Alternate universe were the still standing Mane six and other ponies have to survive.
Equestria has frozen over, and the ponies are forced to live in underground facilities. Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy are the last of the elements of harmony. The prison like home has driven all ponies to be bitter to one another, and now there is no friendship among others. What lies beyond the Facility of Ponyville, and what has changed on the surface? The last element bearers set out to find answers.
Chapter 1: |Twilight| This World Has No Friendship
“Nothing above the surface will change, ever. And we can’t do anything about it.”
Chapter 1: |Twilight| This world has no friendship. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Twilight sat in the classroom of the Advanced Unicorns, staring straight at one of the buzzing fluorescent lights. After having her head ache from staring too long, she closed her eyes and brought her head down. Everything here is so boring. I guess I should go home to Rainbow and Fluttershy.
It’s been nine years since Twilight had arrived at Ponyville, but during the seventh, everything in Equestria changed. Suddenly, the northern part of Equestria started to freeze over, spreading in all directions all the way down south to the badlands. It was during the fall that this had started to happen, and before long, other settlements to the far north stopped all communications with the southern settlements.
Princess Celestia’s worry grew every day, and in panic, started an evacuation to the Zebra’s homeland. After they had been cast out by the Zebra because of prejudice and a lack of knowledge of Zebras in general, Princess Luna came up with a plan. She put all architects, doctors, and engineers together to make The Facilitators. Princess Luna made The Facilitators build gigantic underground facilities directly under all alive settlements in Equestria to preserve and protect the living creatures of Equestria. In six months, almost every settlement in Equestria had all of their residents living underground.
As the rest of the year and the year after that came and went, the ponies in the Ponyville facility became bitter and menacing. What used to be the happiest and kind place in Equestria was now cold and rude. Friendship seemed like a childish thing to the residents, while Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy kept theirs alive. Life in these prison like towns was breaking and maddening. Though it still functioned well as a community, became dull and routine to everypony.
Twilight counted the long light tubes mounted to the ceilings on the way to ‘apartment’ 302, the home of Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. 32 light bulbs. Twilight sighed as she turned around to the door of her home and pushed the button to open it. Fluttershy was tending to the living room, and turned when Twilight came in.
“Oh, hello Twilight.” Fluttershy timidly said with a small smile.
Twilight smiled back. “Hi Fluttershy.”
“How was your day today?” Fluttershy said as she went back to cleaning the living room.
“Oh you know same old same old. Taught more scriptures from Starswirl, practiced more enchanting.” Twilight answered, flopping down on the couch Fluttershy stopped messing with.
Fluttershy nodded and kept working on the coffee table. “Do you know where Rainbow is?” Fluttershy said when she stopped working on the table.
“She must still be coaching; she works those Pegasi way too hard.” Rainbow Dash taught sports and flying lessons to the children in a cathedral sized room, a personal request from Rainbow to the Princess.
“More like they don’t work hard enough.” Rainbow Dash chimed in from the doorway, making the two ponies in the room turn their heads. “They just can’t get diving right because they are afraid that they’ll hit the ground, when the room is large enough to do a flight show in.” Rainbow Dash said, flying over to sit on the chair opposite of Twilight.
Twilight turned her head to the radio sitting next to her, and turned on the Vinyl Scratch channel. While some times, the songs were aggressive, most of the time the songs were more of leisure. Music to sit around and talk to other ponies with. It was one of the ways to have positive morale in the facilities, and even then, it didn’t help the bleak ponies.
Fluttershy stopped cleaning again and craned her head towards Twilight and Rainbow. “Have either of you seen Applebloom or Sweetie Belle?” Both ponies shook their heads. Fluttershy sighed. “They keep staying out later and later.”
“So where do you guys wanna eat?” Rainbow Dash said, standing up on all four hooves from the chair. There was a line of restaurants in Ponyville, going from fancy places, to more of fast food. “I say the Hooves and Hay.” Rainbow voted. Twilight nodded, and Fluttershy just said “That sounds alright.” After all taking showers in their respective bathrooms, they headed out to have their dinner. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“So Twilight, want to do anything this afternoon?” Rainbow asked Twilight as they sat down to eat. The restaurant they were eating at was a gourmet restaurant, and had couples and families of ponies. Fluttershy was timidly eating her food, while Rainbow and Twilight talked.
“I don’t know Dash, I’m really tired. I’ve had to go through so many courses multiple amounts of times, and they just drained me.” Twilight answered.
“Oh come on Twilight! It’s not like a date; I was just thinking the café down the hall. Fluttershy, you’re just going back home right?” Rainbow Dash asked Fluttershy while turning to her.
Fluttershy picked her head up, half of a hay fry sticking out of her mouth. “Umm… yeah. I have to do some work for tomorrow’s class anyway.” Fluttershy answered quietly. Fluttershy was the residing kindergarten teacher for the Ponyville facility.
“Yeah, how are teaching those fillies and colts?” Twilight asked Fluttershy, arching her eyebrow
Fluttershy kept her head down as she thought for a moment. “Oh, well, it’s just like caring for little woodland creatures…” Fluttershy paused, her expression visibly getting sad. Then looked back up and went on. “So it’s easy for me, I rarely have to use the stare.” Fluttershy finished.
Twilight nodded to her friends answer, turning back to her meal. We’ve all become so different in the past two years. We’re almost nothing what we used to be. Twilight thought sadly, looking up at the ceiling once again. More fluorescents stared back down at her every time she stared at the ceiling.
“You know what Rainbow? Sure, i wi-” Twilight stopped mid sentence, as did everypony in the restaurant when all the walls shook, causing the lights to flicker, and a couple of newborn flies and colts to cry. Twilight held on to the table as the shaking got more violent, Fluttershy ducked down and was shaking herself, while Rainbow dash sat up, looking at all of the walls. As the shaking stopped, everypony started to relax. Rainbow visibly relaxed and hunched her shoulders.
“Wow! What was all that?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking back at Twilight, excitement and nervousness showing her eyes at the same time.
“I don’t know Rainbow.” Twilight answered, surveying the room. A couple ponies were trying to get off of the ground, pony couples were either holding each other or talking frantically, and families were shushing their babies from crying.
Everypony looked up to the megaphone P.A. system as the intercom kicked on, causing a loud buzz to emanate from it. There was screaming in the far background before what sounded like the Mayor speaking. “Yes I know! Put the fires out!” Mayor Mare spoke to the ponies screaming. “Attention to the residents of Ponyville…something catastrophic has happened outside of the facility. Now, we urge you to be calm, there are no immediate dangers to any of the levels except for the political level, and we now have it under control,” The Mayor stopped for a moment as galloping was heard behind her.
“Mayor, five ponies have 3rd degree burns.” A stallion could be heard faintly through the intercom. Fluttershy looked at Twilight with fear brimming in her eyes. Twilight nodded and scooted back to the end of the booth, giving Fluttershy comfort. “Okay good, as long as no one else got hurt and they survived.” Mayor Mare said, facing away from the intercom. Turning back with a sigh, she spoke again. “I need the Elements, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, right now!” Mayor Mare finished, shutting off the intercom. All the ponies, including the working ponies streamlined out of the restaurant, leaving the three friends alone in their booth.
All three friends looked at each other before Twilight climbed out of the booth. “Alright girls, let’s get going.” Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash climbing out as well, and followed Twilight out into the grey lifeless hallways. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“What do you think the Mayor wants us for?” Rainbow asked as she sped up to walk next to Twilight.
Twilight shook her head. “I don’t know, but it obviously has something to do with the explosion that just took place.” Twilight looked straight ahead to the incoming door to the right, dreading it as she drew closer.
Fluttershy was about four feet behind the two ponies, timidly looking for fires that had taken place. Twilight looked back to the crouching Pegasus and smiled, giving her reassurance. Twilight stepped up to the door, pressing the red button on the right panel. The door started to slide easily, but then got stuck half way across. It made a grating noise as it tried and tried to open the other half, but staled as no luck came. It finally slammed quickly to the other side, and the three ponies looked into the damaged political room.
Carpets, furniture, and a couple of ponies sat in the room with burn marks all over them. A uncountable array of glass and brass showed that the lanterns that were used for decoration tipped over and spread their internal flame upon everything flammable. Twilight cautiously stepped through the door way, fearful of it coming back to slice her in half. Rainbow Dash walked in nonchalantly, while Fluttershy was on the floor, holding her head and shaking. Rainbow Dash gave a big huff, going back out and pushing in the yellow Pegasus with her. Rainbow tapped her on the head, making Fluttershy stop shaking and look up. She looked crestfallen as she stood on all four hooves, and the trio began moving again.
Twilight could hear the Mayor in the next room yelling at some pony. After a moment, the door burst open, and the Mayor walked out, an annoyed stallion following behind. The Mayor sat on her haunches with a sigh, letting the stallion stomp out of the room. The three ponies looked at each other with questioning glares. Twilight turned her head around to speak with the Mayor. “Uh…Mayor? You called for us?”
The Mayor massaged her temples and sighed again. “Yes. Come with me to my office.” The Mayor stood up and walked slowly into her office.
Twilight shrugged, and followed. The trio of ponies entered the office and shut the door behind them. A dome shaped room with a dark wooden desk in the center. The Mayor sat behind it, shuffling papers around. Mayor Mare mumbled under her breath, looking agitated and tired. Twilight approached the angry mare, and tapped her desk, making the Mayor snap her head up. “Ah yes, sorry.” The Mayor stayed seated, but was now looking at the three ponies.
“We are all shaken up about this evenings catastrophe, and in turn of events, there is a lot of work to be done.” The Mayor said begrudgingly, picking up a single piece of paper. “We have checked all cameras around the surface of the facility, and we have found this.” The Mayor placed a photograph at the edge of the desk.
Twilight stood closer, craning her neck to look at the picture. It was the outside command block. A panel that has switches, buttons, and has power of the facility. It wasn't the main command panel, but it is a significant one for facilities. Twilight felt confused and odd as she looked at it. The protective barriers around the exposed panel were ripped off or chewed down, and the panel itself was smashed and torn apart. The two Pegasi stood behind Twilight. Rainbow Dash gave a grunt, while Fluttershy stayed quiet. The Mayor cleared her throat as she prepared to speak again.
“We have no idea what could have done this. We have no footage of it because the power went out for the brief time that it was destroyed, and now we are out of a supportive command panel. So what the council has decided, that we have you Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, go top side and repair it. Just the main electrical and engine grids, not all the impulse grids.” Rainbow Dash looked at the Mayor with bewilderment.
“What? Why us?” She asked her voice rising,
The Mayor put her hooves forward. “Because you two are the best we have to sort things like this out. The repairs are not complex, all you do is connect wires to new breakers, and seal the panel shut. We have all the engineers on fixing engines and the water purifier, something went foul with them.” The Mayor looked towards the door as hoof steps approached.
A light red stallion came in with a small metal box full of polished breakers. He set them on the desk and stepped out of the room without a word. Mayor Mare nodded to the box, making Twilight sigh and levitate towards her chest. Fluttershy was quiet the entire time until then. “What about me? What do I do?” Fluttershy asked with anxiety showing in her eyes.
The Mayor turned her gaze to the yellow Pegasus. “You’ll be staying here with me, for the time being, we will discuss some issues at hoof. Now you two,” The Mayor said, snapping her head back to Rainbow and Twilight. “Go and repair the panel. Take this two way talkie to report in after you are done.” Mayor Mare pushed a grey block that had a button and antenna on it, all three ponies recognizing it as a walkie-talkie. Twilight also levitated the communicator. I’m gonna have to bring a saddle bag for this.
“Now when you go to the elevator, the ponies there will suit you up in protective suits against the excessive coldness, and you will also be implanted with a chip onto your skin under the fur.” Both Rainbow and Twilight raised their eyebrows. “The chip will monitor the body heat, and if it drops to low, then you will need to take precautions to bring back to sustainable levels, such as ninety-five degrees.” Mayor Mare explained hastily. “Now go, repair it.” The Mayor said, making both ponies turn and leave. Rainbow turned and mouthed something to Fluttershy, something Twilight couldn’t see. Twilight looked to Rainbow when they stepped out into the bright, steel hallway.
“I need to go back home to get some things, you go on ahead, but wait for me before you get suited up okay?” Twilight raised her eyebrow to Rainbow, and her giving a nod in response. Both ponies went separate ways, Twilight to home, and Rainbow to the surface elevator. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Twilight briskly tapped the button to her home, walking in quickly to find Applebloom staring at the ceiling and Sweetie Belle passed out. Applebloom threw her head down when she heard Twilight walk in. “Howdy Twilight.” Is all she said, yawning.
Twilight walked up to the couch. “What’s up with Sweetie?” Twilight asked, wiping the hair out of the grey unicoirns face. “She passed out after I finally managed to drag her home.” Twilight noted two things. Applebloom was losing her southern drawl, her pronunciation starting to sound similar to all the other ponies, saying ‘I’ instead of ‘Ah’. The second is that her speech was slightly slurred.
“You two were drinking again huh?” Twilight asked, standing straight up to walk into her room. Applebloom nodded. “It was finally Scoots 19th birthday, so we went out to drink. I got twist to take her home, and I brought Sweetie back here. I didn’t drink all that much though, only three beers.” Applebloom stood up, stretching her back. Twilight nodded, and started to walk to her room. Applebloom followed, worry showing in her eyes. “Twilight? Where’s everyone else and why are you carrying those things?” Applebloom asked, pointing her hoof at the box of breakers and the walkie-talkie.
Twilight fished her saddlebag out of her chest, and slung it over her flank. She gave Applebloom a sidelong glance. “Rainbow and I have been assigned to fix the broken control panel on the surface, considering all the repairers and engineers are fixing the engines and water purifier. Fluttershy is still in the Mayor office, receiving some type of discussion. So we’ll be out for probably the entire night, you get some sleep.” Twilight watched the sleepy earth pony stagger to her room, nodding to her words slowly. Twilight turned and put the items in her saddlebags, walking out of the room and to the elevator, questions rising to her mind. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Twilight stood outside of the noisy elevator room. She had only been in the room once, and that was during the nationwide evacuation underground. So many ponies, so much sadness.
Twilight pressed the button to the right of the door, and observed the room. A large cargo lift was built onto the back wall, lights flashing around it. Some distant rattling could be heard in the background, and it easily gave Twilight a headache. To the right were the lockers, and the now aware cyan Pegasus of Twilight's presence made her sit down. Twilight trotted over to her, and snapped her head backwards as she heard hoof steps from behind.
Two big stallions were walking towards them both, both unicorns and both carrying the gear they were promised. Twilight galloped the last bit of distance to Rainbow Dash, and sat down to take her saddlebag off. The stallions approached, setting out the assortment of equipment. One ordered them to stand, taking out a small sweater like coat. “This is a heavy insulator; it will be the main thing on you to keep you warm. After that are the heavy duty jacket, the wool cap, leg guards, and the chip to implant into your front leg.” The stallion explained, fitting both ponies with each set of clothing as he elaborated. Twilight felt overly hot in the get up from the already humid room. She lifted her front leg, looking at the small green block embedded into her fur. It had a tiny screen, showing the beats per minute, and the temperature from the skin underneath it.
Twilight stood up straight, shifting around uncomfortably in her new outfit. Rainbow looked equally as uncomfortable. Both ponies walked towards the elevator, stepping n to the metal platform, and turned around to watch the facility disappear. Twilight grew anxious a loud grating noise started to vibrate around the room, making her look around. The gears were slowly ascending on the track, a couple of years being unused made them stiff. Twilight looked back ahead, and stumbled around as the lift jolted upwards. Rainbow Dash easily regained her balance after gasping and bumping into Twilight. Twilight sighed, the lift now sliding gracefully upwards. The lights of the room quickly disappeared, darkness consuming the lift track. Twilight looked around and saw the silhouette of Rainbow sitting and looking around as well. Twilight let out some light magic, making the Pegasus turn her head and smile to Twilight. Twilight smiled and looked up. They were now approaching ground level. Twilight braced herself on the floor as the lift stopped on the end of the track. Looking back up, she observed the slightly familiar entrance.
A tiny hallway, only going about ten feet and then ending with a heavy steel door. Twilight looked ahead, uneasiness making her stomach queasy. Twilight and Rainbow Dash walked side by side, both uncertain about what they were about to do. They stood right in front of the door, feeling the freezing steel that barred them from the outside world. Twilight put out her light to turn the steel doors wheel, grunting with effort to make it past the hard beginning. The wheel finally slid slickly, and the loud bang from hitting the end of the lock chamber resounded in the small, concrete hallway. Twilight looked to her right to Rainbow Dash, seeing her nod. Twilight sighed as she stood up on two hooves and put her front two hooves against the door. She scrunched her face as she managed to swing the door open wide, a large and cold gust of wind buffeting her and her friend in the face. Twilight put her leg up to shield herself from it, backing up in the process. Twilight could hear Rainbow grunt from the cutting wind, and slouched on a wall. Twilight slowly put her hoof back down, opening her eyes as she walked forward.
Lights were shining outwards from above the door, showing about twenty yards of snow. Twilight observed the light blizzard that was taking place, snowflakes flying everywhere, and big whirlwinds grazing across the ground. Twilight stepped out into the world, taking in the surroundings. She remembered that the Entrance she now stood at was on the dirt road between the town and Sweet Apple Acres, and in the far distance, Twilight could see a couple of houses on the outskirts of town. Twilight looked to her right, and saw the destroyed and mangled mess of the control panel. She trotted out to it, stopping to watch Rainbow Dash step out and look at the sky in awe. Her mouth slightly agape, Twilight heard her mutter a few words.
“It’s so big out here; I forgot how big it was.” Was all she said before flying towards Twilight, wonderment still showing on her face. Twilight nodded as Rainbow sat down next to Twilight.
“Rainbow, you keep a lookout while I repair the panel.” Twilight gave her orders, and Rainbow Dash saluted her without defiance, standing back up and turning on her back leg to keep a look out. Twilight turned her head back to the broken panel, and trotted up to it. Magically ripping of the rest of the still connected but broken breakers, Twilight quickly connected the wire to the back of the new breakers, and sealing them in. Twilight flipped the breakers, watching as five red lights change to green, and turning her attention to the lights as they visibly became brighter. Twilight pulled the walkie-talkie out from her bag, and spoke on the first channel.
“Mayor, we have repaired the panel and we are now head-” Twilight was cut off the second time from her sentence as a large rumble began to sound out in the far distance. It went on for twenty seconds, and Rainbow looked back at Twilight, a questioning and worried glint dancing in her eyes. Twilight turned to face the direction of the noise. She walked to stand next to Rainbow Dash, looking up into the sky, predicting that’s where it was coming from. And then suddenly without warning, a large blunt thud slammed the ground. Twilight buckled from the force of the thud, and stayed there. Twilight squinted with half her face buried in the snow, looking out to the houses in Ponyville.
Where a distinct intact house once stood, was broken down in half, debris still falling from whatever had forced it to crumble. Twilight instantly stood on all four hooves as she heard the walkie-talkie buzz loudly, and ripped it from her saddlebag. Twilight held the communicator in the air as Rainbow Dash leaned closer to hear what the other line had to say. The walkie-talkie still buzzed, but then a metallic screech came from it and the Mayors voice soon after. “Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, come back here now, we have a big problem.” The Mayor forcefully said, then shutting off her line. Twilight let the walkie-talkie hover closer to the ground as she looked at Rainbow Dash. Both mares showed the same level of expression, and Rainbow Dash sighed. “What has our lives come too?” She asked quietly, turning with her head down and walking back into the facility.
Twilight felt a pang of hurt from her friend’s question, her too asking everyday where their lives had come to. Twilight picked her head back up and put the communicator back into her bag, and trotted back inside. Giving the outside world one more passionate look, Twilight magically sealed the door back, a loud click making the solitude all the more unbearable. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I’m going to give it straight to you girls.” The Mayor said as all three ponies were in the same room again. Rainbow Dash and Twilight had both taken their clothing off, the heat making them sweat. Fluttershy was looking at the ground, and Twilight only recognized the look as a look of dramatic pensiveness. Her thoughts must be running a mile a minute. Twilight looked back at the Mayor and nodded to her for her to continue. The Mayor sighed before she spoke. “The water purifier is broken beyond our repairs.” The Mayor said, closing her eyes in grief. Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle both dropping their respective jaws.
“What do you mean?” Rainbow Dash asked in a accusing tone.
“The water purifier had a type of chip that took the water sources and cleansed. It was broken in half, most likely during the power shortage. It needed the chip in order to provide clean water.” The Mayor said, rubbing her two front hooves against her temples. Rainbow Dash looked down to the ground like Fluttershy, unmoving and not talking. Twilight looked upwards to the ceiling, looking straight at the light bulbs. Twilight begun to collect her thoughts before she spoke, choosing her words carefully before she took a leap of faith, knowing what was the only thing that could be done to ensure the lives of all the ponies in the facility.
“We go search for one.” Twilight said bluntly, not taking her sight away from the ceiling. The Mayor froze in her tracks and stared at Twilight in bewilderment. “What?!” She screamed indignantly.
Twilight looked back down calmly to the Mayor, articulating her sentence again. “It’s the only thing we can do. We don’t have the technology to build one, so we search for one or request for one.” Twilight said, now giving another option. The Mayor gave a moan. “That’s the other problem. We lost all communications to the other facilities.” The Mayor said, now dropping her head to the desk. Twilight was the one to question. “What? How?”
“We don’t know Twilight; we just lost contact from all facilities other than us. We actually lost it a week ago.” Twilight gave a whine as the Mayor explained. “We kept it under wraps because we didn’t want to spook the citizens, but now…” The Mayor said, looking up at the wall of paintings showing Celestia, the element bearers in their battles, and other famous ponies.
Twilight felt stumped. She had not realized they lost contact; the last time she talked to any other facility was shining armor in the far away mountain facility of Canterlot a month ago. Twilight spoke up again. “Alright then…we go search for a water chip.” Twilight declared. “And Mayor?” Twilight said, making the Mayor turn her gaze. “We are going; we are the last hope if we keep on living.” The Mayor looked like death as Twilight finished her sentence.
Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight. Amazement, confusion, curiosity, and a whole other of expressions lighting their faces. Twilight now stared defiantly at the Mayor, and now standing to give herself a more intimidating look.
The Mayor just stared blankly at the standing mare. “This day is just getting worse by the hour. Alright, out of fact that…we have no means to repair the system, I am giving you three the operation of finding a new chip.” The Mayor picked up a paper to look at it. “And as for a time limit; you have roughly two months to acquire said chip. Now, as for this trip, you need to go to the infirmary first, to be prepared for the outside world.” The Mayor said, still looking crestfallen and out of hope.
Twilight nodded to the Mayors approval. Turning back around to walk out. “Come on girls.” Twilight whispered quietly.
“Twilight?” The Mayor spoke up as Twilight reached the doorway, making her stop in her tracks, and making Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stop and look back. “You had better get that chip and return. You are the last hope of the gods forsaken life we've inherited. You’d better.” The Mayor said, putting her head on the desk, and in seconds, snoring. Twilights expression hardened before she started moving again.
NEW STORY. I have been writing this for three weeks, had tons of set backs from planning the background story and plot direction, setting design, and putting it off to write for The Black Cello Mafia.
To my TBCM readers, this does not mean i am stopping. I've run into a impasse of direction, and it is taking awhile to decide. Plus i felt like i needed to finish this, because it's just been sitting on my desktop untouched.
This will take longer of time to update because with a story like this, the chapters need to be long and planned carefully. This was nine pages long, but i'm going to aim for seven per chapter. Any grammatical errors, alert me and i will fix them. Any questions concerning this story, i will answer when i am not running on fumes for energy, most likely tommorow (the 13th).
Like and favorite if you liked it, tell it to your friends, i would greatly appreciate it. Follow as well if your are interested in another story coming soon.
Thanks for reading!
Chapter 2: |Fluttershy| Ponies Have Forgotten Kindness
“And what has happened to this land? Should we be concerned of that as well?!”
Chapter 2: |Fluttershy| Ponies Have Forgotten Kindness. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fluttershy looked as Rainbow Dash uttered a few words she missed by a second, but gave a weak smile as a response to her. She winced as the door closed shut behind her friends, leaving her alone with the intimidating Mayor. Pawing at the ground with her right fore hoof, she becoming anxious of the silence that was prospering in the room. Fluttershy looked up a little to the Mayor, who was digging around in her desk, and turned up with three files slamming them on her desk forcefully. The Mayor adjusted her glasses and opened the file on the top. Clicking her tongue as she read whatever was present inside. Fluttershy began to do her new inhabited tics, cradling her hair in her legs. She waited a few moments longer before the Mayor spoke at last.
“Three ponies, two earths and one unicorn. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity. Fluttershy I believe that while we were evacuating, they were not on the list. Why were the element bearers not on the list Fluttershy?” The Mayor said, giving an intimidating stare at Fluttershy, making her cower under her hair. She cleared her throat softly before answering.
“Umm, I only know why Rarity left, Rainbow knows why Applejack left, and Twilight knows why Pinkie did. On the day of the evacuation, we were all split up at first, and then amongst the chaos, we saw the others. The others decided to tell us individually why they weren’t coming and…” Fluttershy fought the melancholy raising in her chest. “Before we left, we all reminisced and went our separate ways.” the pegasus answered, becoming sad to remember the evacuation day.
The Mayor nodded. “Care to tell me what Rarity said?”
“Umm, okay.” Fluttershy said, beginning to articulate her story. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fluttershy felt exposed and fearful inside of the increasingly large crowd she was now stuck in. The looming facility stood high above all the ponies on the ground, casting a shadow on the land. Snow was lightly falling for the second day, right after the finished construction and testing of the Ponyville facility. Canterlot was now being heavily coated in snow, with Manehattan and Fillydelphia already completely snowed in. All of the Pegasi worked day and night to delay the oncoming snowing, but all of the weather acted on its own, proving the weather team useless to stop the problem. Fluttershy tried to tone out all of the noises the ponies were making, some crying, and some saying goodbye. The yellow mare sat down in her own line, looking back at the town she fell in love with since she was a filly. Sitting in the back, Fluttershy felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see a saddened Rarity standing before her.
“Oh hello Rarity, is this your line too?” Fluttershy asked with a smile and a tilt of her head.
Rarity sniffed before answering. “No Fluttershy I...I don’t have a line….” Rarity said, sniffing again. Fluttershy stared at Rarity.
“What do you mean? How will you get inside?” She asked, her speaking becoming faster.
“I’m not coming inside of the facility dear.” Rarity said with a shaky sigh. “I can’t bear to go in there. With my parents just passing away and the recent fight I had with Sweetie…” Rarity trailed off with a huff. “Fancy proposed to me yesterday Fluttershy.” Rarity finished.
Fluttershy let her mouth space open. “He did. That’s great!” Fluttershy couldn’t hold her excitement for her friend, but failing to cap her depression over her close friend not coming with her.
“Yes. I’m…going to canterlot. They’re still allowing ponies to enter their facility, and Fancy Pants is in Ponyville waiting for me.” Rarity said, looking back up to Fluttershy with a weak smile lighting her face. “But we won’t be completely away from each other dear. We still have the communication systems in the facilities, and we can all talk to each other.” Rarity said, becoming a little bit happier with her own revelation.
Fluttershy nodded and closed her mouth. “You’re right. We still can talk to each other.” Fluttershy and Rarity both snapped their heads up as the heard a loud whistle to the far right. They looked through the mass of ponies to see their friends all sitting there. Pinkie’s hair was down, but had a smile on her face. Applejack had her hat off, and was sitting down. Rainbow was waving her hoof to Rarity and Fluttershy, signaling them to come towards them.
Fluttershy stood back up. “Let’s go Rarity.” The pegasus said said, smiling at Rarity with a new found confidence sparkling in her eyes.
Rarity smiled back, and both mares turned to walk together towards their group of friends. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fluttershy stared at the ground as she finished her story. “So she didn’t come really because she was getting married. But, I think…” She paused to look up at the listening Mayor. “I think there was another reason why she didn’t come with us.” pondered on the fact often, but found no real incriminating blame as to why her friend wouldn’t come with them other than love.
The Mayor nodded, crossing out something’s on her papers. “Well, now I know why she didn’t come. It’s all confusing really. We were never given any notice from them, they were all registered citizens of Ponyville, but we were never told yes or no from their arrivals. You sure you know nothing of your other friends?” The Mayor asked Fluttershy, raising an eyebrow.
“Oh no ma’am. They all explained to the entire group that they weren’t coming with us. But they all individually told us why. Pinkie wanted hers a secret I was told by Twilight, and Rainbow Dash just got really sad every time I’d bring it up. I was the only one who seemed to have good news from my encounter.” Fluttershy finished.
The mayor opened her mouth to speak, but was immediately interrupted by a stallion busting through the door. It was the same brown stallion from earlier. “Mayor. The water purifier has been broken.” The stallion said gravely, then letting his eyes go round as he spotted Fluttershy sitting there.
“Oh um… sorry.” The stallion awkwardly apologized on his intrusion.
“WHAT!?” The Mayor showed no care over his intruding before his news of the water purifier being broken.
The stallion snapped his head back to the Mayor, beginning to be fearful of the Mayor. He swallowed before continuing. “Um, yeah. The chip that was used to filter the waste has snapped in half, and we have no means to repair it because of it complexity of parts and fried wires.” The stallion explained, using his hooves in his speech.
The Mayor slumped back into her seat. She put both of her hooves into her face as she groaned. “This day…it’s just gone from bad to worse in a second.”
The stallion looked side to side awkwardly before ducking out of the room and silently closing the door behind him. Fluttershy looked at the Mayor, distressed and broken. All confidence seemed to have drained from her aged able mind, both legs on the table and both hooves to her face. Fluttershy’s ears snapped as she heard a buzzing coming from the desk. She eyed the noisy walkie-talkie as Twilight began to spoke.
“Mayor, we have repaired the panel and we are now head-” Twilights voice cut out from the communicator with a beep. The Mayor let her hooves down and looked at the walkie-talkie, expecting the finish of the report. Fluttershy plainly looked at the clock above her, self aware of how quiet she was being. Twenty minutes passed, and Twilight still did not respond. The Mayor sighed, picked the communicator up and paused. Waiting a few more moments, she clicked the button on the side.
“Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, come back here now, we have a big problem.” The Mayor said with force, releasing the button and slamming the walkie-talkie on the desk. Fluttershy shrank back from the angry mare, not wanting her to turn on her.
Fluttershy sat silent beside Twilight, the three ponies lined up together. Fluttershy kept her mouth shut as the Mayor explained the predicament, the questioning, and the rising despair of having no solution. Fluttershy kept to her thoughts through all of this, not really thinking of anything. Only looking up at the ridiculous proposition of Twilight to go search for a new water chip. In the end, Fluttershy was walking behind her two friends as they walked the hallways to their apartment. The living quarters were extremely quiet, the barred contrast of ponies usually walking about. But now, everypony was inside of their homes, questioning the events of the day. The three ponies walked in to find Sweetie Belle awake and eating ice cream. Twilight huffed.
“You got drunk, came home passed out, and then decide to eat the entire tub of ice cream?” Twilight asked walking up to her.
“Oh uh, sorry, it was…” Sweetie paused for a second, having difficulty processing her memories.
“I know, Scootaloo’s 19th birthday. Now go on to bed, we’re having a talk with you two tomorrow.” Sweetie belle moaned, dropping her spoon into the ice cream. Twilight shot her hoof out, making Sweetie grunt as she slid out of the seat and onto all four hooves. She slumped to Apple Bloom’s room as she put the ice cream away, shutting the door behind her. Twilight shook her head at the grumpy unicorn. Twilight stood back up, walking towards her room and wishing her two friends a good night.
Fluttershy looked at the clock on the wall above the couch, reading eleven at night, Fluttershy realizing how tired she was becoming. Hungry too. I didn’t get to finish my dinner. Fluttershy sat down when Rainbow Dash walked to her room, and started following her subconsciously not even stopping to think about it. Rainbow sat down on her bed, and looked up at the sleepy Fluttershy. She sighed as she looked down.
“I was…I was going to tell Twilight today.” Rainbow Dash said, Fluttershy pushing away her sleepiness when Rainbow Dash spoke.
“We have to tell her sometime.” Fluttershy said, looking at Rainbow Dash expectantly.
“Yeah I know,” Rainbow Dash paused as she rubbed her temples. “but when the rumbling started, and everything kept going on like that, there was no real time to tell her. I don’t think there will be for awhile, what with now we have to go out onto the barren surface.” Rainbow Dash slid off of her bed and walked to her dresser.
Picking up her element bracelet, she stared at it for awhile. When will be the right time? Fluttershy asked herself. Rainbow Dash placed her element back on the dresser. Rainbow Dash walked back to the head of her bed, climbing into the sheets. “You coming with me Fluttershy, or you gonna sleep in your room tonight?” Fluttershy, looking up at Fluttershy from her laying position.
Fluttershy physically started, brushing her tail hard against the wall and blushing. “Oh well, umm…” Fluttershy gulped, and nodded to respond. Fluttershy walked slowly to the other side of the bed, and climbed into the cold covers. Rainbow twisted around to turn the light off, leaving the door ajar for a little light, and turned back to face Fluttershy. She looked at the blushing yellow Pegasus, and smiled. “Good night Shy.” Rainbow Dash whispered.
“Good night.” Fluttershy whispered back. And in moments, both mares were sound asleep, facing each other and smiling small smiles. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fluttershy heard rustling through her slugged senses, and light trying to pry into her eyes. Opening her eyes a little, she almost flew off the bed when she saw Rainbow only inches from her face. Her heart beat racing, she slowed her breath to calm it down. Sighing on the inside, Fluttershy observed her surroundings. The rooms light were still off, but the living room shined defiantly through the door. Fluttershy looked down to the smiling cyan mare before her, and slowly backed out of the beds sheets. Fluttershy now out of the bed, poked at Rainbow Dash. Almost instantly, Rainbows eyes struggled open. She looked at the expressionless Fluttershy, and then down at herself. “Did we..uh…” Rainbow Dash let the sentence trail off with a grunt.
Fluttershy giggled at her friend’s awkwardness, rather than her own. “No Rainbow. Not that I know of.” Rainbow Dash nodded to her response. Fluttershy left the mare to clamber out of bed to open the door. She saw a pained Apple Bloom next to a sleepy Sweetie Belle. Twilight was in the kitchen, piling some food into a bag. Fluttershy walked quietly around the two hung over mares to Twilight, making her turn around from her gathering.
“Already packing Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, staring into the large bag of food. Mostly grains and cans of salted vegetables. Twilight nodded, setting the bag down.
“Yes Fluttershy, it’s already nine O’ clock. I’ve called a substitute for your class, my class, and Rainbow Dashes coaching, and I am sending Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom to Scootaloo’s.” Twilight listed out her already done activities. Fluttershy raised her eyebrow to Twilights lack of trust in their foster children.
Twilight sighed. “Scootaloo has been alone by herself for years; she knows how to handle herself.” Twilight explained, Fluttershy still looking doubtful.
Twilight gave her a look. “Fine, I’m also having Bon Bon keep an eye on them. All three of them are partiers, and I need a settled mare to look out for them.” Fluttershy nodded with a smile, and turned around as she heard Rainbows door close.
Rainbow Dash flew over to the two looking mares, and settled down to talk.
Twilight spoke first. “Alright, so we all tell the girls that were going on a mission from the Mayor, we will be gone for a long time, and that they will be living at Scootaloo’s house for the time being. Got it?” Twilight asked her friends. Rainbow Dash gave a yawn and a slight nod, while Fluttershy gave Twilight a hum. Twilight turned around and picked her saddlebag back up, walking forward and out of the kitchen.
“You guys should get your saddle bags, and pack lightly, we don’t want to be encumbered by weight. I’ll get started telling the girls.” Twilight finished as she turned the wall into the living room. Fluttershy went first into her room, quickly taking her saddlebag, her element, and a picture of all her five friends. Fluttershy stared at the picture, remembering the days before the snowing started.
I know Rarity is still in canterlot, but what about Pinkie and Applejack? Where have they gone? On evacuation day, Applejack and Rarity went back to Ponyville, and Pinkie walked there as well. But from our conversations, Rarity told me Pinkie Pie went farther north, and Applejack went south of Ponyville into the badlands. Fluttershy almost dropped her picture as a loud knock came from her door. A now awake Rainbow Dash dressed with a saddle was standing in the doorway. “Come on shy, we’re going now.” Rainbow told Fluttershy in a morose tone. Fluttershy looked back to the picture full of smiling ponies, and quickly pocketed it away to climb to her hooves. She walked out behind Rainbow Dash to see Apple Bloom and Sweetie heading towards the door. They walked out with Twilight following close, Rainbow dash going ahead to walk out too. Fluttershy stopped half way across the living room to look around her house. The light carpeting surrounded by the grey walls made it all seem to dry for a true house. Nothing had warmth too it, almost like the coldness was being directly vented into the facility. Fluttershy huffed out of her nose, turning back to walked out of the apartment, shutting the lights off on her way out.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle said their goodbyes as they walked down the hall to Scootaloo’s apartment, the three ponies watching them go. Twilight stood up, and turned on the other side of the hallway. “Next stop, infirmary.” Rainbow and Fluttershy both got up to follow the purple mare, walking down the still silent hall way.
The three mares were strapped to operating tables, all lined up parallel. They had walked into the infirmary, instantly being kept into the operating room by orders of the Mayor. A stallion with a brown coat and black hair walked into the room, turning to the ponies to explain the reasoning behind the operating room.
“We have been told that you two were implanted with awareness chips, am I right?” The doctor asked Twilight and Rainbow Dash. They nodded in response.
The doctor nodded back. “Yes so, this is similar. Except we are going to implant it into your brain.” All three ponies went wide eyed as the doctor finished.
“What?” Fluttershy asked with a whispered fear. The doctor put both his hooves up in defense. “Calm down you three, this is a very basic procedure. The chip will be planted into the part of the brain were you are able to sense things. Like your feelings, your hunger, and things similar to that. This chip will warn you of hydration levels, nutrition levels, and temperature. These will all be necessary to your mission, being prolonged to such hostile environments will harm your bodies in many more ways than one, and this will detect each one. Now, we will be putting you to sleep for the procedure, so just try to relax once we get started.” The doctor finished, two nurses walking into the room with three miniscule tanks.
All three were hooked up to the mares, pulling in the funny tasting gas their lungs. Fluttershy felt her eyes get heavy, and her body starting to shut down. She heard the doctor instructing to relax, and Fluttershy gave in to the powerful urge to sleep. Falling into a black abyss, Fluttershy lost all sense of light as she passed out.
Fluttershy awoke to a painful world. Her head was pounding like a drum, and her forehead felt like it was stretched out like taffy. Opening her eyes, she found she was lying on a cot inside of a brightly lit room, Rainbow Dash sitting up and talking to a nurse. Twilight stood next to Rainbow Dash, but was more focused on a small brown bottle. Fluttershy sat up with a struggle, grunting as the pain coursed harder through her. Rainbow Dash turned her head away from the nurse at the sounds of Fluttershy sitting up, and walked over to her.
“Head hurts a lot doesn’t it?” Rainbow Dash asked with a mocking smile.
“Mmmhmm.” Fluttershy hummed in response while rubbing her head.
“Yeah well, that pill bottle Twilight is holding makes it go away, so go take some.” Fluttershy looked at the pill bottle hungrily, and sild slowly out of her bed to Twilight. Twilight turned it over, inspecting the label. Fluttershy reached the inquisitive unicorn.
“Um, can I have some of those?” Fluttershy asked quietly.
Twilight stopped combing the bottle and looked at Fluttershy. “Oh, yeah sorry.” Twilight handed two pills to Fluttershy, whom swallowed both in an instant. Fluttershy sat for a minute, feeling odd. She realized after a few moments that the pressure on her head was loosening, until all the pain finally went away.
Fluttershy instantly swung into a better mood, questioning in the back of her mind why she seemed to be happier than usual, but in the front not caring in the least.
Twilight stared at Fluttershy in her doped state, showing a little amusement. “They’re pain killers, they make you go all loopy in the head.” Fluttershy nodded sloppily to Twilights explanation.
“Well go get your saddles girls, the doctor is going to see us out.” Twilight stood up with her saddlebags already on, and pocketed the bottle inside of the pouch.
When both pegasi situated their bags, then doctor walked in, looking bemused. “Well all three operations went swimmingly, and now you all have a sixth sense. If you focus on your body, you are able to gauge your levels of hunger, hydration, and temperature accurately.
Fluttershy looked down at her hooves as she concentrated.
“Shouldn’t we be able to tell this stuff to ourselves without technology?” Rainbow Dash chimed up, making all the ponies in the room look at her.
The doctor chuckled at her outburst. “You can only tell these things on a certain blind level of awareness. With the chip, you are able to pin point it on a decimal point, making it able for you to be a lot more proficient with your health. It also acts as a warning system as I’ve said. It works like your pain sensors, except with your entire health system. However, we do not know the full extent the chip can have on your brain; we still don’t know much about the brain. So it would be best if you take it slow and steady with your new addition. Augmentation can be dangerous.” The doctor finally finished his rebuttal speech.
The doctor turned to the door, and waved his hoof back to signify a pony to come in. The three mares as the same three nurses from before walked into the room, all levitating a bundle of clothes for each mare.
“These will be situated to you for a fast and light travel, and will also keep you warm. You are being given light cloths that insolate you body heat for your bodies.” The doctor explained as the trios were situated with a smoke black flannel type of body dress. It covered them from the beginning of the neck, stretching all the way to their flanks and down the legs. “Next is a head wrap that will keep the heat from escaping your scalp, and a scarf to mouth wrap to keep your snout from freezing up if you are caught in a blizzard.” The nurses wrapped the cloth around their heads, down the back of the neck, and kept it at the bottom of the neck.
Twilight shifted around in the covering clothes, seeming to look uncomfortable. “Isn’t this all a little fast? I mean, we technically had brain surgery, woke up, getting situated in clothes, and then we will be shipped outside right after this?” Twilight asked, doubtful of the operation.
“Well you did pack your own food, showing you were going to go today. But aside from that, the Mayor has given strict orders to put you on a rush to begin. It’s all a matter of time she said, so we have to get started as fast as we can.” The doctor looked at a clip board on the desk to his left.
“It’s said that we only have two months of purified water if it is rationed out in a withheld manner, and we will all likely suffering from dehydration. All in all, we need you to hurry to the objective.” The doctor put the clip board back. “So this is the end of the line girls, next stop is the lift.”
The three friends got up and walked out of the door single file, out of the infirmary and into the hall. Like every hall they have walked through so far for the past two days was quiet and had little to no life. The only noises were the clops of the three ponies hooves. All were silent through the trek of getting to the surface lift, taking them to a icy wasteland. Turning the direct corner of the current hallway, the noises of engines came into hearing. Soon enough, the three reached the open door of the large list room. Two stallions were standing by the controls, looking over some papers and comparing them to the control panel.
The three girls walked up to the lift, making the two stallions look up and nod. They amassed onto the metal lift, and soon it was lurching upward into the dark passageway. Twilight lowered her head to cast an illuminating spell, making the nearby Fluttershy brace her leg against her eyes. Looking back up, she watched as the ceiling approached. Soon enough, the ponies were out into the frozen land, fierce winds whipping their faces with sharp bites. The three mares stood in a triangle, looking out to Ponyville.
“I think we should go to Ponyville first.” Twilight chimed in. Fluttershy nor Rainbow Dash gave a rebuttal, but both thinking why. Twilight fished out a lantern from her saddlebags, levitating it above her head.
“Why don’t you use your magic?” Rainbow Dash questioned the lantern.
“Because I need to conserve my energy for when we absolutely need it.” Twilight served as a answer.
Twilight closed her eyes for a second, opening them again when a fire sprouted from the cold, iron lantern. It illuminated about twenty feet in all directions, making them all fell a little bit safer. Twilight turned around to face the road, once made out of soft yellow dirt, was now made out of frozen snow and stark white.
In the back of her mind, Fluttershy felt the familiar longing for the nature she fell in love with as a young pegasus, now no longer holding any furry critters made her wonder again where they had gone. Fluttershy had taken the old and weakening angel into the facility, where he had been treated even more graciously and gently than before. She jolted from her deep thought as Twilight began to move down the road to Ponyville. Both pegasi following her shortly thereafter.
The three mares walked in a silenced single file line, none of them uttering a single noise. The wind roared as it shot past them, making it sound as though it were coming from a high power fan. Fluttershy pulled the bottom of her head dress up and over her mouth to keep in the hot breath, wanting to keep her lips and snout heated. As they grew ever closer to their old town, the house that caused Twilight and Rainbow Dash to loose their footing came into view, and even more speculations came to mind about it.
But all speculations died as they finally reached it, and instead stared numbly at the object.
The east side of the house from the front door had been completely smashed in. A bathtub hangs off of the side, dangling ever so slightly in the freezing wind. The roof had gone through a cascade of renewal, hanging off of the frontal side of the second story, and the debris from it covering the yard. But the oddest part was a giant sphere, big enough to fit a pony inside. A large hatch was propped open, a circular window showing whoever was inside what was outside. Twilight walked forward to face the open hatch, and turned her head to reveal what was inside.
A small leather seat that was appropriate size was mounted inside of it. Stepping closer and drawing the lantern closer as well she began to investigate. The leather seat had three long scratches on the bottom of it, and the seat belt had not been taken off. Rather, in had been cut off from the end, a short and accurate snip made it limp weakly onto the cold seat.
“Girls, whatever was in here wasn’t pony. Animal maybe, but why would it be in here?” Twilight reported to them, but turning her head back to the inside as she asked her question.
“What is this thing anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked, stepping closer to inspect it. Fluttershy sat down, her hooves starting to freeze from standing in one place. She frowned as her flanks began to soak up the snows condensation, but sat still nonetheless.
“It’s an old torture device.” Twilight revealed, groping around her knowledge of historic items. Twilight walked around it. “Yep. It was used to torture ponies magically by bringing their deepest fears to life, but also being stuck inside of it.” Twilight’s snout began to crunch slightly as she stared at the sphere. “Some ponies went insane from these things. Of course, they were used in the barbaric ages of Celestia’s rules, most likely from the first twenty or thirty years of the rule itself. It was a little after the banishment of Nightmare Moon that these things were disbanded from discipline.”
Fluttershy became anxious as she watched Twilight’s expression soften but was replaced by a strong curiosity. “What the weirdest thing, Celestia told me they were all scrapped after they weren’t being used, so why and how is this here?” Twilight finished by placing a hoof on the ice cold metal. Rainbow Dash just shook her head, disgust and disbelief showing in her eyes. Fluttershy looked up, and was surprised to be able to see the castle, standing defiantly against the mountain.
A small, purple flash stroke against the dark clouds, happening so fast Fluttershy questioned if it really had ever happened. Rainbow Dash looked around, squinting against the hard buffeting of the wind and snow fall. “Hey guys, we should go find some shelter. I think I can see the Cakes bakery over there.” Rainbow Dash turned her head to look at Twilight and Fluttershy, expectancy over taking her expression. Twilight nodded, drawing herself from the torture pod, and quickly jutted her head while looking at Fluttershy to gesture a follow. Fluttershy rose from above the wet snow, shook the solid pieces off of her flank, and followed behind the purple unicorn.
All three climbed into the aged building, making them realize that it was just as cold inside as it is outside. Twilight broke off into the kitchen, and lit the stove with her magic. Fire showed the still colorful kitchen with an odd lighting that made it seem innocent, as well as malevolent. For once the cyan pegasus did not question the doing of her unicorn friend. Both pegasi filed into the kitchen to sit around the open stove flame.
They had rolled out tiny sleeping bags, warming up from their own body heat quickly. For sometime no one spoke. The crackling of the small fire and the howl of the wind were the only two harmonizing sounds that seemed to emanate from the world, and even that wasn’t enough to lift the heavy silence.
And finally, Fluttershy broke the deafening silence with a whisper. “I wonder what Rarity, Fancy and Steel are up to.” Rainbow Dash shifted around in her bag to face Fluttershy, a warm smile on her all but cold face. “Oh right. We never got to see her little filly did we? I hope she’s as beautiful as she sounds.” Rainbow Dash showed something she rarely did. A small girly giddiness arose from the depths of her heart at the mentioning of a filly of her best friends, actually liking something potentially cute, unlike something masculine.
Fluttershy smiled back, and craned her neck upwards to look back at Twilight. The purple pony sat with her back facing them, already in a light and slow snore, signifying her sleep. Fluttershy rested her neck back into place and smiled again. The light from the fire was diminishing slowly before Fluttershy spoke again.
“Good night Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow Dash returned the gesture as Fluttershy’s eyes fell heavily into place, fatigue and worry overtaking her body. Almost instantly, she fell into a dark blue depth of sleep, smiling all the way down. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And now i am back from a short hiatus. The reasoning behind it was thus. Firstly: My laptop broke.I won't go into detail about the crazy adventure i had to chase after it, but needless to say, it was smashed to pieces. Secondly: Writing these chapters takes awhile. And Thirdly: More IRL issues.
This is were i bring up a pre reader thingy. I have no brony friends since the majority of them moved away from were i live. So i need someone to fix my countless mistakes, seeing as i have schooling and what not. So anyone who will be up for it (not really expecting much) send me a message. I'l respond shortly there after.\
I have a tumblr! Not a draw tumblr, but a blog were you can ask me things and what not. I just set it up, and maybe at some point were i get better at art, maybe some of dat too,
Next chapter will be Rainbow of course to complete the cycle, then after that, the perspectives will switch to who ever is the main priority in that standing point of the story. Twist soon will arise.
"It is too cold for this nonsense sister, COME WITH ME!"
Chapter 3: |Rainbow| Blind To The Sky ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rainbow Dash awoke with her eyes shut tightly and a headache pounding like a double bass. Wanting to rest a little more before getting out of her bed, she halted her breathing as she heard the cracking of fire above her. She slowly opened her eyes, hurting every second as she struggled to keep them open against the steady beat of her headache. Looking straight ahead, she could see the face of a sleeping Fluttershy inside of a small sleeping bag.
Okay, so we're on the ground. No, we're on a cold tile floor. Rainbow corrected her self as she felt coldness seep around her cheek. Deciding to sit up and see other surroundings, she felt weak and devoid of energy. It took massive effort just to sit on her flank, and finally remembering the camp out in sugarcube corner..
Rainbow looked at the still burning fire inside of the stove, guessing it was some sort of magical property that allowed it to burn until put out. She turned her head to the left, feeling the stiffness fade out as she stretched to look at the sleeping purple unicorn facing her. She snored easily through her sleep, somewhat calming to the lone awake pony in the room. After sitting still for a couple of minuets, Rainbow could tell that her body wasn't as useless, and stood up with a bit of effort. She turned around to peer at the windows, seeing an extremely faint light shine through the window, lighting a little bit of the kitchen. Rainbow again felt pangs of sadness as she looked about the messy kitchen. Pots, pans, and other cooking tools were strewn about the floor, making it seem like there had been two stallions as large as Big Mac had fought in the room. Just small mementos of a world that use to be to the happy residents of Ponyville. She could hear the howling wind course around the building, noting that the blizzard had gotten worse through her grim thoughts.
A sudden bang could be heard close to the window she was peering out of. Rainbow jumped into a defensive stance instantly, her snout growing tense from the frown she gave. She pricked her ears as she heard a small shamble, as if a body was being dragged through snow. Rainbow stood silent for a few moments, debating whether or not she should walk towards the window.
"With lack of better judgement..." Rainbow trailed off on her sentence. Crouching down, she cautiously crawled to sit behind the window, prepping her haunches to spring up from her hiding place. First rising a little to peer out, Rainbow looked to the sound had come from.
"Huh?" Rainbow grunted out loud, seeing a small brown feather stuck under a large rock. A small trail of feathers were tumbling around the corner of the building.
Rainbow felt her body shoot adrenaline as she realized something.
It's going to try to get in." Rainbow said with a tone of disgruntlement as she whipped around to run towards her friends.
Bolting quickly to the other side of the kitchen, Rainbow placed her right fore hoof against Twilghts shoulder, violently shaking her. Twilight easily opened her eyes and sat up, looking fulling awake despite being asleep a moment later.
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "What? How are you..." Rainbow trailed off again, looking at the confused pony.
"What's going on Dash?" Twilight said, climbing out of her bag.
Rainbow shook her head, forgetting her confusion. "There was a loud bang, and when i went to go investigate, i saw a trail leading around the corner. Some one is out there." Rainbow said, taking a bit of extra time to mention the feather under the rock.
Twilight sat silently, nodding her head along to Rainbows explication with critical interest. Twilight stood up herself, walking towards the window, and coming back with understanding yet confusion as an expression. Rainbow looked to Fluttershy, still sleeping like a newborn.
A sudden crashing sounded from the closed off front entrance. Rainbow turned her head to her friend, raising an eyebrow over worried eyes. Twilight nodded, beginning to slink down on the ground to the front entrance. Rainbow followed the same, stepping over her fellow pegasus for a compensation of room. Rainbow and Twilight had situated themselves along the tattered door, listening to the still raging wind through the open cracks of the broken two by fours boarding the windows. Twilight creaked the door open, showing a small beam of light down on her curious face staring out into the world. A strong gust forced its way through the heavy door, throwing snowflakes against the unicorns face. Ignoring the snow, Twilight leaned in further, the door taking in her head and half her neck. Rainbow sat with a bursting anxiety, feeling her entire body itch from the anticipation of Twilight's founding.
"Huh?" Twilight breathed out loudly. "Rainbow, come see this." Twilight called to her friend.
The pegasus obeyed with out question, stretching her long neck over the unicorns body to see outside the door. A small scroll, as big as the scrolls Twilight used to send to Celestia, stuck under a rock smaller than the previous one. Twilight cast out her magic, illuminating the small corner the two were standing in, and pulled the parchment out from under the rock. When it had finally came in all the way, Twilight closed the door with her hoof, looking at the rolled up papyrus. Rainbow watched as her friends eyes grew wider and even more confused than before, and decided to look at it herself. Rainbow understood as she saw the great gold 'C' residing on the flat of it.
"Celestia's symbol." Twilight whispered to herself, unrolling the parchment to look inside.
Rainbow looked at the odd letter, though it was obviously an old letter Twilight sent to Celestia, only a random amount of words was on the letter. The entire rest of the report was scratched out with an assortment of pen ink and pencil.
Dearest Princess Celestia,
Today I Learned---hard to accept---time with some pony whose not so---
All the way on the bottom of the letter, was a scratchy writing, that showed who ever wrote it was in a hurry.
DON'T STAY OUTSIDE TOO LONG, YOU'LL REGRET IT. CARRY ON TO CANTERLOT CASTLE, WE WILL MEET IN THE CITY.
WINGS
Rainbow Dash read the small note multiple times, not understanding a bit of sense of the stranger Wings' request on to Canterlot.
Twilight stiched her eyebrows as she looked over the note herself. Reading over it as if it were a critical info on an exam she was stressed over. Twilight nodded her head, turning to Rainbow she explained.
"It's simple Dash. That's the closest Facility, and that's were the best of The Facilitators live. Thy can make a new chip quickly from scratch." Twilight said looking over the front of the letter. "Though, i don't remember what this letter was, or why that stranger would have a letter i addressed to Celestia." She looked over the random phrases before rolling it up and carrying it away to her saddle bag.
Rainbow trotted over to the kitchen. "Should we write back to see if they're still around?" It was a good chance.
Twilight shook her head. "I think the pony was in a rush, the way they wrote it was scribbled so sloppily and slurred. I think we should get going anyway, time is hard to tell without the sun visible through the clouds." Rainbow nodded, a recent memory of the cloudy skies surfacing to her mind.
In a small amount of time, they had woken Fluttershy, explained to her, and were asked and ready to go. The stood in a triangle before leaving the now dark kitchen, the fire finally put out.
"I think we should go to Canterlot, its the nearest Facility, and i personally think we need to find out who this Wings is." Twilight gave her oppinion first.
Rainbow nodded, thinking the same yet still questioning, "But why would we regret being outside? The only thing i can think of is whatever attacked the Ponyville Facility is still roaming around." Rainbow finished her sentence, casting a look out the window.
Twilight nodded. "Most likely, this Wings pony has been out her a lot longer than we have."
Fluttershy just swung her head to whoever was speaking, and agreed with the rest of them when she was asked what her opinion. They had walked out of the small building full of old memories, and new ones. All three looked back before continuing on, remembering the lost Pinkie. Hair down and somber looking eyes on evacuation day. Rainbow could still remember being hit with the realization that the event was such a crushing blow, that even the happiest mare in Equestria couldn't lift her spirits.
They were soon back on the dirt walkways of Ponyville, passing by old shops and restaurants on their way past. Taking a few moments to look at Twilight's library, but continuing on with out much wanting of bitter thoughts. Rainbow looked all around, and though she felt ultimately somber about it all, she was grateful to be in the open air, to actually see clouds and natural light for once. To breathe in cold and edged fresh air, and to feel the wind wind through her hair.
Rainbow struck a critical thought. "Wait how are we going to get to Canterlot? We can't use the train can we?" She flew over to Twilight so that she could hear better, but still having to raise her voice.
"We just have to hope we can." She yelled a bit bitterly.
"Wait, can't we just teleport?" Rainbow asked after a few moments of silence.
Twilight shook her head. "No, this storm is getting too rough, there's no way i could control my magic against it." Twilight rose her voice even higher as the weather confirmed it, the blizzard was getting worse. Strong gusts carried small debris through the air, almost covering the ponies faces in large clumps of dirt. ]
After five more minuets, the ponies were struggling against the buffets of wind. Small tornadoes appeared on the ground winding up large amounts of snow.
"Tornadoes?! There isn't even any warm air around here!" Twilight screamed to the group and her self.
In a quick whip of movement and magical glare, Twilight casted a shield into the air, deflecting the raging tornadoes that were on the attack to the ponies. Rainbow thought fast, hovering close to the ground and whipping her wings as hard and fast as she could to force the small enemies away as Twilight became overwhelmed by the growing number of cyclones.
"Whats going on?! It's like these things are deliberately attacking us!" Rainbow screamed above the noise of wind.
"Never mind them! Run!" Twilight broke away her already fading shield, galloping away down the rest of the path. Fluttershy followed closely by on hoof, while Rainbow went against the strength of weather by flying.
There's no way this Wing's pony is getting through this! I'm barley managing and I've had training from wonderbolts! Rainbow thought with realization when struggling against the wind was becoming too much for her. She dropped back on the the ground with a sharp thud, quickly taking second between Twilight and Fluttershy.
"There!" Twilight called out to her friends, looking ahead towards the approaching train station.
Rainbow looked behind her with out slowing down, gasping as she saw the mini tornadoes following them with great speed. Throwing her head back around, she pushed on the speed as they grew ever closer to the station. Fluttershy had begun to flap her wings while running to increase her speed, catching up with Rainbow. Twilight had jumped over the park bench, sailing over the small curb in front of it and breaking into a gallop again. Rainbow threw herself into the sky, soaring to the platform while Fluttershy was taking evasive maneuvers in the sky, showing some hidden gracefulness in the sky. Rainbow was already tired from her first flying, and was making a hard nose dive onto the hard concrete platform. Bracing her self for a crash landing, Rainbow tumbled on the platform, doing a couple flips before she hit the ground and sliding against the train. Twilight had teleported the short distance to bring her fallen friend to her feet, Fluttershy dropping down next to them a second later. Twilight threw the door open into the passenger cabin.
"Come on! We need to get to the engine!" She yelled out as she ran towards the proceeding doors.
Both pegasi followed their friend, but stumbled and fell as the train began to rock. Rainbow had guessed the cyclones caught up with them as she climbed back to her hooves and galloped into the next cabin. Twilight had already made it to the last door, slamming it open and flinging herself into the room. Rainbow watched her light a fire into the coal stove as she ran, pulling levers and pressing buttons. Rainbow could feel the metal wheels of the train stall and jut around as if there weren't any tracks to begin with.
"Gah! The wheels are frozen!" Twilight ran back around outside the side window of the engine room, her horn glowing.
Rainbow jumped back as bright fire sprung up and licked at her hooves, now keeping away from the door she reached the engine room. Twilight did the same to he other side, and gasped as the tornadoes approached. The cyclones glided over the fires putting them out in an instant. Twilight whipped around in a hurry, pulling the large main lever in the middle of the control panel.
Rainbow felt her heart grow heavy as the wheels stalled once again, but felt a warm wave of joy as the train broke out and started to roll. Fluttershy now stood behind them, looking around with large plates of eyes, and the group buckled as the train lurched forward. Now travelling faster than they could run, Rainbow stuck her head out the window.
She sighed as she saw he tornadoes coming towards them, but were too slow to give an efficient chase. Turning back to her friends, she saw Twilight looking out ahead the front windows, and a gasping Fluttershy on the floor.
"Girls, this is going to take awhile." Twilight spoke up, making the two pegasi to turn their heads toward her.
"What will?" Fluttershy asked from the floor.
Twilight turned her own head to face the yellow pegasus. "Though the wheels are turning, they are still very slow, seeing as being frozen for two years. There also ins't much coal left in the stove here. In sugar cub corner there was plenty. I just wish we could've taken some." Twilight turned back around to look outside. "And with a limited amount of burning material means a slow moving train."
Rainbow felt confused. "So that fire wasn't magical? It was just normal?"
Twilight looked back at her with a baffled look. "What? No. It's a bakers oven, it's designed to have tons of coal stored inside at one time. This train was probably used so many times during evacuation that they used the last of the coal still in Ponyville. I wouldn't be surprised, a lot of ponies came in to live in our Facility, and others left in the other ones." Twilight finished, sitting down to take a rest.
Rainbow thought of Rarity as Twilight gave her hypothesis on the coal shortage. Left to go live with Fancy. I hope those two are all right. It wasn't normal for Rainbow Dash to worry, but in times such as her current life, worrying was now a common place burden upon her mind. She turned her head at the faint sound of snoring, looking down to see Fluttershy passed out on the floor. Rainbow snorted. Cute.
She walked up to stand beside Twilight, looking outward. Shes right, this train is moving only thirty miles an hour. And if i remember, Canterlot was something like hundred fifty from the train station.
Rainbow looked at the speedometer, confirming her suspicion. The train was going just about thirty MPH.
"Hey Twilight," Rainbow spoke her friends name, making her turn her head. "If his trains going thirty, how long until we reach Canterlot?" Rainbow asked, raising her hoof to make a gesture.
"About five hours or so, depending on how long this little stash of coal can go." Twilight responded, pointing her hoof at the stove.
Rainbow nodded her head, looking back at the sweaty, sleeping Fluttershy. I guess this is the right time.
"Hey Twilight, can we go to the passenger cabin for a second?" Rainbow asked, standing up and walking towards the open door. Though she didn't wait for an answer, she heard the unicorns hoof steps on the floor approach her.
"Oh, and can you pick up Fluttershy? She shouldn't be sleeping on the floor." Rainbow asked, turning her head to see her the sleeping pegasus in the unicorns magic.
Rainbow closed the door behind them as they entered the small room full of beds and lanterns. Twilight put Fluttershy under the covers on one of the top bunks and lighting the lanterns oil, illuminating the cold cabin.
"Why'd we come here Dash?" Twilight asked shivering slightly.
Rainbow sighed. "I have to tell you something."
Twilight's curiosity piqued at the pegasus' flustered acting. "What is it?"
Rainbow looked up at the ceiling, wondering of how to start. I've..never really done this before.
"Huh...Well i guess for starters, i should tell you about evacuation day." Rainbow started her story, reaching in her mind for her memories. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was a sunny day despite it being late fall. All the leaves had already fallen off of the trees, though the running of the leaves had still taken place through the nation wide terror that was taking hold of Equestria. It was the last evacuation day throughout all of the country, every pony was hurrying to make it before the land froze out from under them. Rainbow was flying in a quick daze to reach Fluttershy's house. She had been late to make it to the Facility lift before all the other ponies did, and now a large mass of them slowed the process down but ten fold. Reaching the cottage, Rainbow looked down to see Fluttershy on the ground, cowering. As she neared, she realized that she was huddled over something, looking at whatever on the ground with a bit of panic. Rainbow pushed on the speed, dropping down to the ground and galloping to the pegasus.
"Fluttershy, whats wrong?" Rainbow had reached her friend, and tried to look at whatever she was hovering over.
Fluttershy looked up at Rainbow with some tears in her eyes, unwrapping her legs to show a old bunny on he ground.
"It's Angel, he won't wake up." Fluttershy said, sniffling a little.
"Is he...dead?" Rainbow asked in a gentle tone, stepping a little closer.
"No, he still has a heartbeat, but he's been like this for two hours, and no matter how hard i shake him, he won't get up!" Fluttershy squeaked out.
Rainbow blew a heavy amount of air from her nose, looking around in minuscule desperation.
"Alright. Come on." Rainbow grasped angle by the scruff and wrapped him in a small cocoon with her wing.
"Wait, where are we going?" Fluttershy asked rubbing the tears out of her eyes and fumbling to stand.
"At the Facility entrance, they're taking animals in a different line to ensure them a safe living inside a cramped place." Rainbow began to trot toward the Facility, Fluttershy following. "I think if we explain to them, they'll take him to the vets there and do what ever is needed."
Rainbow broke into a gallop, Fluttershy following close by. When they had reached the Facility, two mares had checked him on a small stationary table by a smaller door.
The white mare with red hair came to them with news. "Now, i'm not a vet, but yes he still is alive, and most likely in a coma. He is going to be fine once we set him up in a bed. He is an old bunny, living a abnormally long life for one." The nurse walked back, and Angel away. Fluttershy started towards her before Rainbow stopped her and pointed her hoof at the door as it closed. It read 'Personnel Only'. Fluttershy sat back down with a sigh of relief.
"I really thought something was terribly wrong with him." Fluttershy said, shaking her head.
Rainbow snorted. "He's a strong rabbit, he'll probably live another decade." She finished with a smile towards Fluttershy.
Fluttershy smiled back, and wrapped Rainbow in a choking hug.
"Thanks you Rainbow Dash, thank you..." Fluttershy trailed off.
Rainbow felt a couple of tears drop down and soak into her fur. She wrapped her arms around Fluttershy as well, patting her on the back.
And it was then both of them realized how much they meant to each other. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"And from there, we just got closer and we...uh.." Rainbow trailed off before she finished. "And a year later we, confessed to each other." Rainbow closed her eyes and sighed. This is seriously not me. I am in no way shape or form cut out for mushy stuff.
Twilight stared blankly at Rainbow Dash.The cyan mare stared back at her unicorn friend with surrendering eyes, hoping she didn't lash out at her.
Twilight huffed her air from her nose, much like Rainbow on evac day. "Back in the Facility, this would've been fine. This actually would've been great news. But now, i'm not too sure." Twilight finished, Rainbow sighing and pound the floor with a hoof.
Twilight stood back up. Stopping by the now open door, she spoke to her friend.
"I just hope you guys know what you're doing. This is a dangerous time for a relationship." Twilight gave her final say and walked out the door, closing it carefully behind her.
Rainbow stared into the lantern, still sitting down. The fire burned into her eyes, making her feel a bit warmer. Fluttershy hitched a breath in her sleep, making Rainbow look at her from the ground. Oh how much trouble we cause.
Rainbow flew up to her lovers bed. Lovers right? That is what we are? Rainbow sat down on the bed, being careful not disturb the sleeping pegasus.
"I guess it really doesn't matter." She whispered. Lifting up the covers, and squirming into the warm mattress, She threw her arms around the small mare. Closing her eyes, Rainbow felt calmly at ease now that Twilight knew about them.
If she doesn't approve, then to tarturus with her. Rainbow vowed to herself, drifting off into a warm and joyful sleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow, i am not good at writing mushy stuff. Practicing though.
So now the cycle is done, the twists are now coming into play, and i keep have problems with logical explanations to Twilight's magical limitations.
Can you guess who Wings is, and why they want the trio to go to Canterlot? Seriously, guess.
Thanks for reading!
UPDATE: I have submitted this to EQD, so keep a look out for it if you go there.
No Warm Soul "This is madness, we NEED to go to the badlands. It's our only choice." Chapter 4: |Twilight| The Chaos of Canterlot
Twilight had stayed awake the full five hours of travel. She only looked out the front windows of the train, contemplating the situations currently at hoof. Rainbow and Fluttershy? At a time like this? Twilight could not help the feeling of hopelessness overwhelm her. Things were already starting to go awry, and it had only been three days since the madness started. Though she was happy for them, she couldn't help but feel like the reluctant mother who scolded her daughter for dating some pony she did not trust. It was the wrong time for this. Just the wrong time.
So Twilight sat while her friends slept, looking out of the conductor windows to watch the never ending snow flow past the train. Time seemed to be warped, looking at the sun told it had been roughly two hours since they had jumped on the train. Twilight began to feel mixed emotions of curiosity and dread as she watched Canterlot castle high up above the train tracks. What would be there, waiting for them? Twilight really didn't want to find out.
Hours passed, and soon they were making the final bend. The Canterlot train station would be coming up soon, so Twilight prepared to break. When the train was less than a mile from the stop, Twilight pulled the break with her own strength. It stalled. The train kept moving at thirty mph, and she pulled harder. Fear growing, she threw her head over the window. Of course she couldn't see the breaks.
"Ugh, their frozen!" Twilight yelled as she ran up to the center window. The stop board and train station was steadily approaching, and so was inevitable injury. If the train was going at least thirty, the engine might be totaled, or the stopper itself might give out and the train would fall off of the mountain. Twilight stood back, and worked her magic to halt the breaks. Just then, Rainbow came into the room, closing the door behind her.
"Twi, what's going on?" She asked looking out the window.
"The breaks are frozen!" Twilight shouted back, the magic beginning to amp. Something was wrong, Twilight could feel it. The magic began to falter, Twilight had lost control of it. What?! How?
Squaring her legs and knitting her brow, Twilight tried again. The magic felt solid this time, and the train began to slow. The magic withdrew again.
"Twilight, what are you doing? What's going on with you're magic?" Rainbow asked, a little bit of fear rising in her voice.
Twilight shook her head and spread her hooves again. "I don't know! This never happened before!" Twilight began to fill with anger. Why fail? Why NOW?
The stopper came ever closer, threatening the ponies aboard the oncoming train. As Twilight began to work her magic again, she finally felt the train halting. But not enough. The train head had hit the stopper, and was beginning to careen over the edge. Rainbow hovered. "I'll get Fluttershy, you teleport out!"
Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but Rainbow had already zipped through the door. Twilight slipped and fell as the train slowly slid down, now at a sixty degree angle. Twilight didn't bother standing up, she simply willed her magic to teleport her to the station. With a flash, Twilight fell yet again on the train station's concrete. Standing up, Twilight watched as the train finally tipped fully, falling into the chasm beneath it. A rainbow flew past her head and into the sky, looking up Twilight found Rainbow hold Fluttershy in the air.
After the ponies regrouped on the ground, they assessed the surroundings
Snow had been disrupted were Twilight had teleported, a pony sized hole showing from the blanket. The train station was eerily empty, no sign of life at all. Twilight looked up to the castle, afraid of what she'd truly see. The castle had been preserved though, only a thick layer of snow was covering the regal estate. Then, a flash stroke the grey cloudy sky in the color of purple. Twilight jumped as a sharp crack went through the air, causing the fur on her neck to rise.
The purple mare turned her head to look at her friends, who showed no sign of knowing towards the flash. Twilight decided to keep it to herself for the time being. Don't want to freak them out.
After a short agreeing, the trio decided to enter the city. Clearing the station, they walked out into the city plaza, looking into the frozen fountain that was situated in the middle. Twilight sat down to calm herself and to think.
Okay. So the train is out, the city is dead, and we don't know where the entrance to the facility is. To top it off, we're supposed to be meeting Wings here, and i don't trust them whoever they are.
Twilight pulled out the scroll from Wings to read it over. Using her magic, a small light emitted itself from the tip of her horn. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were walking around the fountain, inspecting the broken stone that once was viewed as art.
Three clanks sounded through the plaza. Twilight looked up to see a spear being shoved into her face. Behind it was a fully cloaked stallion with a gas mask, tilting his head as he looked Twilight over.
WHAT. Was all Twilight could muster in her mind as she scooted back with wide eyes to avoid the spear tip.
The stallion spoke through the gas mask, which surprisingly came out perfectly audible. "You are under arrest for the illegal use of magic and trespassing on the surface of Canterlot."
Twilight gasped in shock as the stallion rose his spear, and hitting Twilight with the but of it so hard that she fell to the ground; her vision fading. Before she passed out completely, she heard the snarling voice of Rainbow Dash lash out at the guards. A flash from atop the rooftops drew her gaze, yet nothing was there as she blacked out.
=-=-=-=-=
Let us out! We haven't done anything wrong!
"Dash?" Twilight called out almost to a moan. Rainbow looked back from the door she leaned on, eying the purple unicorn.
"You're awake!" Rainbow walked over to Twilight who opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling.
Twilight slowly regained her vision and thought process, sweeping her vision across the room herself and her friends were in. It was a musky, dank cement room with one mattress and a steel door.
Twilight looked at the still asleep Fluttershy, soundlessly drifting in her subconscious. "Were are we, Dash?"
Rainbow looked back to the door while Twilight stood up, holding a hoof to her pounding head.
"I would say a cell in the Canterlot facility. Canterlot castle is probably deserted, and the facility is still running, Why they took us I don't get. Something about...'illegal use of magic'? But why would magic be illegal?"
Twilight walked to the door, staring out into the dim cement hallway. "I don't know Dash, it doesn't make sense to me either."
A guard showed right up to the door and yelled inside. "Step away from the door! Your trial starts now!"
"Trial?" Twilight asked herself and nobody as she back away and the door swung open. Three guards rushed in, grabbing Twilight, Rainbow, and levitating a half awake Fluttershy up and out of the chamber. Twilight watched as they passed countless amounts of corridors, twisting and turning and going down even more. After a nauseating trip of stairs and being jostled around for what seemed an eternity, the escort guard in front of them pushed open a set of double doors to a room which made Twilight gasped.
A single platform stood out in the center of an extreme audience of unicorns. No other specie was present within the stadium sized court room, wrapping seats all around the circular room and coming to a head to a large judge bench, intimidating the entire room with it's lawful oppressiveness. The trio of ponies were thrown on to the platform, Twilight standing in front of Rainbow Dash and a now awake Fluttershy. A large crash exploded from behind the Judge's bench as a familiar blue unicorn lunged over the bench.
"This is the trial of Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy for the illegal use of magic, trespassing on the city surface of Canterlot, and the defecation of government property. And I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, am your Judge." Trixie the Judge proclaimed, slamming her gabble on the desk which caused to the audience to cheer in joyful rage.
=-=-=-=-=
Finally back from my hiatus, and sorry for taking so long to publish this. Life's been a little discordant lately.
Chapter is short because i have a lot to do as of right now, but regular publishing will start up again soon enough.
"What!? What do you mean illegal use of magic?" Twilight screamed out towards Trixie.
The spiteful unicorn dressed in a judge's gown crossed her legs in contempt, feeling utterly superior to the three mares below her she had grown to hate over the years.
"Why, I mean the use of magic under a direct banning against it's use due to it's harmful effect upon those around whom do it."
Twilight let her mouth gape open but did not respond. The utter ridiculousness of a limit on magic use struck her so far that she could not construct coherence for the odd law. It makes no sense. Almost one-third of the population had been unicorns, and even simple levitation was considered magic...if that was under the jurisdiction of illegal use, then every pony within Canterlot haven't used magic for two whole years.
Rainbow Dash had been the first to speak after her Twilight.
"I don't get it. If mostly Canterlot is unicorns, than why is it not allowed?"
Trixie rolled her eyes before responding. "The use of magic within the facility has been labeled dangerous by the standing government.
Rainbow shrugged. "So how is it dangerous?"
"The facility was built to ensure a stable and eternal compressible system that takes the cold elements from the surface and transforms them into efficient qualities for the sustain of life. Such as snow will be heated into water and carbon dioxide that has been left into the world changed back into oxygen. When anypony inside of the facility uses magic, it easily interferes with the system, completely jamming it."
Twilight had regained her focus during the verbal play between the two. "So how were we trespassing?"
Trixie flipped between some papers on her desk of importance that wasn't realized. "A year ago, Gryphons had tried to breach the facility doors. Once they had realized they had no chance of getting in, they made a mess of the city on the surface. Soon finding the external compression system, they tampered with it and caused it to shut down. We eradicated them. And so, the government passed a law that of any species to walk upon the surface will be considered trespassing and a threat to the civilizations well being. And since you were on the surface, you are charged with it." Trixie flipped her packet closed with a wry, mocking smile.
Twilight scratched at her head as she thought. "So if we were trespassing, how come you didn't pass us off to execution?"
A low mumble of disappointment sounded off from the audience at the utterance of a skipped execution, obviously saddened by the fact that bloodshed would have to wait. Twilight grimaced, feeling disgusted and hurt by the detestation of her living for one more day.
"Come now," Trixie said in a condescending voice while twirling innocently in her chair with a childish smile, making Twilight twist her face in irritation. "We are the same species, we are not that sadistic."
"You were ruled a trial because we just have so much history, me and your gang of ponies."
Twilight sighed, feeling defeated. She had no idea what they were even trying to do. Stalling their founding guilty? Hopefully trying to find a loophole? Nothing was really working as they were faced with a brick wall of laws that were too closely knit together. Fluttershy had crouched behind them, cowering from the jeers of the audience and trying to hide herself from the inevitable. But then she had leaned into Twilight and spoke.
"What about Celestia?"
Twilight let her mind process her friends suggestion, and nodded with confidence.
"I demand to speak to Princess Celestia!"
The audience gasped at the criminal pony's demand, not sure whether or not she could do that. Trixie looked down on Twilight with a frown and bemusement flashing across her face.
"You can't do that! You have no right to command the presence of the princess!" Trixie rebutted, leaning on her desk and shouting down at the amused unicorn.
Twilight shook her head and barked a tiny chuckle. "Then I'll go see her myself!"
Twilight leapt to her hooves and faced the giant doors at the end of the cathedral sized room. Using her magic, she strained eagerly with sparks flying off her horn as the doors flung open, the lock from the left side hanging limply in place. Running, she pulled Fluttershy off the ground, Rainbow following them out of the door with lighting speed.
Running down the circular corridor Twilight could hear the angry screaming coming from the audience and the cries for justice as they had broken the honored trial that they had been given. Guards flashed out of the door behind the trial room and chased the trio down. Uneasy turns, slippery stairs and fancy regal rooms passed by as the ponies raced to find any type of royal chamber that would hold their only path to freedom. Stumbling upon some stairs, the trio climbed onto a hallway landing with only three doors. A Sun hung above the middle door, a Moon above the right one, and a crystal hung above the left.
"Celestia must be in the middle door." Twilight said, approaching the middle door. Putting her hoof on the handle, she twisted and pushed it open.
What was inside shocked all three mares when they had seen. Celestia was sitting by her desk, but it didn't look anything like Celestia. Her mane no longer flowed endlessly as it had become gray and solid, draping her face like a curtain. Her tail was the same and became ruffled at the end. Her coat which used to be a bright pearl white was now a matted iron color, clashing with her fading cutie mark. The sun that had stood out among her flank seemed to be deteriorating and losing hue. She turned towards them with tired and sickly eyes.
"Twilight?"
Twilight left her mouth open, almost close to crying the longer she looked at her aging mentor. Taking small steps she approached Celestia with a shocked and distressed expression lit upon her face. "Wha....What..."
Celestia turned towards her and put her hooves to Twilight's head, peering into her eyes all the while. "What are you doing here Twilight?"
Rainbow Dash hovered over to help in the situation. "Our uh....water chip broke....and we have no way of repairing it so we needed a new one. We were hoping the scientists here could build us a new one."
Celestia looked at Rainbow and gave a half nod. "So why are you in my chamber, out of breath and fearful."
Though she was tired and losing her colors, she was still perceptive as usual.
Twilight and regained her composure, but spoke with a dull draw. "When we got into the city surface, guards knocked us out, and brought us into a trial. The charges were illegal use of magic and trespassing."
Celestia let go of Twilight, a utterly confounded expression growing. "What do you mean illegal use of magic? There is no such thing."
All three nodded in response. Celestia stood and walked out of the large bedroom, walking out of the landing and down the stairs. The three mares looked at each other before following their princess, catching up to her as she cleared the stairs. Down the same halls, she brought them all the way to the court room, all the commotion had died down but ponies still filled the room. A rotund gasping around the room sounded out as Celestia sauntered in followed by the three criminals, and the trio of friends were confused as Luna was hovering by Trixie's desk, captured in a heated discussion until she realized her sister had come in.
Unlike Celestia, Luna still looked her best as she had two years ago. Her colors were still definite, along with her mark still being evident. Her face lit in a small fit of desperation and fear, flying down to meet Celestia by the circle where criminals sat for trials.
Celestia was the first to speak. "Sister, what is all this? Capturing three of the elements along with my student? Illegal use of magic? Last I checked, magic was not illegal in Equestria."
Luna kept her head down. "Sister, we must not talk here. It is not good for your health to be up and around. Let's go back to your chamber; then we'll talk."
Celestia gave Luna a scolding stare before she turned and spoke to the Elements. "Let's go."
Back in Celestia's chamber Luna began to explain. "I had initiated a law against magic due to suspicion of a revolution. A large underlying organization to lay the facility to waste and escape into the surface. We actually did have a small uprising while you were asleep, Celestia..."
"What? How?" Celestia demanded, causing Luna to shrink even further inside of herself.
"When you were in one of your comas, the ponies involved in the revolution attacked the engineers. We quickly handled them, capturing them all. Most were unicorns so I issued a law against magic use so the guards could handle them without much trouble."
Twilight snapped her head to look at Luna, confusion sparkling in her eyes. "Coma?"
The princess looked at Twilight and sighed. Celestia sat down and explained.
"The reason I look so sickly Twilight, Is because of the sun. I am no longer within sunlight, nor is it shining past the blanket of clouds. The whole lack of sunlight is causing me to, in a sense, deteriorate. I have no connection with it now." Celestia stared pensively at the ground, seemingly losing her self among the patterns of the carpet.
The news struck at the three mares like a sack of bricks. One of the most powerful beings was slowly deteriorating in front of them due to a loss of connection to her entire purpose of living. The vex of saddness was broken by the moon princess.
"That is not all. The sun and the moon both move on their own, no longer influenced by our power. We suspect that whatever had started this frozen oppression must have some supernatural power beyond that."
Twilight pondered for a couple moments. A question came to her mind. "Do you have any idea what caused this all?"
Luna and Celestia shared a glance, a small bit of recognition showing in both of them. Luna swung back to Twilight. "Well, we do have a notion, but it was seemingly un-likely. There used to be this species of burly creatures, who lived during Star Swirls' time. Being the first to discover them, he named them Lox. Large, bear like creatures with dark blue fur and black eyes. He said that they contained a type of magic that could only be manipulated through snow. To that extent, he hypothesized that they could affect normal water and steam alike. They could cause large blizzards, usually inhabiting the northern parts of the world. Near Star Swirls' old age, they began to trickle into Equestrian's northern border that aligned with the Crystal Empire. They never did do much to us, but in the beginning of this accursed blizzard, we began to suspect the Lox. But it seemed, as I said, un-likely. A little after Star Swirls' death, the Lox became extinct. Massive piles of Lox nests were full of dead Lox, from the youngest of cubs to the oldest of seniors. " Luna finished her info dump.
All three ponies listened intently to the flow of information, processing the possibility of the old dead species coming back into fruition.
Twilight scratched at her head. "Well...what if we found the source at stopped it?"
Luna rose an eyebrow, along with the unicorns two companions. Rainbow Dash leaned into Twilight's ear. "But Twilight, we really need to get this water chip back to our Facility! We don't have time to solve problems!"
Twilight pushed Rainbow away with an extended leg. "No Rainbow, we do." Looking to the two listening princesses, she continued. "We can take the chip back to the Facility, leave, then we continue on to find whatever has caused this mass covering of snow."
Rainbow let her face warp into a expression of anger and compliance. Settling back into her sitting position, she grew quiet. Fluttershy remained quiet throughout this, knowing when she shouldn't question other people. The familiar face of a determined Twilight enforced those feelings, knowing there could be no way she could talk her out of it.
Celestia shambled forward. "Twilight, you know you don't have to do this. This isn't a mission that we've granted you."
Twilight shook her head. "No princess. I want to do this. To fix Equestria." She paused, giving the ponies in the room another sweeping glance. She sighed in exhaustion and continued.
"I don't know about you...but I'm tired of living underground. I want to see the sun again. I want to feel warm winds. Not the stale heating that the Facility provides. I don't care if I'm not being told to do this, I want to. I need to."
The ponies in the room all became silent from Twilight's speech. Her defiance against the forces that tried to stop her in her self proposed quest was shown on her face, willing any of those who oppose her to stand down.
"I'm in." Rainbow said behind Twilight. Turning around, the purple unicorn gave her friend a smile and nodded in recognition. Turning to Fluttershy, Twilight rose an eye brow to her timid friend.
"I...I suppose. If it means saving Equestria again, I'll join."
Twilight turned back to the princesses in front of her. Luna showing an expression of being impressed. Celestia sat up behind her sister and showed a proud smile at her former student.
Luna tilted her head in a pensive pose, humming. "Alright then." She said slowly, turning her head to look at Twilight. "You can sleep here for the night, and we'll construct another water chip for your facility. In the morning, we will send you back to Ponyville, but that's the most we can do."
Twilight nodded curtly in acknowledgement. Before turning away, Twilight made a Realization. "Oh, Princess?"
