Breaking the Barrier

by The Deathsinger

Chapter 4

With nothing left to do, and dying of curiosity, I decide to do as the note instructs. Mane Avenue is a long street, and quite a ways from here, so I only wait a minute before setting off myself; not wanting to miss the meet time.

The night air helps to calm me down. The idea of being followed, and not by an adoring fan, is creepy as Tartarus. And as I make my way down the wide and empty street, I can't help but spare the occasional glance back to watch for stalkers.

Thankfully, my destination comes within sight after a shorter fight than I thought it would be. I spot the likely place that Dusk was referring to, and fly over to it. I do a few overhead passes to see if I could spot either the stallion or any other ponies. Seeing none, I land and wait for him to show up.

* * * *

I hear the soft sound of hooves falling on a hard surface just around the corner in front of me. I make a quick silent prayer that it’s Dusk, and not some guard pony.

I can barely make out the stallion at first, but as the burgundy mane comes into view I recognize him.

“Psst, over here.” I say in a loud whisper.

“Scared the hay outta me.” He breaths. “Might as well get started…” Dusk clears his throat.

“I think that ponies from this place,” he gestures behind him, “are following me. I keep seeing ponies in suits everywhere,and I managed to track them back to here. I know it sounds crazy, but the kind of things that I research could change pony kind forever. And some ponies just don’t like change.” Dusk explains.

“Sorry, I don’t buy it.” I reply flatly.

“I kinda figured you wouldn't. And if don’t want to come with me, that’s fine. But I’m getting in this place tonight, and I’m going to find out just why they have such an interest in me.”

“Well, I do have a bit of a knack for breaking and entering, it’s a long story so don’t ask, and I have absolutely nothing better to do. So I might as well go.” I won’t admit it to him, but I feel a bit bad for him. The poor guy looks like he’s at his wit’s end.

“I understan- wait, you’ll go?” he looks at me like he had a whole speech prepared and now he can't use it.

“Yea, I said I would. Now let’s get going. Not going to find anything out standing around in this dingy alley.” I brush past him and make for the two meter high wall that surrounds the building.

“So, how are we going to get over?” Dusk asks, catching up behind me.

“Umm, duh…” I flap my wings in his face.

“I injured left wing a week ago; I can’t put my full weight on it yet. So I’ll rephrase, how am I going to get over,” he deadpans.

“I can carry you.” I tell him as I flex my wings in preparation for the upcoming workout they are about to get.

“What? Nah, I’m way too heavy…” Dusk trails off, deep in thought.

“Shut up and climb on before I change my mind.” I nudge him in the side to break him from his thoughts.

“If you’re sure, I guess.” Dusk comes up behind me and starts by throwing his forehooves over the front of my wings. He then swings his body up onto my back and flank, just barely managing to not throw himself off my other side.

Oohf, heavier than I thought. I beat my wings as hard as I can, and slowly begin to gain altitude. As soon as I’m above the wall and change the direction of the wing-beats to move us forward of the wall. One over, I bring us back down faster than I would like.

“Rough landing much?” Dusk comments.

“Fine then, you carry me next time.” I shoot back.

“Point taken.” He concedes. “Thanks, by the way.” He ducks away, but I catch a red flare on his cheeks.

“Whatever,” I respond.

Now over the wall, we skirt around the edge of the building; looking for any kind of entrance that would be easy to get into. The entire building is only one level, but is a good eighty to a hundred meters long and wide. So trying to keep out of sight as we work our way around only makes the distance feel even longer.

Eventually, we come across a promising looking shipping entrance. The space for packages to come in is large, and the sliding door is just standing wide open; a perfect target.

Dusk and I slip inside and take in the new surroundings. To the left and right, is mostly empty space, save for there being a desk at each end. In front of us, lies a ramp that splits off into two hallways at its landing. We rifle through the desks, but find nothing of interest.

I point to the left-hoof hallway, and dusk nods in agreement. The corridor is long and winding, but eventually dumps us out at a thick looking metal door. The door swings freely on its hinges as I push in on it, barely uttering a squeak as they support the doors massive weight.

Inside, the entire wall space is covered in blackboards. From one end to the other, not a single inch is left uncovered. Large sections of the board are filled with complex equations. Dusk and I approach the nearest to read it better.

“Hmm, q = ½ ρv2. Never seen that one before.” I comment as I examine the equation. Things make even less sense as I look at the ones below it.

“q = ½ 1.115kg/m^3 * (40m/s)^2, How the hay would you even solve that!” I stare dumbfounded at the foreign numbers that seem to laugh tauntingly from the blackboard.

“It’s simple actually, the kg/m^3 and m/s are actually just types of measurements, kilograms per cubic meter and
meters per second respectively, so you solve normally and your final answer is in cubic meters per second squared.”

“And just how do you know this?” The new voice causes both of us to spin rapidly to face the source.

Standing at the far end of the room, is a unicorn dressed in a sharp white lab coat. Their fur is burnt orange in color, their mane and tail a deep olive.

“Actually, better question. How did you get in here?” The mare advances forward, leveling her horn at us.

“Duh, we walked in. And point that thing somewhere else; don’t want to get splattered ‘cross a wall because some random pony I just met went off half-cocked,” I state, staring down the unicorn.

"Simmer down, both of you," yet another voice joins in.

"But I-" the unicorn starts.

"I said calm the buck down. I don't need your paranoia ruining this for me." The owner of the voice finally steps forward. A unicorn looking to be in his mid thirties comes out from the same door that the mare did. His silver coat and mane flash in the bright light of the room.

"Ignore Ms. Sequence, I usually do." I can't help but smirk at the stallion’s tone. "However, she does raise a good question. Where did you learn to solve that equation"

"I taught myself. There is plenty of material out there on the basics, so all it takes is a little practice to transition to the more practical and difficult stuff." Dusk answers with pride.

"Interesting, and you understand this as well?" The unicorn turns his gaze on me.

"Yep! I don't know everything about this science stuff yet, but I will." I answer.

“Very interesting, very interesting indeed. This may be a bit forward, but I would like to have you join-”

“You can’t be serious! We don’t know these ponies, how can we trust them?” Sequence cuts off the stallion.

“Quiet! These are the ponies we've been running ops on for months, I know more about them then they probably
know of themselves.” Somehow, the stallion’s friendly grin does nothing to distract me from what he just said.

“You’ve been spying on us? Why?” I demand, advancing on him.

“None of us are doing this because we want to. We’re under direct orders.” Sequence interjects.

“From who?” Dusk pipes up, speaking for the first time in a minute or two.

“Who do you think has the power to order a science organization to spy on ponies?”

“Wait, you don’t mean-” Dusl starts.

“So, you’re telling me Celestia forced you to spy on us. Yet again, why?” I’m more confused now than ever.

“Rainbow, ever since Celestia caught wind of your experimentation in Ponyvillee, she’s had a group shadowing you; studying you, just waiting for the right moment to bring you in. And Dusk, we’ve been tailing you since long before the papers. In fact, soon after you got into the college.” The stallion informs. “I should probably just let you read my order letter.” He proceeds to take an official looking document from the table in the center of the room and hold it in front of me.

“By order of the Princes of the Sun, you are hereby contracted into the service of Her Majesty. You will be tasked with overseeing a team researching and developing a way to bring a pony far above the heights that a pegasus could climb. Your absolute minimum height is above the air layer. It is not necessary for you to know why you are doing this, but know that it is a matter of the utmost importance. Celestia bless you this day.” I read aloud, dumbfounded by the contents of this letter.

“Ok, that’s all great and everything, but why us? Why track us down and follow us around for ages?” Dusk inquires.

“We have had little success. So little in fact, that during the last Council meeting the budget for this facility was cut considerably. Ninety percent of the staff is being released to their previous duties.” The stallion replies. “You two, and possibly a few other ponies, will be the replacements.”

“And if we refuse?” Even though I’ve only know Dusk for a short while, I can tell he’s just asking because he’s curious. He clearly wants to do this.

“I would be very disappointed with you. But, you’re free to do so if you like.” Now that’s a voice I know from
anywhere.

I turn to kneel before Celestia, as the others do as well, but she gestures for us to stand.

“Princess, I, uh, wasn't expecting you so soon.” The stallion stammers.

“That’s quite alright, Fairweight. I expected as much." Her tone is as even as ever, but her words suggest something more.

"Dusk, Rainbow, I assume you both have been brought up to speed?" Celestia asks.

"For the most part, yea." I nod in agreement with Dusk.

"That's good to know. However, I expect that both of you are very curious as to why I am having this done." Both Dusk and I nod in earnest.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt; but not a word of this to anypony. Fairweight, Sequence, would you give us a few moments?" The two give a bow and leave without saying a word.

"I know that you both will have questions, but please save them until the end." Celestia instructs. "Almost a year ago, I received word that the Gryphons were experimenting with large and unidentifiable machines. Most of these met an untimely end in a cloud of fire, but some managed to fly extremely high, high enough that I believe they could be a threat. I know that we are at peace with the Gryphons, but I don't like not being on level ground; even if they are our allies. That's why I gave funding to some of the best minds in Equestria, to find a way to match their engineering prowess but alas, they have all failed me."

"Trust me Princesses; we definitely won't let you down!" I boast.

"I have no doubt that you will succeed, however I can only justify this project for so long to the budget committee. Due to its nature, I haven't revealed anything about it; I've been simply explaining it as a pet project. The absolute maximum amount of time that you have is a year and a half."

Comments

[Jazzaman]

*Unofficial sequel to my fic XD*

Have some fitting music

[Ash19256]

Well, this is interesting. Wonder what happens when they build the first rocket for Equestria.

[The Deathsinger]

3176914
Oh trust me, there is a great deal more to come!

3192929
I was a little confused when I read that for the first time, then I checked out One Small Step.
SWEET CELESTIA THE FEELS!

But seriously though, that was really well done. When I have time, I'll definitely have to check out your other stories too.

3201291
Well, I can tell you this much. First, they *REDACTED*, then once they *EXPUNGED*, they gather the didgeridoos for the final showdown between the long forgotten alicron army and scootaloo.

Okay so that may be a tiny bit inaccurate.

Then next chapter should be out pretty soon though, and it may contain what you are looking for.