//------------------------------// // Chatting With The Future // Story: Repairing Harmony, Book 1: Twilight Sparkle. // by twow443 //------------------------------// Chapter 4- Chatting With The Future Derpy and I just stared at the intruders, not moving. The cyan pegasus promptly walked up to me and got in my face. Poking me on the chest, she barked at me, “What are you DOING here?!” Luckily Derpy was on hoof, shoving a muffin into the pegasus's mouth. “Here ya go Rainbow!” Rainbow was going to spit it out, but then tasted it. Her eyes widened and she began to chomp eagerly on the muffin. “Geez! What is IN this?” Derpy grinned. “That one's blueberry.” The pink mare walked next to Rainbow and gave us a smile. “I'm Pinkie Pie, and this is Rainbow Dash! But it seems that you already know her!” Derpy rolled her eyes and giggled. “Of course I do! She's..” I quickly kicked her in the leg to stop her. “We're sorry. My name is Broken Hope and this is Ditzy Doo, also known as Derpy.” I calmly sat down. “We're hiding out in here until that robot leaves.” “Oh you mean the Enforcer.” Rainbow sighed. “Whenever there's trouble in Equestria, Twilight sends that thing to 'investigate'. Usually ends with ponies dying.” “Dying?!” Derpy shrieked. Rainbow raised an eyebrow at that. “It's natural these days. For some reason, Twilight's been coming down hard on everypony in the rural areas. My friends and I have been trying to think of a way to stop her, but nothing's worked.” “We can help.” I said, and Derpy nodded. Rainbow glanced at me. “Well, I have seen her fight.” She pointed at Derpy as she continued to talk. “But I don't KNOW you two. For all I know, you could be spies for...” “Wait, Dash!” Pinkie said. We all stared at her until her tail twitched suddenly. “Get down!” Rainbow yelled. They ducked as Derpy and I flung ourselves under the table. A booming explosion shook the shop and blew the roof off. “What the...” Rainbow started. “Down the hole!” I yelled. Derpy caught on immediately and launched herself at Rainbow, tackling her and causing the two of them to fall in the hole. Pinkie bounced in herself and I jumped in as fast as I could. I landed hard and looked to see a long tunnel. Next to me, Rainbow had tossed Derpy off of her and was glaring at me. “What do you two think you're doing?! That thing's going to find our tunnel!” I was about to respond when the world quickly shimmered. I turned and pointed at the tunnel exit. The exit disappeared, replaced by stone. I turned to see Rainbow's jaw drop. “How did you....?” Pinkie giggled. “He just played with reality Rainbow. Come on, we need to get back to the others!” As she bounced off, I turned to Derpy. “Um, how did she know that?” I asked. Derpy smiled. “She's Pinkie Pie. She did that all the time back home.” I sighed. “This is gonna be a long day.” The two of us followed after the bouncing mare. . . . The four of us walked along the tunnel in relative silence. My horn had lit up by itself again, so I was in the lead. Derpy had decided to walk by me to talk. “Broken.” She started. “What happens when you reality shift?” I glanced at her, then focused on keeping my horn lit. “Well, I feel a warm glow in my stomach and the world seems to shimmer.” “Shimmer?” Derpy asked. I waved my hoof. “Ya know what it looks like when you toss a pebble in a calm body of water? It looks like that.” Derpy was quiet for a moment. “Do you ever see anything differently besides that?” “Not really. Why?” I replied. She looked at me. “Because your eyes glow pure white.” At that, I was silent. What did that mean? I didn't have much time to ponder it because we reached a dead end. “Nothing here.” I said, moving my head around to illuminate the tunnel. Rainbow pushed past me and laid her hooves on the wall. She felt around it for a moment and then pushed hard on a certain point. Her hooves depressed two points on the wall, as if she had found buttons. The wall shook and slid downwards, revealing a door. She turned at us with a smirk. “Coming?” After I closed Derpy's mouth, I nodded. “Of course.” . . . Barns are usually supposed to be full of hay and dust. Sometimes have animals in them. So imagine my surprise when we walked in on a fully technological barn from that tunnel. It was truly amazing. The walls, floor and ceiling were made out of metal, and there were lights hanging from the ceiling and the walls. The room was extremely large with all types of ponies doing things. There were large and small monitors with different information on them and ponies typing away on keyboards. I also saw that there were different doors which no doubt led to different hallways. There were signs above the doors as well. I read “Food” and “Rest Area” above two of them. “Wow.” Derpy said in awe. “It's like a big house!” Pinkie was bouncing along next to her. “Yup! Everypony in town lives here!” I thought about that for a second. “Wait. If that's the case, then how did everypony immediately come out and line up when the Metal Ponies came?” Rainbow sighed. “Pinkie means that everypony can live here. Some of us live in Ponyville to advert suspicion from here.” “But, where is here?” Derpy pondered. We stopped in front of two large glass cases, big enough to put ponies inside. Two silent pegging were standing on each side. Rainbow and Pinkie walked behind us. “We're at Sweet Apple Acres.” In two fluid moments the pegasi slid the doors open and the mares behind us shoved us into the cases, closing the doors. “Hey! Let us out!” I yelled as Derpy tried to break the glass. “Sorry about this, but we need to make sure that you aren't part of Twilight's forces.” Rainbow said. “But we aren't!” I yelled, starting to panic. “Just let us explain!” Pinkie bounced over to a control panel that was next to Derpy's cage. “And you can! Right after this little bitty test! Have fun!” With that, she pulled a lever. Instantly tiny little holes opened up on the sides and top of our cases and water flowed from them. Derpy and I were soaked to the fur as the water flowed over us. “This part is to make sure that you haven't painted a disguise over yourself.” “Paint? That doesn't seem like it would work.” Derpy said, blinking hard against the torrent of water. “It's happened before.” Rainbow nodded to Derpy and she tapped a few buttons. The water stopped and heat started to flow from it. The heat dried us off in a few seconds, but they didn't turn it off. “Not only is this to dry you off, but it's also to make sure that you aren't wearing any fake skin that the water couldn't wash off.” The heat continued for a few more seconds then turned off. My coat was slightly puffed up, but otherwise Derpy and I were fine. I smiled at my friend and she grinned back. “Now this next part, it's the final test. I just want to say that...I'm sorry.” “For..” I stopped as every hole closed up in our boxes and they started shaking. I heard a faint humming sound and saw Pinkie turn away. “No! No, let us out!” I tried to reality shift, but I didn't feel even a spark of my power. It started with a snap, then electricity surged though the cases. The final test. We were going to be electrocuted. “AHHHH!!!!” I screamed. I couldn't tell how Derpy was faring because of the pain. It felt like I had been baked in an oven, then dropped in a fire, then set on fire again. Every part of my body felt aflame and I couldn't see straight. Though the haze I saw the world shimmer. In a blast of glass, everything went dark. . . . “He better be okay!” “He'll be fine, I hope.” “What do you mean, you hope?!” “We've never had that big of an reaction from somepony. It's an extremely weak voltage that we put in the cages, and it ends very quickly. Somepony programmed it to raise the power and time.” “Well, I...wait. I think he moved!” I struggled to open my eyes. When I succeeded in opening them, I was looking into wide teal eyes. “Uhh...” “Are you alright? You scared us.” The mare said. I could make out that she was yellow and had a pink mane. I didn't move my head, but I heard other voices around me. “What..?” I started. I heard Rainbow come closer to us. “It's my fault. Somepony sabotaged the machine and I wasn't paying attention. Your friend almost killed me for it.” “R-really?” I asked, trying to orient my vision. Rainbow laughed. “Yeah. Picked up a stun baton and started beating the hay out of everypony that came near you. I was surprised that she knew how to use it. Either way, Fluttershy there was able to calm her down.” I slowly lifted my head off of Fluttershy's leg and sat up. After my head stopped spinning, I saw Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity sitting in chairs, except for Fluttershy who was still next to me. “Where's Derpy?” I asked. “She should be here right about, now!” I turned as my friend and an orange earth pony with a cowboy hat walked though the door. “Broken!” Derpy cried and dashed over to me. She stopped and gave me a very light hug. “You've never done that before.” I said, shocked. "Usually you tackle me." “Do you wanna know why I didn't pass out?” Derpy asked. “I'm used to lightning strikes now. But I know how it felt the first time I was shocked.” I took the time to thoroughly look around the room. We were in a office like room, above the main floor of the barn. There was a large window behind where Fluttershy and I sat so that ponies could see the main floor. Turning, there was a large computer on the wall. It was off at the moment. “Okay, let's get started.” Rarity said, moving over to one of the five chairs that were by the computer desk. She took a seat as the rest of the ponies did the same, except for Fluttershy who decided to stay by me until she was sure that I was okay. “So. You two have met everypony here except for Applejack.” She pointed at the orange earth pony, who in turn dipped her head toward me. I nodded in return. “But who exactly ARE you two?” “And don't leave out any details!” Rainbow suddenly chimed in. “I've seen you two fight.” Derpy and I exchanged looks. I opened my mouth to talk... Do not reveal anything about your true origins or of the dimensional split. If the ponies of the dimension start to question their existence, it will tear the dimension apart. You may reveal about your abilities, but do not mention the Elements of Harmony, my sister or myself. In these dimensions, we have never existed. I slightly shook my head as Luna's presence left my head. Glancing at Derpy, I knew that she had experienced the same thing. I decided to take a line from Derpy's book....and wing it. “Derpy and I are...travelers.” I started. “When we were old enough, we set out to stop Twilight's reign.” “But, why exactly?” Applejack asked. “We grew up in a rough neighborhood.” I said. “I remember that we would travel into town and see how everypony else lived in luxury. Derpy chimed in. “So, we thought that if we could stop Twilight's cruel rule over everything, then we could equal out everypony. Ponies wouldn't have to live so poor anymore.” The ponies were quiet, thinking. Fluttershy was the first to break the silence. “But..if you two are all alone, how did you get this far? Twilight's army is everywhere.” I had to quickly think about this, so I diverted to Derpy first. “Well,” she started. “I'm naturally clumsy with normal things, but I have an...affinity whenever I'm fighting.” “That's true.” I added. “She can use just about anything as a weapon.” “What about YOU?” Rainbow pointed at me. “I saw what you did in the tunnel, and don't say that's just magic, because what you did was impossible!” I REALLY hoped that I wouldn't have to go though this on every dimension. Taking a deep breath, I gave my explanation. “When I was born, Twilight herself had come to our town. When she did, I don't remember exactly what happened, but she let off a magical discharge. It struck me, and I was affected from it. It turned my coat white and messed with my mane. It also gave me the ability to...play with what's around me...reality itself. I can't control when it happens, it just does.” As the ponies gasped, Rarity asked. “Did Twilight ever find out?” I shook my head. “I wouldn't be here if she had.” Everypony in the room was quiet for about three minutes, then Rainbow jumped up. “Look girls. Not only have they survived against Twilight's robots, but they went though the seeker and told us their story. Hooves up if you think we should trust them.” Nopony moved for a moment, which worried me. But then I saw Fluttershy tentatively raise her hoof. Then the other ponies in the room raised their hooves. “Right!” Rainbow landed by me. “Where were you two going next before you stopped in Ponyville?” “We were on our way to Canterlot, but it's surrounded by that bubble.” I said. Pinkie slipped over to the computer and started typing. A railway station popped up on the screen. “We can use this! It's Twilight's Equestrian High-Speed Air-Train!” “That's the official train that flies between Ponyville and Canterlot.” Rarity said. “It uses magic to soar though the air, and is one of the few things that can go though that barrier.” Applejack tapped a button on the keyboard, panning out the screen. “We have to load a shipment of apples tomorrow. If you two can sneak in by hiding in one of the boxes, then you can get onto the train! “Only problem is that you have to load them at the station.” Rarity mused. “We could sneak around while you're loading them!” Derpy said. “I'm great at hide-and-seek!” “If it's possible, I could use my ability to create a distraction so that we won't be noticed.” I chimed in. Fluttershy also spoke up. “I'll ask my animal friends if they can help also.” Rainbow nodded at her. “One condition then, Broken. I'm coming with you.” I widened my eyes. “But, Rainbow...” “No buts!” Rainbow snapped. “I'm the leader of this resistance, and I'm not going to send two newbies out on their own. Now, all of you get some sleep! We strike out in the morning.” She turned and left the room. Everypony else did the same, nodding and saying good bye to me and Derpy. I dimmed the lights, noting that the main floor was starting to die down. “Broken?” Derpy asked. “Yeah?” I replied, stretching out on the couch. “Are we gonna be okay though this?” She asked, worried. I nodded. “I won't let anything happen to you. Promise.” I didn't hear a reply, so I assumed that she had gone to sleep. As I laid down, I saw Derpy slip onto the couch, cuddle up beside me and instantly fall asleep. I refused to move a muscle, falling asleep as well.