Chapter 2
Twilight Sparkle had gotten up early and was already nose deep in a book. She’d received a letter late last night from Princess Celestia. Equestria was holding a conference for world leaders, as it did every year in Manehattan. However there had been an accident at Manehattan’s central train station, apparently a train car had come lose during the trip, taking the breaks with it.
Nopony had died, but there were some injuries, and about three thousand pounds worth damage to Central Station. The conference had been moved at the last minute and the foreign dignitaries would be marching through Ponyville tomorrow at midday.
Twilight sighed slightly; it was too bad that Vinyl Scratch had run off, she probably would have enjoyed the visitors. Twilight closed her book and looked around, she could hear Rainbow Dash upstairs, sleeping soundly in bed and had half a mind to go and join her. Twilight had gotten all the work that she needed done and was about to when she heard a knock at the door...
...
Pinkie Pie was in a full out panic as she ran through the streets of Ponyville. Memories of the old world coursing through her mind, Pinkie Pie had never been more scared in her entire life. She ran through Ponyville’s streets at high speed, looking for some place safe that she could go, but every building she looked at either had memories of being blood stained, or destroyed. Then she laid eyes upon the Library, Twilight! Of course, she remembered the old world too, she would help her!
Pinkie Pie rushed up to the door and began to bang on it repeatedly hoping and praying to Celestia that Twilight would answer.
It didn’t take long, but the door opened and Twilight was standing in the doorway. ‘Pinkie Pie? What are you doing?’ she asked.
Pinkie Pie couldn’t contain herself; she leapt at Twilight, throwing her legs around her in a hug. ‘Twilight!’ Pinkie Pie sobbed. ‘You have to help me!’
Twilight returned Pinkie Pie’s hug. ‘Pinkie Pie? What’s wrong?’ she asked.
Pinkie Pie looked at Twilight, tears were forming in her eyes. ‘I remember Twilight... I remember the old world’.
Twilight looked at Pinkie Pie in surprise, but nodded her head in understanding. She released Pinkie Pie and shut the Library door and ushered Pinkie Pie over to the sofa. Twilight sat down on it and Pinkie did too, she couldn’t contain herself and buried her head into Twilight’s shoulder and began to cry. Twilight took embraced her and ran her hooves through the pink pony’s mane, doing her best to comfort her.
Twilight didn’t know what to think of Pinkie Pie like this. It was so unlike her, Pinkie Pie always had a bright smile on her face. Seeing the bubbly, giggly pink party pony that she knew as such like this was hard to swallow. Pinkie Pie was in need, and Twilight needed to help her.
Pinkie Pie felt warm in Twilight’s embrace. She felt safe with Twilight, and the lavender unicorn stroking her mane felt good. Pinkie Pie had yet to notice that her mane had lost its shape. The thick curly mess that it usually was had deflated and gone completely straight, Pinkie Pie had been crying rather loudly, and had not taken notice of just how loud she was being for this early in the morning, Twilight hadn’t said anything about it, and she just let the pony cry into her shoulder, holding her close while she did, Pinkie Pie had found her port of call in the storm, she felt safe.
‘What is going on down here?’ Rainbow Dash said with a yawn as she trotted down the stairs, and discovered Twilight sitting with Pinkie Pie on the sofa. ‘Pinkie Pie?’ Rainbow Dash asked in confusion. ‘What’s wrong?’
Pinkie Pie looked up at Rainbow Dash and began to cry harder. Rainbow Dash was taken aback by this; she had only seen Pinkie Pie cry once before. Just after they defeated Nightmare Moon and her mood had turned around pretty much just after she had started crying. Rainbow Dash trotted over to the sofa and got up on it with Twilight and Pinkie Pie, and she too took Pinkie Pie in her forelegs. ‘Pinkie Pie? What’s wrong?’ Rainbow Dash asked again.
‘Dashie...’ Pinkie Pie managed through a sob. ‘You died... and I didn’t care’.
Rainbow Dash knew exactly what she meant. ‘Hey... Pinkie Pie... It’s okay, I’m alive now’.
‘Pinkie Pie, that wasn’t your fault!’ Twilight said reassuringly. ‘You were in Overdrive’s thrall, he manipulated you so that you wouldn’t care, and it’s not your fault!’
Pinkie Pie continued to sob, she looked up at Rainbow Dash and Twilight, and she had stopped sobbing long enough to speak. ‘I remember the bomb... it went off’, Pinkie Pie said with a sniffle. ‘I remember, looking back and seeing the bright flash of light... then nothing else... Twilight? What happened? Did we die?’
Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked at each other. They had asked themselves that question several times. They didn’t have an answer to that.
‘If we did die...’ Pinkie Pie said with a sniffle. ‘Then what’s all this?’
That was another thing that they didn’t have an answer too.
...
Vinyl Scratch stood on the hill overlooking Fillydelphia peering through a set of binoculars. She was looking towards the harbour and discovered that there were higher concentrations of foreign ships than usual, and these were military vessels there were a number of ships that were flying the Red Ensign of South Island, there were a few from Welara. One from Zhosa-Browa and a few others that Vinyl did not recognise.
Vinyl was not concerned by them, however, and she turned her attention towards the city centre, spotting a fountain in the central plaza and grinned widely.
She turned her head towards her companion and smiled. ‘Hey Surprise? You ready?’
The red eyed Pegasus nodded in affirmation.
‘Excellent!’ Vinyl said taking a look through her binoculars again. ‘Then Operation: SUPERBALL is a go!’
‘SUPERBALL?’ Surprise asked.
‘SUPERBALL’, Vinyl repeated with a grin. ‘Part two. Problem?’
‘Nope!’ Surprise said cheerfully.
Vinyl grinned. Of course, SUPERBALL part two had ended up being pretty much the same as the original. Run straight at the objective and hope for the best. It was the epitome of Vinyl Scratch plans, and they surprisingly worked ever so well.
Of course, it helped that the City Centre was deserted so that nopony was around to seeing what Vinyl and Surprise was doing. Everypony was away going to be watching the eventual parade. Vinyl Scratch had taken this into account. She knew what the ships in the harbour were all about. Everypony was going to be busy watching King George and Prime Minister Leonard Spencer of Welara, Governor-General Alfred Isaac and Prime Minister Ronald Pace from South Island, et cetra.
Vinyl Scratch found it mildly entertaining that such people that were above her were serving her purpose as a distraction. She and Surprise raced into the City Centre and skidded to a stop just a few metres short of the fountain. A giant iron statue of an earth pony mare spitting water from its mouth made up the centre of the fountain.
‘Hey Surprise? Guess what time it is?’ Vinyl said flashing a grin at her.
‘Time... to cause... property damage?!’ Surprise guessed grinning brightly at the thought.
‘You get far too excited when we do this’, Vinyl said returning the grin. ‘I can’t take you anywhere!’
Surprise stuck her tongue out at Vinyl in response. Vinyl chuckled and opened up her saddlebag, bringing out a comically large rock that she’d chipped out of this mysterious boulder that showed up in Ponyville one after noon, though nopony was able, or willing, to divulge how it had gotten there, she levitated it in the air with her magic and tossed it at the earth pony statue’s head.
Where there any around to watch it, they would have been surprised to have watched the statue’s head roll back, and then snap back forward, as if it were held on by a hinge. The fountain stopped spitting, and all the water began to drain out of the fountain entirely. Surprise and Vinyl Scratch looked into the fountain and watched as two concrete slabs began to open up, revealing a hidden staircase hidden. Vinyl vaulted over the into the fountain and trotted down the staircase, Surprise quickly followed, and not long afterwards the slabs slid shut behind them and they heard water filling the fountain up above them.
‘How did you know this was all down here?’ Surprise asked.
‘Emerald Sparkle’s book has notes written in the margins’, Vinyl said simply, she lit her horn for the light and the two of them continued to trot down the staircase, they reached the bottom and discovered an elevator door with the letters FDIW printed in white on them, somewhat similar to the letters printed on the gear shaped door to EPMB.
Vinyl Scratch mashed the elevator buttons with her hoof, causing them to slide open and revealing the elevator car. Vinyl Scratch and Surprise entered the car and pressed the button for the bottom level.
‘Once more unto the breach!’ Vinyl Scratch called enthusiastically as the doors shut and the two mares began their descent.