The world was dark. The air was cold. A numb shadow hung over everything.
And yet... it felt wonderfully... deliciously good to be flying again.
Rainbow Dash stretched both wings out and coasted along the chilled winds. The temperature was bitingly low—for sure—but it wasn't like the frigid altitudes of Starkiss or Central Rohbredden. For all its bleakness, the Dark Side felt like midnight during a cool autumn month. It was strangely pleasant in a way... until Rainbow's goggled vision once more took in the enormity of desolation stretching beneath her in every direction.
Rainbow flew forward at a modest speed. She was hardly alone. Ariel glided directly behind her, carful to match the petite pegasus' speed. Then—all around Rainbow Dash—a ghostly quintet of equines chatted calmly... or at least as calmly as they could afford to.
"Without a Sun... there really can't be any sort of photosynthesis," Twilight Sparkle murmured aloud. "At least... not by the way we understand it."
"So..." Applejack glanced aside as she and their fellow friends glided alongside Rainbow Dash. "That means no apple trees?"
"I'm afraid not," Twilight said, shaking her head.
"No sunlight... and no trees..." Fluttershy squirmed in mid-glide. "You can't very well have a stable ecosystem. That means no animals and no larger animals to prey on the smaller ones."
"You never know!" Pinkie Pie smiled brightly. "Nature finds a way!"
Rarity squinted at her. "How so...?"
"I dunno..." Pinkie shrugged. "Something something brundlefly. Say!" She turned to grin at Twilight. "If there's no futa synthehol—"
"Photosynthesis," Twilight growled.
"If there's no plant burping, then how come we're all able to breathe?"
Everypony blinked at that—including Rainbow Dash.
"She does have a point there, Twilight," Rarity stated.
"I suppose... erm..." Twilight's ears drooped as she scraped the stars above for a logical conclusion. "...in a realm that's been nothing but chaos since it split off from Urohringr, the chemical balance of life on this side of the plane must be... n-nothing we can even possibly predict."
Applejack smirked. "Y'know, you could just say 'I don't know,' sugarcube."
"Meh."
"Soooooooooooo..." Pinkie tapped her fuzzy chin and wagged her eyebrows. "Giant flying narwhals when?"
"Twilight..." Fluttershy floated closer to the lavender unicorn in question. "So far... we know that the alicorns discovered this piece of Urohringr..."
"That's right, Fluttershy."
"And it's thanks to them and Celestia and Luna that harmony is maintained on our side of the plane," Fluttershy continued. "In Equestria."
"Precisely. All of the natural occurrences in the world that we know have been influenced by the Elements of Harmony. That's why getting the Harmonic Prism is so important." Twilight looked ahead at the curved horizon and the faint splotches of light flickering in random spots. "Aside from restoring us to our natural selves... reclaiming the magic of the Alicorns in its purest form can undo the damage that chaos has done back home."
"And stop the rift in Ponyville from spreading, right?"
Twilight nodded. "That's the idea."
"So..." Fluttershy rubbed her two hooves pensively together as she stared at the emptiness down below. "This side of the plane—as we're now seeing it—is more or less what the world was like before the alicorns found it?"
Twilight blinked. "Well... right. But not entirely." She cleared her throat. "After all, the alicorns' influence have affected the Dark Side pretty heavily over the past few eons. Chrysalis and Tchern—once alicorns themselves—flocked to the Dark Side, and they brought their swarms with them. Then the Dark Vigil would never have come here if it weren't for the reign of Nightmare Moon..."
"What about these mysterious 'Night Shard' peops?" Pinkie asked.
Twilight winced slightly. "I... I've no clue." A gulp. "But I wouldn't doubt it."
"Ya reckon that everythang was completely dead and lifeless before the alicorns showed up?"
"Not... completely," Twilight said. "After all... we've learned that the progenitors of equine life have much to do—if not entirely—with the 'angels.'"
"You mean the ancient pegasi that Rainbow found out so much about?" Rarity hummed.
"Right." Twilight nodded. "These proto-pegasi could very well have been the origin of all ponies... ever. And it's... n-not like they were dead corpses that were ultimately resurrected by the arriving alicorns. I mean... Celestia's and Luna's kind are powerful, but they're not that powerful."
"Huh?" Pinkie went cross-eyed. She rubbed her head and wheezed: "Start over from the beginning, Wise Twi! You've lost the Pink!"
"What I'm trying to say is..." Twilight shuddered. "...there's no telling just how much time passed between the Sundering of Urohringr and the moment when the denizens of this world were saved by Harmony. While it's easy to assume just a few years... it could very well have been decades... centuries... eons. The universe is old—and so is Urohringr. Who knows? Maybe a definitive ecosystem of some sort did manage to thrive here. We just... haven't even begun to scrape the surface of the Dark Side—so we don't know what that kind of a pre-light world was like."
"Only that ponies lived then," Rarity said. "And we're all the product of them today."
"Well, we're the product of ancient pegasi blessed by alicorn magic. Yes. But..." Twilight brushed her bangs back as she glided alongside Rainbow. "...aside from the forces of the Trinary War, being on this part of the plane could very well be like traveling back in time... a prehistoric time if there was any."
"That's really... fr-frightening," Fluttershy stammered.
"Who knows, darlin'?" Applejack smiled, leaning over to nudge Fluttershy in mid-glide. "Maybe you'll find all sorts of new mesmerizin' creatures to learn about."
"Yes, well..." Fluttershy frowned. "So long as they're not trying to eat Rainbow Dash."
"Who wouldn't want to eat Dashie?" Pinkie giggle-snorted. "Just look how scrumptious and bite-sized she is! Teeheehee!"
Rainbow rolled her goggled eyes. Flexing her wing muscles, she spoke firmly to pierce the cold winds: "Sense anything yet?"
"Nope!" Pinkie shook her head. "I mean, aside from Applejack's hoof that's half-a-second from slapping me!"
"Guh..." Applejack winced, drawing her fetlock back and blushing slightly. A sigh, and she drawled towards their anchor: "Ariel's feelin' calmer than ever. The group of dudes back on hoof are feelin' a teensy bit anxious—probably for yer well-bein'—but they'll survive."
"Wow, Applejack!" Rarity beamed at her. "Your powers are turning out to be quite flexible!"
Applejack tilted her hat back with a smirk. "It's like a clean slate out here, Rara. Not like there are any distractions or nothin'."
"Don't be so modest! You're a natural at reading ponies!"
"Heh... Pa always did say I had a knack for convincin' ponyfolk to take home more bushels of fruit." Her freckled muzzle scrunched. "Maybe that's why Filthy Rich was always tryin' to squeeze ideas outta me when I was a teenager."
Fluttershy smiled behind a pink lock of hair. "Maybe Rainbow can bring peace to the Trinary War through apples."
"Hey!" Pinkie chirped. "That's a funny!" She cupped her muzzle and hollered towards the bent horizon. "Hey! Dark Side! Fluttershy made a funny!"
Twilight giggled.
"Ahem..." Rainbow looked at Rarity. "I was sorta hoping you had something to say."
"Oh!" The fashionista blinked, eyelashes fluttering. "Well, of course, darling! Hmmmmm..." She rubbed her forehead, eyes squinting towards the horizon. "I... suppose I do sense a slight change to the terrain..."
"Oh yeah?" Applejack craned her neck. "Where?"
"Nowhere close, mind you. Several miles ahead—at this rate."
"Still, it is a change to this drab flatness!" Twilight exclaimed. "What is it, exactly? A ravine? A mountain?"
"The former, more or less," Rarity said. "The landscape dips somewhat. But... that's all I have right now. No forests. No hills. No buildings or structures of any kind."
"Awwwwwwwwwwwww..." Pinkie pouted. "Nothing whatsoever?"
"Well, aside from the three-story metal tower situated a kilometer ahead of us, heheheh—" Rarity suddenly blinked her eyes wide. "... ... ...oh bother. I suppose that is a thing."
Applejack face-hoofed.
Rainbow took a deep breath. "Works for me." She looked over her shoulder. "Hey! Ariel!"
No response.
Rainbow sighed... then flicked her tail. "HEY! Pay attention, girl!"
"Erm... uh..." Ariel's eyes glinted in the starlight, facing Rainbow. "What?"
"Rarity says she senses something!"
"Really? Like what?"
"A... uh..." Rainbow looked at her pale companion. "...tower of some kind. Something made of metal."
"Whoah." Ariel blinked. "That's kind of sudden."
"Yeah. Was thinking the same."
"Wanna check it out?"
"Dang skippy." Rainbow looked aside. "Flutters?"
"I'll keep my senses on the rest of the Herald, Rainbow." Fluttershy nodded, smiling. "Go ahead and don't you worry."
"Here goes nothing." She motioned to Ariel and the two plunged swiftly towards the stony surface of the plane. "I'd give my bottom bit for it to be a public restroom at this point."
Pinkie belched, "With our luck, it's probably a Tim Horseton's."