//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: The Harmony Dome // Story: Equestria Rim // by ActionPony //------------------------------// Later... The wind whistled outside the town of Marebanks, Marelaska. Twilight shivered through her thick coat, trudging towards the unfinished Harmony Dome, bolstered with stone and other thick, strong materials, surrounding the island that was Marelaska. It was still under construction. Unicorns were feeding all their magic to the crystals anchoring the dome. Earth ponies were shoring it up from the bottom and bringing materials for the solid part of the dome, and Pegasi were working at the top. Twilight walked on to the big building next to the Dome, where the workers met before going to their jobs. The headpony, a big, burly dark brown pegasus stallion named Iron Hoof, stood on a stand in front of the crowd of workponies, where he could look down on them. “Alright, ponies,” he began, “night time's up, it's time to get to work. Crystal A-13 is broken, unicorns, so you who were working on it, conserve your power so you can fill up its replacement. And all of you, remember, this Harmony Dome is the Dome of Life for you. Work hard, and I won't have to give your position to any of the other comers that want the rations you get. So get going, everypony, and work enough to earn your bread!” “YEAH!!!!!” yelled out a large, extremely muscular white stallion with a straw-colored mane in a crew cut cut and a dumbbell cutie mark. Shaking her head at him, Twilight proceeded to her own magic crystal, crystal A-39. Usually, she'd have other ponies working on it with her, but Twilight's own magic was great enough that she could handle one solo. She walked on through the rough corridors of the complex around the Dome, until she reached her own crystal. It was huge. Shaped like a cube turned 45 degrees, the crystal was held in a simple but strong steel setting. It pulsed with its own inner light, glowing with Twilight's own lavender magical aura, casting out a pulse of magic every so often to keep what they had up of the Dome going. All of this was stuff Twilight had all seen before. But there was something new: A butter-yellow pegasus with a long pink mane and tail and an officer uniform was sitting by crystal A-39's base. Twilight was curious, and walked up towards the strange pony. She noted that as she looked whoever it was in the eye, the pegasus's first instinct was obviously to hide behind her mane, but she fought it easily and looked at Twilight directly. She spoke: “Um... Hi, Twilight Sparkle, I'm Fluttershy, and I'm the captain of the PON Program.” Twilight was surprised. The PON program? Hadn't she resigned from that years ago? She wanted none of it, not after what happened to Big Macintosh. Had 'Fluttershy' not gotten the memo? And what was someone with the name 'Fluttershy' doing commanding the PON-Jaegers? She told Fluttershy harshly, truth be told, a bit too harshly: “My involvement in that is finished. Done. I want no part of it, not after what happened to Big Mac. You should know that. I came here to get away.” Fluttershy nodded. She understood. She also understood that she needed Twilight Sparkle, no matter how tough she proved to convince. She told Twilight, in her soft way: “I know. But we're in a tough spot. We're losing PON-Jaegers faster than we can build them, and we're losing Hussars faster. You're a good pilot, and we need you, Twilight.” Twilight shook her head. She would not go. She was firm in that. “I said no, Fluttershy, and nothing you can say or do will change my mind, so go. I'm sorry, but I can't come back. I can't.” Fluttershy could no more just leave than Twilight could return to her duty. Softly, ever so Fluttershylike, she played her biggest card: “I'm not you, Twilight, but if I was you... I don't know how I could leave the world to end without first trying my very hardest to make sure it doesn't.” Twilight Sparkle looked at Fluttershy, pain and indecision in her eyes. Fluttershy was playing the guilt card, and Twilight knew it. That said, she did have a point. She could, maybe, help save the world, and probably die doing it... or, she could continue working on the Harmony Dome. She knew the Kaiju, and factoring in their increase in strength from the time she'd been in a PON-Jaeger, it would only take one before the wall came crumbling down, even if it was finished. Math was another strong point of Twilight's, and she'd made sure to get the measurements on the strength of the wall. It was, of course, only an approximation, as she couldn't be completely sure about the Kaiju. Twilight made her decision, and turned back towards the crystal, and linked her magic to it. Fluttershy drooped a little in defeat. Maybe she had failed at this, after all. Maybe the trauma was too great. Maybe Twilight Sparkle couldn't be persuaded. She got back up again. She hadn't come all this way to this far away place just to give up on first refusal. She took a deep breath to say more. And then Twilight capped off the spell that would allow smooth integration of other unicorn's magic. She used telekinesis to write a message on the wall: From Twilight Sparkle: I quit. She turned towards Fluttershy, with a smile. Fluttershy was beaming, and it was almost worth the choice just to see the cute pegasus so happy. Fluttershy led the way outside, where a Pegasi-pulled coach was awaiting. Both ponies got in, and Fluttershy called out to the coach ponies, and they got a running start and lifted the coach through the air, using a special magic coating to pass through the Harmony Dome like it was nothing. There was a video crystal inside the coach, and Fluttershy tapped it in the rhythm that summoned the news. Equestria Daily, Equis's biggest news source, came on. “Breaking news from Vanhoover” said a tired-looking white mare with a brown mane pulled up in a bun. “In one of the very few places where the Harmony Dome was complete, a Major broke through, taking less than one hour to penetrate the dome.” The picture then switched to a feed from Vanhoover, showing a wolf-like Major with disproportionately sized claws, membranes between each leg, and big, thick spines over its back. The Major took no trouble with the Dome, walking through it like a pony might walk through water. A voiceover of the reportmare came on: “The Major was taken down by Princess Celestia, after a day of battling it, and it exhausted her greatly. A large group of citizens, their exact number not yet recorded, also died when the Major penetrated their shelter. For a comparison, the last time a Major attacked, the PON-Jaeger Thundercracker was able to defeat it within an hour, and with no deaths.” A clip came on of a sleek silver PON-Jaeger, walking towards a dragonlike Major. Twilight couldn't see its Harmonics, which surprised her. She figured that it was a later model. The PON-Jaeger's chest plates disassembled, showing several several weapons, the purpose of which Twilight found out when they shot firework-like things at the Major. After a barrage of this and some zaps from a lightning-like spell from the PON-Jaeger's horn, the Major went down. The reporter came back on-screen. “Riots have erupted in the cities of Dreswing, Hoof Kong, and Las Pegasus. People are asking why the PON-Jaeger program was cancelled in favor of this. The Council of Equis has continued to hold that the Harmony Dome is still Equis's best option.” It then cut to an interview of Prince Blueblood. He was looking a bit uncomfortable, but he had pressed himself into a corner, and he stood by his views on the dome. He stated: “We recognize what has happened here, and we know what this means, but the Harmony Dome is still the best defense we have. If we...” Fluttershy tapped the crystal to turn it off. She was shaking, ever so slightly. She really didn't like hearing about how the Majors had started winning. Even the small amount of satisfaction she got from seeing Blueblood squirm failed under the knowledge that ponies had died. They wouldn't be coming back. Ever, and no amount of anything could bring them back. Twilight saw this and scooted over to her side. “Don't worry about it”, she reassured Fluttershy. “After all, that's what you have me there for, right?”. She smiled at her companion. Fluttershy looked at her and smiled, in the most adorable way, because that's how Fluttershy does everything. Adorably. And so the coach flew on to the Lunadome.