//------------------------------// // 2 - Foal Steps // Story: Catalyst // by Meep the Changeling //------------------------------// Canterlot Palace - Equestria 2nd of Plantation, 17 EoH One of Princess Celestia’s greatest joys was her study’s bay window. The view the window had once provided had lost much of its splendor. The once gleaming spires which made up the Canterlot skyline were blackened, cracked, crumbling, or absent altogether. All signs of the thriving society of peaceful people snuffed out by the short yet brutal war. Yet beyond the ruined towers, past the streets and alleyways which echoed with the sound of construction crews clearing rubble and getting ready to begin the restoration, the window still showed that same wonderful patch of purple mountains, rolling emerald hills, and bright blue sky. The city had been effectively destroyed, but the nation remained. Canterlot and Ponyville had been a shield for the nation, a shield which cracked, crumbled, and bent, but in the end had held. A shield which could now be given to an armorer to repair. That’s how Celestia had come to see the damage her nation had endured in the last four days. Those four exceptionally busy days. The Princess’s study was a mess, even when one discounted in the damage the palace itself had sustained. Crude construction charms had been used to stick debris together to form a desk, many, many different boxes, and loose scrolls lay in piles everywhere a free spot had been. Frankly, the clean up efforts were causing more chaos than the war itself had. Though in truth, Celestia was thankful for that. Their enemy's incomprehensible hatred of Twilight had kept the war short, too short to do much more than bloody the nation's nose and chip a tooth. Unfortunately, a monarch can not host foreign diplomats in a burnt room featuring a ‘lovely’ wall sized opening which ‘allowed for the best possible viewpoint to gaze out upon Equestria’s beauty’. More unfortunately, anyone who assumed setting up a temporary capitol was as simple as moving a throne, putting up some fancy decorations, and stationing some guards was an absolute fool. It would be at least a month before Equestria could resume diplomatic operations and basic governmental functions. Which meant in the meantime, the only way to maintain law and order was to keep the country under martial law. Which nopony was happy with, including the Guard themselves. That meant Celestia had to keep the public happy on top of relocating the capitol, dealing with cleanup efforts, sourcing funds for the rebuilding efforts, dealing with the dozens upon dozens of nobles who were butthurt over their lost property, dealing with petitions from hundreds of businesses who wanted to know what the Crown would be doing to help with lost revenue due to the attack, and of course, all of her own personal issues the war had caused. And all of that rode atop a flimsy raft across the deeply boring ocean of daily governance. The tedious work no one ever cared to think about if they were even aware that somepony had to do it if anyone wanted the nation to work at all from day to day. Sometimes, Celestia wanted to slap retail clerks who complained about their workloads. Though the alicorn always felt bad about those feelings immediately afterward. If only she could draft laws to reduce her own workload too. At the moment, Celestia was hunched over her rubble-desk, busily drafting a speech intended to help sooth the nation’s collective fears about the military rule remaining permanent. Admittedly, Celestia knew her ponies would be understanding, but that wasn’t enough. No they needed to be comforted too and also made to understand the situation. Not a one was to be left out of the loop. One charismatic pony misinterpreting the current politics could prove disastrous… A series of three sharp knocks on the crumbling, doorless door frame drew Celestia's eyes away from her parchment. Her sister, Luna, stood in the doorway still looking rather sleep deprived from her ordeal over the past week, but much better than she had been even just the previous day. At least her mane was no longer suffering from a case of the ‘droopy floops’, as Pinkie had put it. “Sister?” Luna asked, just to be certain she had Celestia’s attention. “I have some good news. The Trottingham Mage’s Library has managed to get a proper team and equipment together to perform a full environmental assessment on the Ponyville area. I was told that for the full details, we will need to wait a month, but our first rough estimate on what if any work will be needed to make the land habitable should be ready by tomorrow night.” “That’s good,” Celestia said with a little smile as she stretched her wings, the joints popping quietly. “Though with so many things brought in from Tartarus, as well as whatever residual magics came back from the Dream Realm with Ponyville’s citizens, I think we both know that cleanup could very well take years.” Luna nodded once. “Yes. But nothing should be beyond repair. I’m fairly certain that nothing critically dangerous came back from the Realm of Dreams with us. We would know by now. After all, what are nightmares if not dramatic?” She asked, slowly shaking her head with a grim smile on her lips. Celestia nodded in agreement. “Very true… How are the Ponyvillians doing?” She asked. “I haven't received a proper reply from Captain Skriit yet.” Luna yawned cutely. “Sorry… I’ve only been awake for an hour,” she admitted with a smile. “There’s some chaos at the Emerald’s Hive right now. While we were attacked, a group of cultists who had infiltrated their hive caused all kinds of chaos. Honestly, it’s the only smart move that Dawn made, from what I can see. “But um, he’s being very supportive. Everypony has an assigned cabin on the new deck. They are all getting furnished today, and food has been provided. Everypony I’ve talked too is fine staying there as refugees until the town can be rebuilt. Ponyvillians are not your typical Equestrian, sister. They are too jaded to be fazed much by the loss of their town. “After all this is… What? The tenth time in the last two decades the town’s been extensively damaged?” Celestia opened her mouth to object, and say something about the general pony’s psyche, but swiftly closed it upon remembering that every mare, colt, filly, and stallion living in Ponyville had this exact thing happened with Tirek less than a decade ago. “Um, well, I suppose it’s good they are alright at the moment,” Celestia decided. Luna nodded. “Mhm, we’ll be fine, honestly it’s the rest of Equestria that’s the most problematic. But there’s little we can do but wait for the bureaucracy train to leave the station,” the princess of the night grumbled. Her ears parked suddenly, as if remembering something important. “Oh yeah!” Luna exclaimed. “Speaking of the citizen’s moral, we’ve got a few designs submitted for war memorials. I’ve left them with Risky Weld.” “Who?” Celestia asked with a confused frown. “A young unicorn blacksmith who volunteered to help with repairing the palace,” Luna informed. “He seemed rather skilled, so I decided to let him be in charge of sculpture restoration. No one else was stepping up to the task. He’s set up a small field forge in the gardens, I’m certain he’d be happy to show you his plans. He’s eager to please. I think he’s gunning for a permanent position… And if he can do a good job here, I’d say he’s earned it.” Celestia nodded in agreement. “At least this whole affair has created opportunities for a good deal of ponies,” she said with a smile. “Maybe we can have a mini post war economic miracle to go with our mini war.” “Maybe,” Luna laughed, shaking her head slowly. “Though I doubt we’ll see too much- Oh, yeah. Before we get too far off topic form memorials, a group of ponies downstairs petitioned me for permission to gain access to the Royal Military Records so they could make an accurate statue of Flash Sentry.” Celestia blinked in surprise. “Why?” She asked, genuinely confused. “I mean, he most certainly deserves a place with everypony else to fall in the line of duty, but is there something exceptionally heroic he did of which I am unaware? I’d like that… I’d hate his death to have been meaningless. He was a good soldier.” Luna shook her head. “It’s not about the war,” she corrected, yawning again. “Excuse me… I need coffee, badly. Um, the statue, it’s because of something in Flash’s will. Were you aware of his condition?” Celestia shook her head once more, remaining silent so her sister could continue. “Well, he was terminally ill,” Luna resumed. “I’m not certain with what condition, they didn’t say, and I can’t remember myself. But I assume it wasn’t treatable. After all, Twilight didn’t fix it. The important thing here is that Flash knew he didn’t have much time left so he had spent the last few years getting his affairs in order. “This included taking out a rather robust life insurance policy, and setting up an interesting little legal document where his retirement account, life insurance, and widow’s fund all go to a foal’s hospital in Manehattan. The statue is being requested by a group of doctors who work there, they want to put it at the entrance to the intensive care wing Flash funded post mortem.” Celestia’s ears perked. “Oh! Yes, absolutely. Give them access if you haven’t already… Why didn’t he tell me? I’d have helped… No matter. What’s done is done. That statute is to go up as soon as possible.” Luna smiled. “I did. And I made certain that six Guardsponies escorted them. Just to be certain no shenanigans occur,” she informed before turning to walk away in search of coffee which the alicorn knew had to be hidden within the palace’s rubble somewhere. “Twilight would like that…” Celestia mused quietly, turning to look out of her study’s currently glass-free window. Luna paused mid-step turning back around to face her sister. “I- I’m certain she would,” Luna agreed. “Has there been any news about a possible rescue plan yet?” Celestia asked hopefully, continuing to look out her window. Luna shook her head slowly. “No… The Royal Academy hasn’t been able to identify the spell used on the trapped book yet. It will take more than four days, sister. Give them time,” Luna soothed, trotting across the room to wrap one foreleg around Celestia in a tight hug. “I miss her too.” Celesta leaned into Luna’s hug gently, a sad whimper escaping her for an instant. “I… I know,” she said quietly. Luna waited a few more moments then let go. “I’m going to find coffee, want me to bring you some?” She asked politely. “Yes, please. Or tea if you find some of that instead,” Celestia asked before her ears perked, a realization dawning upon her. “Luna! You’re best friends with Sky, and I know for a fact it was his device which let the other world’s Lyra and Fluttershy visit our universe. He can make portal devices! “How hard will it be to get him to help locate Twilight?” Luna blinked, then laughed, shaking her head. “Tia, who is he married too?” She asked. “Pinkie Pie,” Celestia replied immediately. “Mhm,” Luna agreed, waving one hoof to promote her sister on. “Oh! Oh yes, he’s already working on it, isn’t he?” Celestia asked, blushing lightly. “I’m sorry, I’m just a bit flustered…” “He isn’t yet, getting everypony from Ponyville settled in is taking up his time right now, and he’s also gearing his company up for helping with rebuilding efforts once the legal paperwork is all taken care of,” Luna informed. “But he will. He considers Twilight to be a friend of his. He’s even pestered his sister into agreeing to help instead of working on fixing up Righteous hull, and Ayna’s sort of famous for her work with portals herself. “We’ll have everything back to normal one day, Tia. It’s just going to take some time. So keep your horn up, alright?” “I’ll try. After all, I have to keep a confident face on for the nation,” Celestia murmured. “Do you not think we’ll be able to rebuild from this?” Luna asked, raising an eyebrow. “Come on, this is nothing!” “No, no, it’s not that. I- I just feel like I failed my nation and my student… That’s all,” she sighed. “But that’s a personal problem, and I will deal with it personally. You know what, Luna? I think I’ll go help you find coffee.” “I’d like that. There’s a LOT of places to rummage through,” Luna said gratefully. Celestia took one last look out of her window, wishing deeply for any sign Twilight was alright before she turned around and left the room, her sister at her side. Nyota Komeo - Day 115,340 Dragon’s Cairn - Ragnarok It had been a long time since I did any work in simple plate armor with only primitive gear to my name. I’d missed it a little bit. The added challenge of laying atop this hill with only the painted colors on some steel, tall grass, and a bush to protect me from the dinos and barbarians while I ran this scouting detail made it a bit more fun. It was good to have fun. Especially when you were the oldest person here. Not counting ‘Camouflage’, who had been here before there was a here, obviously. That’s why Drake and his Dragonslayers had recruited me in the first place. Shear experience at running alone. Not the best idea. A really stupid one, as a matter of fact. But before Drake and his wannabe knights had come calling, no one I’d met had been trustworthy. Heck, Drake was trustworthy enough for me to join him on this plan to move from the Island to Ragnarok. I wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of the decision to move our tribe. Sure, getting to the brand new ARK as part of the first wave ment we would be able to carve out some prime real estate and finally get a proper communal base of operations set up. Most of the Alpha Tribes would be coming here too, trying for the same thing. You combine a lot of the tougher barbarians with not having a proper shelter set up and you’re in for a hard time. But the worst thing was not knowing the lay of the land. After all, I had a pact to keep. The blue one has nice talons, Razor hissed snapping me out of my thoughts. Not with actual words. My talent just gave words to the sounds she could make which were appropriate for her thoughts. Blue one? Which was that? I squinted through my spyglass, scrawling slightly higher up the crest of the hill, looking down at the grassland below. It took a little searching, but I finally managed to spot the raptor she was talking about. A smaller male, blue scales, rusty red plumes. Trying and failing to kill a dodo. “That idiot can’t even catch a dodo ‘an you think he’s earned a piece of yer tail, lass?” I asked incredulously, scoffing for good measure. He’s blue. I like blue, she countered, lashing her tail irritably. I thought she liked yellow... “Come on, ye can’t just go after anything blue! Ye want the toughest pack, right?” I sighed, putting down my spyglass to give my friend a proper wingman’s disapproving frown. The things you agree to do for your partner in exchange for their services… Still, promising an alpha female a safe breeding ground in exchange for her services as a companion was not a bad deal. Except for having all my friends think I was insane for talking to her like a person. It’s not my fault they didn’t have a Talent in animal empathy… And to be fair, Razor was definitely person smart. Stick those together, and we could hold real conversations. Razor snorted, flicking her adorable little raptor tongue. I want this talons on my legs for my hatchlings, she explained with a huffing chitter. They are better. “Aye, he’s got some pretty good talons, but genetics aren't toy blocks. Ye’d have to raise dozens ‘o different hatchlings before you found one with the traits you wanted,” I explained for the twelfth time. Then the beta male will be happy for many months, Razor growled. Catch him! I shook my head, giving her a stern look. “Not until ye tell me what you plan on doing with the hundred or so kids ye’ll hatch afore ye get one ye want,” I said as firmly as I could. She was going to say eat them… Your pack can have the runts, Razor chuffed. Oh hey! A pleasant surprise, that. “Alright,” I decided. “But ye won't be mad if Drake decides they don’t want any, right?” No, she answered just before suddenly hopping up to her talons with a low hiss. Man-bush is here! “I still don’t know how you tamed that Alpha,” Camoflauge said from behind me. “That’s not supposed to be possible…” I sat up and turned around to greet my old friend with a smile, my flak armor creaking as the dull olive painted plates scraped against one another. It was time to oil this set again… On the bright side, I was always happy to see my human friend in his ‘magic’ always exactly right for the given terrain ghillie suit. The outfit had been perfectly configured to hide him in this bushy grassland despite the only way he could have come from was the thin ebony tree jungle just thirty meters behind him. The things I could do if I could get that engram from him... “Hey, ‘Camouflage’,” I greeted. “Or have you changed aliases again?” “Nah, it’s still Camo,” he said with a shake of his head, wearily eyeing Razor’s pitch tinged mulberry scales. “Seriously, how did you glitch that? Certain people might get in trouble over it one day.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s no glitch. We had a fist fight untill she and I reached an understanding. She’s sapient. My talent bridges the language barrier. We’re friends now. Ye made the Alphas a wee bit too smart.” “I didn’t make anything!” Camouflage protested immediately. I rolled my eyes. Razor rolled her eyes. “Come on, mate…” I sighed. “I figured it out years ago.” Silly man-bush, Razor snickered, flicking her tail up in amusement. “I have no idea what you're talking about,” he protested taking a moment to look around behind Razor and I to keep a lookout for danger. “Sorry for interrupting your hunt.” You should be, Razor grumbled, giving Camo her best blue balled raptor glare. Camo’s mask twisted as he frowned behind it, taking a worried half step back. I couldn’t help but crack a smile. While she’d never be able to vocalize any human language, she’d learned what words meant over the last year. But more than that, she knew that Camo coming out to talk to us in the middle of the field instead of when we were at camp ment he had a thing for us to do. Which meant no mounting the tied down male of her choice tonight. Upside, I didn’t have to listen to that for the whole damn night. Sweet! “What ye need, mate?” I asked while crossing my arms over my chest, deciding to just cut to the chase. “She’s not going to try and eat me, is she?” Camo asked uneasily. “Well, ye’ve stopped us from grabbing her a boy toy. So she might want to. But we both know that she can’t actually hurt ye,” I chuckled rolling my eyes and hoping he could see the gesture behind my helmet. “Doesn't mean it wouldn’t be painful,” Camo grumbled before shaking his head slowly and looking me in the eyes as seriously as he could. “Another of your people arrived today.” My eyes widened, now THAT was news. News I was glad to hear, mind you. “More from that parallel where we’re quadrupeds, or from my own home?” I asked eagerly, a smile parting my lips. “She was a quadruped,” Camo sighed regretfully slumping his shoulders. “The directors decided that she had to be a biped… I’ve got a good tip that your original genome was finally recovered and patched up yesterday, guess what was used as a template to get the new mare a pair of lungs that work here?” I frowned slightly. “That’s got to be a problem for the poor lass…” I said looking down slightly. It had taken me more time than even I believed to become comfortable in this stupid furless body. It wasn’t even the right sex at first… I didn’t understand that… Razor hissed, tilting her head slightly. “‘E said they used my DNA to make a person look like I used to,” I explained to her. “Wait a minute… Does that mean she’s rocking my old body!? That would be really unfair! I’ve waited Gods know how many years to-” Camo held up his hands defensively. “Woah! Easy, girl! No, not at all. I helped the newbie out with getting away from Charlie’s Boys minutes ago. She’s her own person. Looks preserved from old form to new, just mapped out onto a humanoid body like your old one. They used it to make a template. We could make any number of unique pony-folk bodies if, well, that was permitted… “As for you, from what intel I could gather, next time you move between ARKs or die, you’ll get your fur back. I’d love to see how you really look.” I would love to be a zebra again too! But he’d said ‘move between ARKs’. Which meant one thing. I sighed. “Oh fer bucks sake! Ye want me to go show her the ropes…” He nodded, scratching the back of his head in confusion. “I- I thought you’d love the chance to talk to one of your own kind again, seeing as how you haven’t been able to track down Starswirl or Clover the whole time they’ve been here,” he stammered, genuinely confused. I shook my head. “Oh, no that’s not the problem, mate!” I corrected with an upset laugh. “Do ye have any idea how hard it is to get yerself established in one of these things? Drake moved us all out here for a reason ‘an I have a job to do. “A promise is a promise, and an oath is an oath. I said I’d scout for places we can put the guild hall. I have to do that. I can’t go to the Island and train a mare who's probably never gone into the woods without a backpack full ‘o modern goodies before to survive here on her own.” Camo smiled, chuckling slowly. “I never said I wouldn’t help you in return,” he said with a wink. “There’s not just something here for you, but for your whole tribe. From what I hear, the new mare’s as arcane adept as Starswirl is.” “Wot?” I asked, my accent thickening as his statement took me by surprise. “She’s a wizard. Once she works out how to cast her spells despite the dampening field, she’ll be a massive asset to anyone who has her on their side,” Camo said unnecessarily. “I figure if you two get along then you’ll finally be able to make some real positive change happen. Maybe even get a truce going between us humans and Star’s beast-folk. Come on, don’t you guys love making friends?” The way Camo had said ‘come on’ hit me deep in my core. He really wanted to help out the poor mare. Of course he couldn’t do it himself. Not with his job being what it was. I was his only shot… But I promised my Tribe mates I’d scout the southern plains for base locations! I can’t break a promise. That job had to get done first. “We do,” I agreed with a nod. “And I actually, really want to talk to another Equestrian again, mate! But I have to get this job done. And even if I could leave right now, the nearest Obelisk that isn’t Green is about three days ride away. We’re looking at a week at best before I can get free of my duties.” “That’s where you're wrong,” Camo countered, holding up one finger to kinda point at me. “Because I can provide you with an excellent base location here, and you helping Twilight out has a high chance of helping your whole tribe later if she chooses to join or ally with you. “And even if she doesn't, can you really pass up the opportunity to talk to a member of your own culture after what… Three centuries of subjective time in here? I’m sure that if you call them up and say ‘Hey, another of my species who's a wizard arrived and I want to make friends with her’, they’ll understand.” Twilight, eh? I raised an eyebrow curiously, but also shuffled my left foot anxiously. Nah, Twilight’s a common enough Equestrian name. Especially after Princess Twilight became a thing that existed. And with how I wound up here, nothing said that this couldn’t be a mare from several centuries after I was born. Heck, Clover was apparently from a thousand years before I was born! Portals can be pretty weird. You should add her to your pack. I’d like to talk to more people, Razor urged with a soft growl. “She may not have a similar talent to mine, Razor,” I warned. “But fine… If ye’ll give us a good base location, an’ Drake is alright with me training a newbie who is under no obligation tae join us later, instead of helping build the new base, I’ll go right now. Otherwise, this has to wait a week at least.” I reached down to my belt and unhooked the extra boxy, brick-like radio from my belt and brought it up to my ear, pressing the button. “Nyota to Dragonslayers, anyone read? Over,” I asked, letting go of the button. I spent a few minutes listening to the breeze rustle the waist high stalks of grass in the nearby field before the radio crackled. “Did someone just call in? Over,” Drake’s deep rumbly voice asked. Oh thank the Gods! He was back at camp working the base station. Drake NEVER answered his handset in the field. “Drake, it’s Nyota,” I reported. “My stealthy friend just let me know about a newcomer that I really have to meet. Cuz she’s one of my people. Over.” Drake remained quiet for a moment, the radio clicking to life again halfway through his sigh. “Did you finish scouting? Over,” he asked disappointedly. I narrowed my eyes irritably. Disappointment? Come on! I was the youngest member of his wannabe knights but I had to be the most loyal! “No, but he’s willing to give us a prime location if I got and help the new mare learn the ropes,” I informed. “An if the two of us hit it off, I guarantee that an Equestrian wizard will-” “For the love of god, woman!” Drake exploded. “Drop what you’re doing and go make friends with her!” I blinked, not having remotely expected that reaction. In hindsight, I should have. The last Equestrian wizard to come here singlehandedly uplifted a large number of creatures he tamed to sapience, gave them humanoid forms which could work the engram system, and took over the entire jungle in the Center before running out of steam and being cornered by the wardens before he broke the system more. Yeah. Yeah, Drake would definitely want to be friends with a wizard. “Um, but there’s no guarantee that we’ll be able to be friends,” I warned. “Over.” “Even if you two for whatever reason can’t be friends, despite you expressly telling me that your former species are some of the friendliest creatures in your whole world, she’ll at the very least owe you a favor, right? Over,” Drake pointed out with barely restrained joy. I nodded, seeing what he was getting at. “Yeah, that’s true,” I agreed. “Worse case scenario, we earn a favor from someone of the same stock as Starswirl,” Drake laughed. “That’s nothing to sneeze at. Best case scenario, I get one heck of a great recruit, and you get the first friend you can truly relate to in… Well, forever… How long have you been here now? Over.” “I’ve lost count,” I admitted. “Hey, Camouflage, how will ye be getting us the base location?” I gave my bushy friend a concerned frown. He simply took my radio and spoke into it, “Fifty two point one, sixty five point eight. The peek is covered in metal, and only approachable from one route by land. Over.” “Thanks mate! It would be a real blast if you joined us,” Drake thanked, a bit over enthusiastic. “Over.” I’d never tell Drake the real reason Camo always declined his invitations. I may be a loyal person, but friends come before coworkers. I took back my radio, and sent Drake back one last message. “Right, well, I’m off to see if I can’t make me a new mate and make sure that a poor mare doesn't suffer too much trying to learn how you live here,” I said decisively. “I’ll be in touch. Over.” Oh, Razor growled looking at me in mock anger. So YOU get a mate today, and I don’t. That’s fair. “That’s cuz I don’t go for lays which can’t catch a dodo, lassie!” I ribbed right on back. She grinned, flashing her bright white fangs. I grinned, flashing those teeny little human teeth. Kind of. My helmet was in the way. “Ah, don’t ye worry,” I said giving her a pat on the shoulder before heaving myself up onto her saddle. I winced as the primitive, crudely field crafted saddle creaked and shifted under my weight. There was no sense in attracting attention by using good kit out here, but seriously, a good saddle keeps rider AND mount happy. I still want to bite Drake… I hate this saddle, Razor growled, reaching back to nip at the dull red wool saddle blanket. “The Island’s got plenty of raptors,” I said, continuing my reassurance. “‘Specially round the old house. Speaking of, where is she at right now? Think she’ll manage to make it three days?” Camouflage nodded. “I gave her access to your old drawing hut. I hope you don’t mind,” he said, abiding by his usual policy of ‘it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission.’ “Aye, that’s fine,” I grunted. “It means she’ll have a better chance than most folk do at lasting long enough in one spot to be found. Thanks, Camo.” He nodded and turned to walk off into the jungle. “You’re welcome. Oh! And be sure to tell me what your tribe mates think of you in your proper body next time we meet!” He asked hopefully, flashing me a thumbs up. “Will do!” I called as I asked Razor to turn left towards the blue Obelisk with my knees. I’d completely forgotten he meant I’d get my old body back on my next transfer or death. Today had turned into a really lucky day for me. New friend and old fur, here I come! Twilight Sparkle - Day 1 Southern Jungle - The Island “AHHH!” I jolted awake, almost smacking my head into the hut’s roof, cold sweat dripping down my neck. He died… Flash. Over and over again. A loop of… Of watching. Of me being too afraid to move. Of failing to try to help. I pulled my knees in towards my chest, sitting curled up for a few moments. What could I have done differently? Lots of things. Oh so many things. He didn’t have to die… Not like that. I didn’t work out how to teleport a distant object fast enough. It was my fault. I could have stopped Dawn from hurting him, but I failed to invent a way to perform the spell fast enough. What would Flash have said if I’d been one of his recruits and messed up that badly? I closed my eyes tighter and tried to picture Flash in full uniform, not his old one, but the blue and red cloth jacket he’d been given when accepting the medical semi-discharge and became a drill instructor. Yes. I could see him clearly. The strong, dutiful look. The confidence, and compassion. All of- My imaginary Flash scowled at me. Giving me the hard look I knew I deserved and- ”Damnit, Twily!” He scolded, ears falling back in genuine anger. ”Yeah, I died. Not the way I wanted to either. That’s how life is. Bad things happen to good people for no justifiable reason. It’s not your fault you couldn’t work out a way to cast a spell you never heard of before and had to try to invent on the fly either! “You think Starswirl could have just invented a new spell mid battle to save the day? That’s not how magic works, and you know it, missy! Stop your moping! Being depressed is nowhere near the list of things I want you to be. I’ve been preparing you for when I wouldn’t be around anymore for the last three years! ”You’ve got better things to do than sit here curled up in this brittle, drafty hut, and be sorry about me. You may be safe from death while your here, but you know what you’re not safe from? Permanent mental trauma. How many times can you be eaten by one of those Rex monsters you saw yesterday before you’re a jibbering mess? Three, maybe four? ”Is that what you want your friends to rescue one day? A terrified husk of a mare, even more jumpy than Fluttershy? IS IT!?” I discovered that I’d backed up into one of the hut’s corners while my imagination had been yelling at me. “N-no!” I stammered, shocked that I’d had that vivid of a Flash-scolding. I’d meant to imagine a more sympathetic but angry Flash. This was him. The real him. To a T. Imaginary Flash nodded gladly, his tone softening, but maintaining that air of command. ”Then get off your temporarily bipedal plot, dry your eyes, go outside, and find yourself some food. Then get to work making this trash-pile into a proper shelter. ”One good storm and you’ll freeze to death without your spells to help you. These are tropics. It rains every day. And it got cold as my grandmother’s black heart last night. I know, I was keeping watch! If it rains during the night, you’re dead. That’s a problem, fix it.” I blinked, and imaginary Flash faded away from my vision, leaving me shocked and confused. But motivated. Really motivated! Flash was right. I was trapped on an island full of savage criminals and monsters without access to any of my really potent magic… Yet. I’d have to work on that. But before I could, I needed to make sure that I was safe, because there was no way I could get used to being hunted and eaten. Which is what both groups here wanted to do to me. Screw that! I stood up, as much as the hut would allow at least, and stepped over to the door. It was time to go out there, find some berries which looked edible or something, then see if I could get a real roof on this little wooden box. As my hand reached out for the door handle, I froze. There, on the inside of the handle, where the light of dawn wasn’t touching yet, was just a little bit of frost. Huh. It really had gotten below freezing last night. I guess my subconscious noticed I was cold and tossed that into my little day dream. I opened the wooden door, grit my teeth at the annoying creak it made and stepped outside into the the morning sun. The lake my hut was built next to shimmered nicely in the morning light, and I could see the shadows of fish swimming just beneath the surface, getting their breakfast. If it weren't for the lizard-like monsters, I could have been in whitetail woods on a camping trip. It felt nice. What also felt nice was the abundance of plants near my hut. I could see massive ferns, short but fat bushes, tall skinny bushes… No plants I recognised but with how many there were huddled together under the medium dense canopy of trees, which almost but not quite resembled maple trees, some were bound to have berries. Or taste okay. I was hungry enough to eat greens. I quickly walked over to the edge of the wood and knelt down by the first bush I came to. It just so happened to be a fern and while it didn’t seem to have any berries on it, the long thick, twine-like stems on each frond looked like they would be pretty good for tying things together with. And as I remembered very clearly, the Filly Scouts Guidebook mentioned how important it was to carry rope or twine to make shelter with. Well, I was going to make a better roof. I might as well pick these while looking for food. I reached out and gently pulled a frond off the plant, then another, and another, slowly breaking it down into parts I could make into a kind of string, or layer to make some sort of thatch-like- The entire plant suddenly disintegrated into nothingness. Added: 30x fiber Added: 8x Tintoberry Added: 5x Amarberry Added: 2x Narcoberry “Oh! Right, that thing,” I said to myself as the shock of the entire plant being broken down and converted into raw materials wore off. I’d probably been standing there spooked for a good minute or two. How did I get that stuff out of the storage thingie? And why the heck had a plant without berries on it given me berries? Well, at least I could just pick the bushes and get food and supplies at the same time. Deciding to do just that I got to work simply picking bits off every bush I could find. At first that had seemed wasteful, and I justified it by saying that I needed a watertight roof, but then I saw an empty clearing become a patch of thick bushes before my eyes as plants literally dissolved in, fully mature. This place regrew at the speed of magic. I was SO studying that phenomenon before I left. AJ wouldn’t use it but I imagine every other farmer would love an ‘instantly regrow the entire plant’ spell. I spent an hour harvesting things before I realized something. I didn’t have any wood. Or any idea of how many berries I’d picked in total. I’d lost count. It just wasn't possible to total up everything with the way the text notification slid into your vision in unobtrusive places… And also when I felt like I was carrying another pony on my back. How out of shape was I? I couldn’t even spend an hour picking plants without getting tired? That didn't seem right! Stopping at the lakeside next to a patch of tall cattails to rest and try to figure this mystery out (thankfully within line of sight to my hut) I sat down on a boulder and looked at the implant in my wrist. How did I view what I had stored? Cam had told me it was just think, do. But I’d had to flex my arm in a certain way to put this breastplate on. Did I need to do the same thing now? What did I even do last time? Ah! Yes. I rotated my arm so the implant faced up, and then cocked my wrist. The implant’s red light shone blue. “Um, account balance?” I asked. Nothing happened. “Supplies?” I tried. Nope. “Inventory?” I proposed. A large clunky menu invaded my vision, as if someone had drawn a grid on transparent film and held it infront of my face. On the downside, it was a chaotic mess with no quality organization to it. On the upside it only took me five minutes to figure out what the hay I was looking at. There were bars measuring certain attributes, I could monitor my exact level of hunger, thirst, and temperature. Very useful! I’d always wanted to try experimenting with efficiency in terms of eating. Now I had a means of gathering data! It also tracked other things. Like weight. And while it wasn’t giving me the name of the units, I was carrying over five hundred units of stuff. Which somehow made its mass known despite not physically existing. I REALLY wished I had one of the system’s designers present to ask questions of. Especially why items were grouped into ‘stacks’ of specific numbers. In the case of berries, one hundred berries formed one group, and I’d have a LOT of different groups of one hundred of the same berry instead of one big group. I’d also like to know why one hundred berries weighed ten. And what that ten was. At any rate, I had almost five thousand berries of varying kinds. And that seemed to weigh about as much as a grown pony. Which seemed, well, like a bit much. I couldn’t have more than say, six, maybe seven liters worth of berries ‘on’ me. It just seemed a little excessive. In addition to the extra heavy berries I had also collected a lot of different kinds of seeds, and what I assumed was a lot of fiber. Which begged the question, how did I get any of this out into the real world to use? I spent some time trying various things, seeing if I could use the menu to ‘place’ items into the world instead of on to my person. While I didn’t quite find that out, I did find the ‘crafting menu’. Which explained how I got this thing to make stuff. But was also completely empty save for two icons. A torch, and a stone pick. That made sense though, all I had was berries, seeds, and fiber. And according to the menu I needed some thatch, a bit of wood, and a rock to make the pick. But how to get wood? And here I was, back to an earlier question… “I could just try breaking a branch off a tree…” I mused to myself. After all, it wasn’t like I had an axe or a knife. What other choice did I have? I reached down and picked up a rock, deciding to collect one to make a pick easily later since there were plenty of rocks on the lakeshore. The moment I picked it up, intended to add it into the inventory and the rock dissolved, as expected, and a message let me know that I had one stone in my ‘account’. Neat! I was getting the hang of this, sort of. Now all I needed to do was make a pick! Maybe I could use it to bash a few saplings down to use them as the frame for a palm frond roof! Suddenly a bright green message popped up in my vision. Survival Target reached! 1x Implant upgrade granted. “Um… Okay?” I said to myself as the message vanished. Enter inventory to apply upgrades. “Oh!” I said with a grateful smile. It was nice of that message to explain itself. I opened my inventory again, this time immediately noticing that some icons next to the attribute markers were blinking green. Presumably, the upgrade would let me increase one of those attributes. Which would literally make me stronger, or faster, or tougher, or able to carry more, or um… Eat more? Go longer without food? Have things I ate taste better? Like the ‘Hunger’ attribute, most of the others were confusing. And for some reason I couldn’t even increase whatever the heck torpidity was. I had read almost every book in the Royal Library of Canterlot, and I was certain I’d never seen that word before. What even IS that? After puzzling things over I decided to put the upgrade into my ability to carry arround weight. Presumably that would let my implant store more before I felt the weight, and since berries were ridiculously heavy, goodness only knows what it would feel like to carry around a bunch of rocks if I ever wanted to make a fire pit. I mentally commanded my implant to press the icon next to the Carry atribute bar. Immediately two things happen. I felt noticeably less weighed down, and a new menu popped up. Letting me know that I had eight engram points. And listing off lots of various engrams I could ‘learn’. Said ‘engrams’ were icons of things that I could build. Like a stone hatchet, bits and pieces of crude clothing, and more interestingly to me, parts of a thatch shelter which looked modular enough to make nearly anything you wanted. “I get it! They’ve gamified the entire prison!” I exclaimed in sudden realization. Honestly, it was brilliant! The engrams you could learn were restricted in three ways. By what you had learned before, by how many of the ‘Survival Targets’ you had reached (I decided to call them levels), and by how many points you had available to buy specific things with. That meant if you needed something you simply didn’t or couldn’t have, you had to cooperate with someone who could. Or… Well, take it from someone else. But since taking it could be dangerous the system was designed to steer you towards cooperating with others. As far as a means of rehabilitating evil people went, that was a good first step! I liked it. Especially since it meant I could just learn how to conjure up an axe, campfire, and a spear that looked like it might help protect me from the smaller monsters into existence whenever I wanted. Right now. I had enough to get all of those things. Quickly purchasing those recipes, I checked to make certain they were in my crafting menu. They were! I nodded to myself and stood up with a smile. “Alright, Twilight. You know what you’ll be doing today!” I said as I turned around to go and find some wood. I was going to build an addition onto that hut. No, I was going to turn it into a nice thatch cabin. A tropical cabana. And if I could gain enough levels, I’d furnish it, so I had storage boxes, and a bed. I saw those items in the engram shop. I wasn’t about to sleep on the ground tonight if I didn’t have to. I spent the rest of the day gathering things. Wood mostly. After a few hours I realized that by ‘Survival Target’ the system meant I had done enough to further my own survival to warrant getting a reward. Another interesting gamified system to incentivize playing by the prison's rules. Whoever had designed this place was pretty clever. Especially since it took more and more to reach the target after the one you just achieved. By the end of the day, I’d only hit five, when a mere hour of being productive and harvesting berries had gotten me the first one. On the upside, that day of hard work had payed off! The sun was setting, and I had enough room to stand up properly in my cabana. I’d found out how to remove ceilings, and then made a new one that was higher. I’d also extended the walls, leaving the existing stick structure as a corner in my new larger cabin, which had internal walls to make two rooms. One for sleeping, and one for general living. I hadn’t managed to learn to make a bed yet, nor did I have enough to buy the means to make a sleeping bag, but I’d gotten the stuff to make boxes to put my things in, and learned how to make shoes in addition to the ‘structure kit’ I'd learned bit by bit. Sure, it was just a sixteen square meter cabin made from sticks, straw, and twine. But it was mine! I’d made it. And it was noticeably warmer in here than outside in the chilly evening air. Because I’d put a fire pit inside my hut. Which would have seemed insane to me until halfway through the day when I noticed that this fire was magic. It produced no smoke, and it ignored the foundation I’d accidently built close enough for the fire to jump to. Magic non-smoking non-spreading fire that just produced heat and light. I’d picked it up and put it in the center of the cabin. After all, it got cold at night. This fire was safe to sleep next to. I yawned sleepily, stretched, and lay down next to the fire I’d just put a stack of wood into, hoping that would burn all night long. “That went better than I expected,” I mumbled to myself sleepily. “Night cabin. We’ll get a bed in you tomorrow. Shouldn’t be a problem. This survival thing is easier than I thought!” Just before I drifted off to sleep, for just the briefest of instances, I swore I saw the Flash I had imagined before facehoofing in the corner of the cabin.