Sunset was completely clueless about hydrogen fuel cells, but she assumed it was somewhat comparable to the hybrid vehicles that she had started to see in her final years in the mirror world. If this vehicle used petrol, she likely wouldn't be able to sit back here in the bed of the Scouticus Maximus leaning against the barrels without choking on gasoline vapors as the truck headed north over arctic tundra. Sunny advised her to take in the relaxing scenery while she could, before the frigid cold forced her inside for the final quarter of the journey.
Aside from magic-fueled teleporting and the zeppelin-powered military airships, Sunset remembered the quickest way to get around Equestria was the national rail network. According to what Sunny had told her, the tracks had long since rotted away or had been long-buried by generations' worth of vegetation. The separate tribes were still working on connecting their cities and towns with simple roads, and were still relying on physical maps until Zephyr Heights installed signal towers in between locales, the previous six months having been getting better signal strength in Bridlewood and Maretime Bay. It made Sunset wonder what had happened to Equestria's other metropolises, such as Las Pegasus and Manehattan. Had they survived? Been razed or abandoned in whatever unrest had befallen Equestria's citizens? Or were they just as isolated as Bridlewood, Maretime Bay, and Zephyr Heights had been, and just weren't aware of each other yet?
The vehicle's passenger cabin wasn't as crowded this time, either. This trip, it was Sunny, Sprout, Zipp, Pipp, and herself, with Izzy currently tending to matters in Bridlewood and Hitch handling his office in Maretime Bay, in addition to caring for Ray. The current plan was to spend two to three days sorting, packing, and loading artifacts into the trailer they were pulling, and then she would disembark at the halfway point home, to head towards Bridlewood to spend some time with Izzy and the other unicorns.
The only part of the Crystal Empire she had seen was the interior of the castle when she stealthily approached Twilight's guest room all those years ago. If it weren't for the pictures Pipp had taken, she couldn't imagine an entire city buried in ice and snow. But in just about a day's time, she would see it for herself.
The food they had packed obviously wasn't up to par to the dishes she had eaten at Maretime Bay's and Zephyr Heights' restaurants and castle, but they certainly sufficed for a trip such as this. Finishing the granola bar that she had started a few minutes ago, she got up as she felt a brisk breeze blow her mane from overhead, and figured that the mild temperatures would soon be behind them along with the arctic tundra. Getting to her hooves, she climbed over to the top hatch, opened it, and slid down the ladder, depositing the granola bar wrapper into the trash can in the corner.
Sprout was driving, and Sunny was in the passenger seat reading 'The History of Magic', one of the first and few ancient books that were in good enough condition that CanterLogic was able to reprint them. The earth pony wasn't able to hide her disappointment, but she took Sunset's suggestion and left the Class V spell tomes right where they were in what used to be Canterlot Library's restricted section. Sunset figured after spending some time in Bridlewood with Izzy, she could finally earn some bits at CanterLogic by helping Sunny go through what was undoubtedly going to be a few metric tons of books that they were going to pull out of the Crystal Empire's library. The trailer Sprout had built was climate controlled all the way down to zero degrees, so they would be able to keep them in their frozen or near-frozen state for the journey back south, which the earth stallion warned may take a bit longer with the added weight.
There wasn't enough time to get fitted for cold weather gear of her own, but without Izzy on this trip, she was a close enough fit. Pipp was currently playing an offline game on her phone, since they had lost all phone signals a day and a half ago.
"Hey there, Sunny," Sunset checked in, coming up to the passenger seat, holding herself upright by grabbing one of the straps bolted to the ceiling in between the driver and passenger seats. "How's the book?"
Sunny glanced at her with a look of... Disappointment?
"I'm just... Thinking about something I said back when I was almost a foal. Playing with my dolls with Hitch and Sprout, I was quite adamant when I said that ponies never used their magic against each other. That... Couldn't have been farther from the truth. The more I discover about Equestrian history, the more I realize that magic was almost always involved in every single conflict. Nightmare Moon, Trixie Lulamoon, Queen Chrysalis, Starlight Glimmer, Tempest Shadow... All of them wielded powerful magic of one kind or another. It's... Not quite the picture my dad painted for me when I was younger."
Sunset smiled down at her as she turned to the next page.
"I can see why your dad would teach somepony so young history with a bit of rose-tinted glasses. Yeah, magic, or magical artifacts, were frequently the source of conflict throughout Equestrian history. But don't let that discourage you. Whenever nefarious ponies threatened us, heroes rose up to face them; I should know, I have firsthoof experience with that, on both sides. And it should also be noted that more than half of the names you just mentioned eventually found the light. Trixie became the counselor for Twilight's school, Starlight became the new headmare, and Tempest, or Fizzlepop Berrytwist, her given name, became the captain of her royal guard. My point is, history is almost always more complicated than books give it credit for, Sunny."
Sunny looked up at her, and nodded with a light smile.
"Thanks, Sunset. I'll try and remember that."
That's also a huge question what happened to the other major cities
Aww, that was sweet of Sunset, giving Sunny a better view of the history she's only just learning. I hope the Crystal Empire does not disappoint in resources for their studies
great chapter
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Not likely something I'm going to explore yet. This is the last story I'm going to make before adjusting to new canon (ZH not being Canterlot, the Crystal Brighthouse, etc).
Yeah there are ponies and creatures will misuse those magic for there evil Deeds and it usually happens
Well it looks like sunset sunny sprout zipp and pipp are on the way to the Crystal Empire to get some of the books and it looks like Sunny is reading some of the history of the Equestria and yeah unfortunately there will always be dark past about it but sometimes we learn from mistakes even the villains who really wanted to redeem them self learn and everything and I was really glad for that so I wonder what else are they going to find in the Crystal Empire I guess we'll find out next time
Wait, so they have internet and smartphone but no train or major transportation system?
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Until canon continues to develop, yeah. Maretime Bay and Zephyr Heights seemed considerably modern, but isolated. Bridlewood was less modern, save for things like the microphone and the dancing game, but still just as isolated.
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Agree, from human society perspective such picture makes no sense.
An alien mind cannot accept the Emperor's blessing. Or we simply don't know enough as you said.
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Major cities => high population => high food consumption
No pony magic => agriculture collapse=> famine=> probably epidemia and resource wars(less probable)
And let's not forget the flip-side of that: the glaring character defects of the heroes. Rainbow Dash had an inferiority-superiority complex, Fluttershy had a hard time speaking up for herself, Pinkie Pie took a long time growing up, Applejack was too stubborn, Rarity was way too theatrical and sometimes, Twilight was so smart, it made her kind of dumb.
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I haven't seen any of the Mark Your Mark stuff besides a trailer; does it actually confirm that Zephyr Heights is not Canterlot? Because it's a good theory.
I kind of wonder if we will see the Villain Trio soon with what else happen to the rest of Equestria?
Absolutely a wonderful story. Looking forward to reading more. Keep up the great work.
Let's see,
Manehatten - island, magic supported bridges and boats, should be evacuated before total magic failure, otherwise Darwin after the last boats (sails) leave and the bridges can't take pony weights,
Canterlot - Mountaintop, bridges and major structural supports, should be able to support pony weights for evacuations though bridges closer to the city may take damage as the buildings start fall ing down on top of them or their support elements
Cloudsdale / Los Pegasus - Cloud cities that will (hopefully) just settle rather than fall and return to being vapor (course the pegasi might fall through first as they can't manipulate the hydrogen bonds/Van der Waal forces to stay on topo of the cloud construction).
Appleloossa - great plains/desert edge, depends on local water source but without earth pony supplements, no bumper crops and reduced yields from the Apple orchards and cherry farm (reduced Buffalo interaction?)
Heyseed Swamp - less disruption but lower crop yields with lost of earth pony assistance
Vanhoover - Pacific Northwest rainfall (weather team/earth pony), might survive in lower conditions
VERY good job on this latest chapter. Definitely liked the work that went into the exchange, characterizations and future chapter set-up. Certainly appreciated Sunset's reflection on the technological advancements that took place over the centuries (such as hydrogen fuel cells) as well looking forward to her first proper visit to the remains of the Crystal Empire. Also kind of liked Sunset reassuring Sunny that, yeah, while there WERE times that ponies used magic against each other, those times were outnumbered by ponies using their magic responsibly. So, mixed bag, but more good than bad.
VERY much looking forward to more of this.
Did you mean, "ladder,” and “wrapper?”
Your question is as good as ours Sunset.
Sometimes the truth can hurt.
Yep.
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That's what I like to call "writing at 1am"
Fixed!
Sunny is learning that magic is a more neutral force, it's morality dependant on the user.
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She's also learning that the world wasn't all sunshine and rainbows before her time...
Yeah, not realizing that magic can be dangerous and used for nefarious purposes seems to be a constant flaw of Sunny's.
MyM ch.2 spoilers:
Her full gung ho attitude towards Earth Pony Magic and face value acceptance of Opaline's Mirror Alicorn Sunny deception are two prime examples.