Canterlot, Equestria, Year 1954 After Warming
Stable Connection: False
Two ponies traversed down the magnificent hallway of the Royal Canterlot Palace, conversing as they did so. Behind the pair trailed a pair of guards, their faces retaining no trace of known emotions as they followed their charge stoically. It would’ve made a suspicious sight had one of the two ponies not been an Alicorn, and therefore a princess of Equestria.
“Rainbow, are you sure you want to do this?” asked Twilight. Rainbow Dash sighed in exasperation. Twilight might’ve admitted she was being overly concerned had her nerves not been fully occupying her mind. Wrapped in her purplish aura was a neat stack of notes, some of which had been flickering about occasionally before settling again.
“For the last time, Twilight, yes!” exclaimed Rainbow. Twilight looked at Rainbow Dash with an uncertain expression. The pair had to stop as they approached the outer foundations of the Canterlot Palace, where only those with the highest clearance were allowed to go. At the entrance of the classified sections, the normal Celestial guards swapped over with robe clad ponies.
This, of course, went unnoticed by Rainbow Dash, who had started hovering from equal doses of both irritation and excitement.
“I’m sorry, Dash. I guess I’m just not quite prepared for this. The test stage of Project Illuminus has been pushed forward, despite some missing details. The nobles aren’t making it easier, either,” huffed Twilight, her face souring at the last bit of her comment. Nobles weren’t her favourite kind of ponies before her coronation, but afterwards, they had been nothing but a pain in the back.
At least I can now see why Princess Celestia was so intent on crashing the Grand Galloping Gala all those years ago, thought Twilight with a small smirk on her face. She quickly wiped it off as she returned to the task at hand. They were approaching the research wing of the Palace now, as the presence of ponies in sterile, white lab coats now rivalled the number of guards stationed here.
Soon, the little group of ponies came across a peculiar structure that could only be described as a vault door. The dark shade of the vault, though still giving off a metallic shine, was quite in contrast with the white marble floor they traversed on. A trio of ponies were also posted there; two guards and a single technician that worked a control panel that was elevated from the ground next to the vault. A flashy sign overhead proudly read ‘Authorized Ponies Only’.
Twilight stopped just shy of directly in front of the vault and looked around. It wasn’t long before she found what she was looking for. Princess Luna strolled across the premises, ponies making way for her and the ponies behind the Princess. Twilight brightened even more when she spied the entourage was none other than their friends.
Princess Luna caught her eyes and silently gestured for them to go towards a secluded room of the wing. Twilight and Rainbow shared a grin with each other. It seems that Princess Luna had managed to obtain permission for their friends, not that there was any doubt of it happening.
“Well, shoot sugarcube. Ah thought we ain’t ever gonna find ya in all this mess.” Twilight gave a warm smile at the orange mare who was now leading the entourage. A pink pony behind her gasped sharply followed by several panicked cries that were uttered from a few scientists wandering the immense hallway.
“Don’t worry Applejack, Luna and I had decided to use a meeting room to brief you and the rest of our friends on what exactly we had been doing these past few weeks,” said Twilight. Several crashes from nearby made her wince internally.
“Phew, that’s gonna be a load of mah mind. Excuse me for saying so, Twi, but all the secrecy is starting to get ta me somethin’ fierce. Ah wouldn’t mind about some good ol’ honesty,” said Applejack, nodding her approval.
“Come on y’all, we better git while the gitting’s good,” hollered Applejack before going into the meeting room Twilight had gestured to her.
“Darling, must you always be crude?” asked Rarity as she daintily trotted into the room behind Applejack.
“At least ah’m not the one flirting constantly with the guard ponies,” rebuked Applejack from inside. Rarity immediately became flustered and gave the chuckling orange mare a silent glare.
"Well, I never," said Rarity with an indignant humph before turning and walking away, with Applejack following behind her, chuckling as she did so.
The last to go in was a giggling pair of ponies, one of which was Rainbow Dash and the other Pinkie Pie. It would have been nothing but innocent had Twilight not peered behind them to find a trail of destruction and confetti. Twilight gave an insufferable sigh and went into the room, though she was not quite able to completely hide the small smile gracing her muzzle.
***
“Project Illuminus.” As soon as the words left Twilight, a projector flickered on, presenting a three dimensional representation of a crystalline structure in the shape of a diamond. Numerous descriptions hovered over the projection, each stating a particular detail or status of the strange structure.
“Roughly a decade ago, a famous explorer and archaeologist, who wished to remain anonymous, found this artifact in a long abandoned temple of the Crystal Mountains. However, it was lost due to an unfortunate accident transporting the artifact. All of the cargo had been secured except for this one.
“Three years ago, the crystal had reappeared in Fillydelphia. The artifact had since been acquired and held at the research facilities of the Canterlot Palace.” The screen flickered to allow a picture of researchers handling the crystal. Twilight grinned excitedly before continuing.
“In a likely scenario, the crystal would have to be stored and tested for years before we can somehow use and harness it. However, in an accident, the scientists had discovered a strange property of the artifact.” Twilight paused as she looked over her friends. “What if, say, you can travel into a memory so detailed that it would be indistinguishable from reality? To see what it really was like centuries and even millenniums back in history?”
Several gasps were echoed across the room, and a tiny ‘oh goodness’ from Fluttershy. Only Luna remained relatively neutral though small signs of excitement had surfaced through her regal mask. Rainbow, on the other hoof, was fidgeting slightly, earning some curious looks from the rest of her friends.
“Darling, correct me if I’m wrong, but are you saying that a pony could go back to a recreation of history?” Twilight nodded eagerly. “Oh that would be wonderful! Imagine all the fashion designs that had faded into obscurity!”
“Ah’ll say, even if ah’m not an egghead like you but ah could see some mighty benefits of that fancy crystal yer got there. Maybe ah could even find out the origins of mah family!”
“Aye, the records before the time of Discord is all but non-existent, and my sister and I could only remember so much,” said Luna. “The following months were especially hectic, as my informants had found a clue of the disappearance of the artifact all those years ago. In the end, we – that is Twilight, the Canterlot Scientific Council and I – had come to an agreement that whatever project that concerns the artifact shall remain secretive. It is only at the urging of Princess Twilight and Rainbow that you are all hearing this right now.”
“Yes, it would be a shame for such a wondrous thing to be lost again,” said Rarity with Fluttershy silently agreeing with her.
“Quite. Project Illuminus could be beneficial to all of Equestria, as well as a boon to the relative scarcity of some of the older historical records.” The image flickered again, though this time instead of showing a picture, a small video was shown.
The video seems to be captured from the eyes of a pony, and as the view looked down a pair of cerulean came into view. The view looked up again and turned around. All around them was a small, but bustling village. A variety of unicorns passed around the pony dressed in glamorous looking robes, each minding their own business. A blink momentarily blocked the image before returning to normal.
After several more clips of the first pony view, Twilight finally ended the video and turned back to the gaping faces of her friends.
“What you have just seen is our expectation of the Illuminus. The goal of the project is to send a single pony’s conscience into the imprint of a particular pony’s memories in the past. The designated subject will see, hear and sense everything the ‘host’ can. While the pony remains inside the memory, everything will be life like, except for the fact that the things that happen in the memory couldn’t actually affect the pony’s physical body.”
“Ah see…” Applejack said, awe still evident in her before she frowned. “But ah don’t get what this has ta do with Rainbow.” Twilight smiled, shooting Rainbow Dash a look.
“You see, the reason is that out of all the possible candidates for the project, Rainbow scored the highest out of all of them. Which means…
“Rainbow Dash is the pony we’re sending into the memories. She is subject Alpha, the first ever pony to step into the horseshoes of ponies bygones long past. I originally was unsure for Dash to participate, but over the course of the training for the real ‘missions’, I am confident that she will do well.”
“Well, gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Twilight,” said Rainbow sarcastically as she fluttered over.
“Oh how wonderful, Rainbow! It sounds like something that you would really enjoy,” said Fluttershy in quiet voice though carrying compassion and excitement nonetheless.
“Yeah Dashie! It would be super duper awesome wouldn’t!” Before Rainbow could reply, Pinkie gasped loudly, her bubbly pink mane somehow more inflated than usual. “Think of all the new types of parties filled with new ponies! Think, Dash, think!”
“Alright, Pinkie, calm down. If I go to any parties I’ll be sure to tell you what it felt like. And by the way, everything I do is super awesome, no exception.” The cocky grin on Rainbow’s face made everypony roll their eyes except for Pinkie Pie, who was still gushing about parties and ponies.
Amidst all the congratulations and chatting, Applejack and Rarity cantered over, each wearing a sizeable grin, though outmatched by the slightly dazed smile that was smeared across Rainbow’s muzzle.
“Well, sugarcube, ah sure didn’t know you had it in ya. The way Twi had said it, it sure sounds mighty important,” said Applejack appraisingly, arching an eyebrow at Rainbow.
“Hmm, I agree, Applejack. This will be quite momentous for all of Equestria, and knowing you, I know you won’t disappoint.” Rarity flashed a quick smile before clicking her tongue. “By the way, Twilight never mentioned whose memory you would be visiting Darling”
“Oh, yeah, that,” said Twilight as she cantered over. “I think Dash and I will save it as a surprise. We will be able to see and hear everything Rainbow would be seeing after all.” Twilight gave a wink and cantered off again to join with Luna.
***
“Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash, slowly and purposefully.
“Just a minute,” Twilight replied casually, ignoring the glare from the cyan pegasi. Rainbow Dash was currently bound inside a contraption made of metal restraints, wires and flashing lights. Rainbow Dash groaned as Twilight ticked off another item off of her checklist.
“Come on, Twilight. I’ve been inside this thing for hours,” whined Rainbow.
“It’s been ten minutes, Dash,” muttered Twilight, and then in a louder voice, “and all your whining isn’t helping one bit!” A moment passed, and another before Rainbow let out another groan.
“It doesn’t normally even take this long during the practice runs,” muttered Rainbow, inspecting the space around her. The room they currently resided was in the shape of a semi-dome with glass panels intersecting every few meters. On the other side of the panels were their friends were waiting, each looked both excited and nervous. She flashed them a winning smile, having practiced this many times before.
“This is completely different from a practice run,” said Twilight, drawing Rainbow Dash’s attention back to her. “Everything needs to be just right in order for this experiment to be running smoothly. Also, I have to monitor your adrenaline levels just in case you thrash out from overdose.”
“Sure, whatever. Just hurry up… please?”
“There, done!” said Twilight after a moment as she panted slightly. It was less physical than mental exertion. Her brain was so hardwired to use magic it was hard to do these things with only her hooves. Looking over it one last time, Twilight pressed a blue button on the monitor machine. The side lights started flashing as distant sounds were voiced beyond the soundproof glasses. Rainbow Dash sighed in relief, fluttering her irritated wings.
Meanwhile, Twilight trotted around the monitor and support machines, she wedged her hoof delicately between devices, tweaking components and switches clumsily, though still remaining aware of the valves and controls nearby. All of the controls eventually rendezvoused back to an irregular alabaster machine. Twilight sighed as she turned around to face Rainbow again.
“Right, Dash. Due to the fact that this is the first official test run of Project Illuminus, I need to make some safety disclaimers.” Twilight had managed to look a little guilty before retaining a neutral outlook.
“Before I begin though, I would like you to meet Professor Ley, expert on Temporal Displacement Arcane theory and Professor Aurora, our leading Historical expert,” introduced Twilight as the hatch shaped door behind them snapped open to admit two ponies. Rainbow looked at them blankly before giving a nervous smile. This wasn’t part of the plan, she thought.
Twilight gave Rainbow an apologetic look before announcing the disclaimers in a monotone voice. After dozens of times hearing it, Rainbow nodded when the disclaimers required her to but otherwise remaining unfocused. During the duration of her announcement, Rainbow took the opportunity to stew in her own thoughts.
“Lastly, as per any projects, outside magical interference will be cleansed from the quarantined section. This will mainly apply to unicorns, though Earth pony and pegasi magic are not recommended to be used for the duration of the experiment. Project Illuminus will commence now”
Their objective given, the two professors went to work as Rainbow carefully laid on top of the bizarre machine to which the controls were connected to. The machine was of a strange alabaster colour, reminding her of Celestia in some ways. She yelped as the machine molded into the shape of her body. Twilight delicately maneuvered several plugged wires across Rainbow as well as a flashing head set.
“Alright we’re powering up the Reality Augmentation Device now,” said Twilight as Rainbow fidgeted in the little grove. “The R.A.D will be your ‘life support’ during the test, Dash. On top of stimulating your brain, it also provides a link for the professors and I to communicate with you. If you feel at all uncomfortable, you will send off an erratic signal which the professors and I can detect so we can either stop the memory or pull you out completely.”
“Wait, can you talk to me during the simulating something or else?” This was something she was not informed of.
“It’s simulation, Dash. Yes, well sort of, I guess. Most memory sequences don’t allow for any type of conversations though. There might be intervals between memories but besides that, there’s nothing we can really do except to cut the memory short.” Twilight shifted the last linking devices into place.
“Princess Twilight? We’re ready for initiation.” Twilight gave a brief nod before patting lightly on Rainbow’s shoulders. Despite the competitive mare’s façade, she was more than a little anxious. The machine started to whirl as the components of the strange machine flickered on. The screen on the headset flashed alive, displaying lines of codes and figures.
“Rainbow… I want to say thank you,” said Twilight.
“Why? What did I do? Besides being awesome of course.” Twilight chuckled and shook her head slightly.
“No, I mean all this. You agreed to be part of this project when no one else volunteered and you stuck with it. I… thank you Dash, for bearing with me despite how hard it has all been.” Rainbow hummed in thought for a moment before flashing Twilight the biggest smile she could manage.
“You’re welcome, Twilight. Now, are we going to do this or what?” Twilight smiled gratefully before giving the two professors a small nod. With a simple flick of a switch, the machine hummed to life, colours and glyphs appearing across the machine, swirling together until an uniformed beam of rainbow is shot out.
“Alright everypony, launching R.A.D in Three… Two… One…”
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes as time seemed to slow down around her. The seconds drag on for two long. Along with it, there was a strange pulling feeling around her body. She tried to frown at the sensation but couldn’t find the power to move her facial muscles.
“Twi–” Before she could finish, there was a flash of bright, undiluted light, blinding her senses until they all seem to blur into one singularity. For in that moment, Rainbow Dash was no longer in her body.