the wetness underneath her. "After I dry out of course." *** Dear Princess Celestia, A long pause followed. Spike impatiently tapped his claws onto the clipboard. After she emptied her stomach once more into the half-filled bucket, she lost the will to write her letter as meticulously as she would've normally done. Rainbow Dash and Applejack found a dead mare frozen in the snow. The strange thing about her is that her wings and right foreleg are mechanical. They're nothing like I've ever seen. What I'd give to speak with the pony who made it... I've looked through Ponyville's records, but haven't been able to find anything about her. Can you please have somepony look through the Royal Archives? She is a white pegasus with a golden mane. Her cutie mark is a star inside of a sun. Thank you in advance, -Twilight Sparkle With a burst of a green flame, her letter was sent to her longtime mentor. The unicorn leaned against the back of the seat, still green with nausea as she tried to expel the images from her mind. She had been so sick that she didn't even look at the letter to do a spelling check. Around her, the nurses on duty milled around, calling names from clipboards and passing out lollipops to crying foals. It was barely half an hour after the pair discovered the mare. They were both talking, jumping from one topic to another. Rarity was flipping through a month old magazine that featured the Wonderbolts on their latest tour, even though it had ended a week ago. Pinkie and Fluttershy were sitting back-to-back on the floor. One was silent, trying to comprehend what she had seen while the other was absentmindedly stroking her little rabbit friend for comfort. All of them tried hard to keep their minds off of the pony. For some odd reason, they all stayed and waited in the hospital as if she would eventually come out of unconsciousness. She would tell her story, Pinkie would throw a party, and they would all make a new friend. But they all knew that that was already a false story. There were no doctors, only coroners. The mare's corpse was currently being examined for the cause of death, just in case being frozen wasn't it. *** Hours passed, and it was agreed to stay at the library for an unexpected sleepover. It wasn't like any of them had anything to do. And they all needed the comfort. The clouds still clogged the air above. With the rise of the moon, the skies had grown even darker. The seven friends all cuddled up together in the main room, all sharing a toasty blanket. A faint grumble came from the dragon assistant. Spike got up and groaned as he wondered what he ate. But before he could run to the bathroom, he burped up a scroll followed by flames. "Hey Twilight..." he sleepily said while shaking her shoulder, "You've got mail..." The unicorn lazily the scroll above her head. After a few seconds she sighed. "Not even the Royal Archives have anything on her..." "So all this time and we don't even know who she is?" She shook her head. "Not a clue." Twilight got up and started pacing. "But it's sort of odd. Even far-out town like Appleoosa would send a letter that a foal was born. But how would she get that sort of technology outside of Equestria? AGRH. It doesn't make any sense!" "Somepony sleepin' here." said a quiet, half-asleep voice. "Oh," her voiced dropped to a whisper, "sorry." An image popped back into her mind. Celestia's sun... This mare must've been a Royal Messenger! But that made even less sense. How well somepony's existence was documented directly correlated with how close they were to Canterlot. If the mare had been frozen in solid ice, she must've been there for months! A missing messenger would've been investigated weeks ago! So the unicorn threw that idea out of her mind as well. Still, it was worth writing to the princess about. She got out parchment and a quill. Dear Princess Celestia, I'm sorry for forgetting, but the mare had a sun that looked exactly like your cutie mark engraved onto her mechanical limb. She might be working under you as a messenger. -Twilight Sparkle. "Spike..." she whispered. The dragon was fast asleep, unconsciously hugging Pinkie's curly hair. Twilight rolled her eyes and pulled his tail, sending green flames out of his mouth, and incinerating the letter. It was a trick she had learned when her brother had played a bit rough with him. Spike got his revenge up to and including a singed mane and charred face. Immediately her eyelids began to droop and she let out the longest yawn imaginable. It had been a long and tiring day not helped by the midnight letter. She curled up with her friends and returned to sleep. There were no nightmares that night. *** An alicorn sneaked through a hallway where a security guard stood at his watch with sleepy eyes. Technically if she wanted to, she could waltz right in and nopony would be able to do anything about it. But after the search for the mare's name brought up nothing, and Twilight's letter telling her that her own mark was present on the pony, she alone went out in secret. Indeed, she had a team of pegasi messengers who had her cutie mark engraved somewhere on their armor that delivered top-secret documents to other countries, across the world if need be. Their names were known only to her and technically they didn't exist. Celestia had a bad feeling if one of her messengers had been brought down by unknown means. A few sparkles danced in front of the guard. A very mild sleeping spell caused him to close his eyes and succumb to his dreams. Listening for any other ponies on watch, she hovered to the door. A quick poke unlocked the one thing holding the door closed. The princess shivered as she entered the morgue. She never liked being around the dead, having been present when close friends had passed on. A few rows of metal drawers lined the wall. Some labeled empty, others holding ponies who were not yet at their final resting place. She walked towards the end where "UNKNOWN" was written on a paper card in a holder. She slid the drawer open. The mare lied unmoving on the cold metal. Familiarity. That was the first thought in her mind. Celestia closed her eyes as she remembered her many friends over the centuries. Some came close. One general had a prosthetic leg. Another secretary had gold-colored feathers. But none looked exactly like this mare. The mare's mane was a golden yellow tied into a ponytail with ribbon that matched her folded-up wings. She was lying on her left side so that her mechanical limb was on top. Of course her student would've wanted a talk with whoever built the cybernetics, but even she was impressed. Celestia closely examined her shoulder plate. Suns were engraved in all different styles from simple doodles that could be done by no other than a foal to the most intricate and detailed sun she had ever seen on any kind of art. She swore that she could even make out the corona. In the center was her own cutie mark of a full sun. The princess silently wondered if the mare was one of her hardcore worshipers. She was immortal yes, but a god? Nonetheless, the princess sighed in relief. It wasn't one of her messengers. No secrets had been compromised and her nation was safe. She pushed the drawer back in, but stopped halfway. Since this pony was unidentifiable, standard procedure was to create an "Unknown pony" file, then the body would be sent for cremation. She couldn't stay here forever. Celestia bent down and lightly touched her forehead with her lips, then whispered a few words of comfort both to her and to any family and friends she might have. The drawer closed with a click. The door closed with a squeak. The guard woke with a start. And Celestia disappeared into the night.