//------------------------------// // Ascent // Story: The Narrative Cascade // by Amber Spark //------------------------------// “Great Plot! I’ve got it!” Thankfully, Doctor Brown’s security access still worked on the main door separating the laboratories from the rest of the Clockmaker’s Guild. Twilight had been briefly confused on why the seniormost scientist’s access codes wouldn’t work for a simple door, but Minuette had explained the potential danger with two words. “Dramatic irony.” The entire group had shivered horribly when she’d said that. When they reached the main floor of the Clockmaker’s Guild, chaos reigned in a way that would have made Discord bright purple with envy. After all, he’d once told Twilight turning green with envy was far too passé for him. “We have to get to the trams!” Twilight shouted over the incessant sound of warping heartrifts, laughing and ponies madly in love. “It’s our only way out of here!” Brown brought up a magical monitoring spell linked to the Spectrometer’s sensors. It terrified Twilight the Cascade allowed that communication spell to work but nothing else. Despite their success at the door, it could only be for one reason: dramatic tension. She didn’t share this revelation with the others. She didn’t want to worry them. And she suspected Brown already knew. The clockwork spires of the Guild sparked and flared with pink magic. Each of the waterwheels spun like mad, the power of twelve waterfalls now being funneled into the Prime Heart Rift. They galloped through a corridor suddenly overgrown with delicate strands of ivy and glowing Moon Lanterns, complete with wrought-iron benches interspersed at regular intervals. They ran by at least twelve couples, all having quiet, intimate conversations, lost in one another’s eyes. Twilight spotted two copies of How to Pick Up Mares: A Reference Guide. She knew the book in passing, of course. It’s not like she’d decided to read it for its practical applications. It had been simply general-purpose research. Short research, since the entire text of the book had been, ‘Give that mare some hay, fillies love hay.’ And while that was true, it hadn’t been especially insightful. Twilight almost slipped on a stray champagne bottle as she scampered toward the departure station. Only one tram remained. Twilight watched as another large metal tram picked up speed beneath the enormous track. A few moments later, it switched tracks and sped into the dark tunnels beneath Canterlot. The group ran past some stallion holding up a boombox, shouting something to somepony glaring at them through a second-story window. Even as ponies scrambled onto the last tram, Twilight didn’t dare teleport. There was no telling what the disrupted narrativium field would do to a teleport spell. She had already warned Sunset. Sadly, she couldn’t warn the entire city. Oh well, if anypony powerful enough to teleport appeared in a suspiciously romantic situation, they should be smart enough to get out of it. If they weren’t, they shouldn’t be messing around with teleportation in the first place. They had to make a detour through a small lab due to a collapsed clocktower spire. Once they emerged, Twilight wasn’t very surprised to find the tram had left without them. Twilight tried to leap into the air to force the tram back to the station. She promptly fell flat on her face. Twilight stood and stared at her wings. They were still there, of course. They were even outstretched, but no matter how hard she flapped, she didn’t rise even an inch. “Don’t bother, my dear,” Brown said with a frown as he hurried up beside her and stared the departing tram. “Only those born with wings could fly in this sort of probability field.” “That’s oddly specific,” Moondancer said. Sunset narrowly avoided a lampshade falling from the sky. She kicked it away with a snicker. They whirled at the sound of galloping hooves coming from behind them. “Clear?!” Brown gasped as he ran forward to meet the newcomer. “You’re supposed to be topside seeing Dean Polish!” “I… I got back early, Emerald,” Clear said as she staggered into Brown’s hooves. “Just in time to get caught up in all of this…” Minuette’s eyes met Twilight’s and she suddenly had a very bad feeling. “Who’s this?” Sunset interjected. “This is… uh… Professor Clear Clay,” Brown said. Professor Clear gave them all a little curtsey. She had a short brown mane with a single braid on the right side that complimented her light tan coat. She’d pinned a purple flower to her lab coat, held in place by a small silver clasp with a name stamped on it. “I’m… uh… Doctor Brown’s… uh…” “Old lover?” Sunset quipped. Brown and Clear went red and refused to look at one another. Sunset skipped the snicker and went straight to sniggering. Twilight facehoofed, composed herself and glared at the vanishing tram. “I don’t suppose there’s another way out of here?” “There’s the emergency access tunnels,” Minuette said. Brown shook his head. “It would take a minimum of three hours and twenty-six minutes to reach the surface from this level if we took that route.” “We could always use the maintenance trolley,” Clear said in a quiet whisper. “Engineer Spark showed them to me this morning.” “Also oddly specific,” Moondancer said. A lampshade landed on Minuette’s head. She sputtered for a little bit before Sunset went over to help her pull it off. Moondancer didn’t seem to notice. “And before the Cascade. Unless it’s altering time… how is that possible?” “This isn’t the time to talk about time! We don’t have time!” Twilight snapped. Sunset cracked up as she threw the lampshade away. “Seriously, Twi?” Twilight ignored her and turned to Clear. “What’s this about a trolley?” “Oh, Spark told me the passcode,” Clear said as she stepped up to a control panel between the tram bays. “Just a moment…” Less than a minute later, a metal box had emerged from a hidden underground compartment. Mechanical servos whirred and attached the trolley—which looked a lot like a miniature version of the trams—to the overhead track. The metal scissor gate rattled open. “Anypony else suspicious that it just happens to hold six ponies?” Moondancer asked. “It’s always been like that,” Minuette replied. “Track maintenance isn’t usually a huge job.” Moondancer blinked. “Oh.” “Well, what are we waiting for?” Sunset said. “Let’s go!” “The trolley needs to be powered on this side though!” Clear said. “I mean, a pony could flip the switch and then leap through but—” “Seriously?” Twilight facehoofed. “This is insane. Everypony on, now!” “But Twilight—” Sunset and Minuette said at the same time. “No buts!” Twilight shouted. “In! Now!” Twilight ushered and/or shoved everypony into the trolley as fast as she could. She ran to the control panel, glared at it, flipped the switch and galloped for the trolley. Everypony groaned when the scissor gate slammed shut in Twilight’s face. “Stupid plot twists,” Twilight growled. “Twilight!” Sunset flared her magic and zapped the lock, but the spell backfired and sent her flying into Minuette and Moondancer. “It’s okay! I’ll keep up with you!” Twilight leapt into the air and promptly crashed back down… again. “Right.” “Dammit, Brown!” Moondancer shouted. “Get this door open! We can’t just leave her here!” Brown, Minuette, Clear, Moondancer and a still-smoldering Sunset stared at the door. Then, with a loud thunk, the trolley slid out over open space and started picking up speed. “Dammit!” Sunset shouted. “I’m not leaving her!” “Sunset, don’t!” Twilight called. Twilight watched as everypony in the trolley tried to get clear, then Sunset unleashed a bolt of unbridled magical fury at one of the trolley walls. To Twilight’s horror, Sunset’s red magic had changed to pink. The entire side of the trolley exploded. Minuette and Clear screamed as it swayed precariously. Twilight should have yelled at Sunset for doing something so stupidly reckless. However, since the trolley was already just beyond her jumping range… she didn’t have time. Twilight leapt anyway. She’d read enough romance stories. She knew how this would work. Sure enough, Sunset’s hoof caught her own just before she plummeted fifty feet to the ground below. Minuette and Moondancer helped pull Twilight to her hooves. Twilight took a deep breath and shot Sunset a glare. “You could have gotten yourself killed!” she shouted. “What is wrong with you?” “I’m not leaving you behind to that insanity!” Sunset shot back, stomping forward. “We both know this is already affecting ponies’ minds Twilight! I’m a freaking empath! Do you have any idea what the narrativium field is doing to me?” Sunset’s voice broke and she let out a choked cry. Twilight held a hoof to her mouth as actual tears started to fall from her eyes, splashing against the metal grill in a soft patter heard by everypony in the trolley even above the chaos of shipping delirium below. The trolley rose up a steep incline and linked up to the main track. “I couldn’t leave you like that…” Sunset sniffled, trying vainly to wipe away her tears. “I couldn’t… When we came back… you… I couldn’t bear to…” Twilight grabbed Sunset and held her tight, allowing her friend’s tears to darken her soft coat. Sunset melted into the embrace as a single desperate sob bubbled up from within her. “I’m fine,” Twilight whispered. “We’re both fine… We’re… all…” Sunset pulled away. They were less than an inch apart. They were all but kissing already. Twilight stared into the teary, teal eyes of her best friend… one she had pulled from a crater after becoming a demon, only to become something wonderful in such a short time... Twilight’s head leaned forward, her heart moved by Sunset’s heartbreaking concern. She had never known Sunset could be so worried about her. She hadn’t known until today that— Twilight jerked back and shoved Sunset away from her. “What… what the…” Sunset stumbled and landed flat on her back. Twilight almost went out the still-smoldering hole. “What was that for?” “The narrative!” Twilight spat, furious. She glared at the very air itself. “Celestia on a pogo stick! It’s getting stronger with each passing second!” Sunset sat up and shook her head. “You’re… you’re right. I’ve got to… give me a second.” Without warning, she got up, marched over to Minuette, lit her horn and tapped her on the shoulder. Sunset’s eyes went white for an instant before she blinked at the effect faded. “Okay, I think I’m good now. As long as I don’t get too close to Moondancer.” “Wait… what?” Moondancer asked, confused. Minuette tried to hide behind her mane. Sunset rubbed her temples and took three deep breaths that totally didn’t emphasize her incredibly curvaceous, sleek and well-toned body. “Gah!” Twilight marched over and slammed her head into one of the three remaining walls a few times. Thankfully, the agony of crashing her skull against the metal quickly drowned out the narrative’s influence. Finally, she pulled herself away, took a deep breath, did several complex mathematical calculations in her head—along with listing the imports and exports between the griffons and the zebras—and turned around. “Should I ask what just happened?” Minuette blinked a few times. “Best if you don’t,” Sunset replied. “If you say so.” “Okay. Where are we at?” Twilight asked. Brown already had the monitor spell up. “That’s not good,” Minuette said as she looked it over. “I estimate twenty-nine minutes to reach the surface,” Brown said. Twilight blinked. “But… it only took us ten minutes on our way in.” Brown nodded slowly. “Narrative.” Brown nodded again. Behind him, a rose fell into Minuette’s hair. “We’re not going to make it, are we?” Twilight asked. “I don’t see—” Minuette began. “I can fix that!” Brown declared suddenly and grinned at Clear. “Correction! We can fix that!” “What do you have for us, Emerald?” Clear said in her soft voice. Brown seemed to lose track of the world in the depths of Clear’s bright green eyes. “Doctor Brown?” Twilight coughed. “You said you had a way we could speed this up?” “Huh?” Brown blinked a few times. “I’m sorry, I was distracted by googolplexes.” “More like googly eyes,” Minuette whispered to Moondancer, who just groaned. Neither Brown nor Clear seemed to notice… probably because of googolplexes and googly eyes. “The trolley, Doctor!” Twilight’s horn sparked with annoyance. She pointedly ignored the bright pink tint to her normally magenta magic. “We need to get to the surface!” “Oh!” Brown managed to tear his gaze from Clear. “Yes… a direct… a direct application of magic to the motor mechanism will induce a substantial increase of motion!” “If you haven’t noticed,” Sunset said, pointing to the chaos below. “Magic’s going a little haywire right now.” “I’m afraid there isn’t much else in the way of options,” Clear said, her voice sounding different than it had moments before. “We have very little time according to Emerald’s spell.” Somehow, Clear sounded younger. Twilight could have sworn her mane looked darker than it had when she’d first arrived. Thankfully, Brown looked as wild-haired as he normally did… though did his mane appeared more blond than white now? This is bad. Really, really bad! “What’s the spell?” Twilight demanded. “Twilight—” Sunset protested, her eyes wide. “We don’t have time for any other options!” Twilight cried. “We’ll all do it!” “I’m sure this will go great.” Moondancer sighed. “Don’t worry, Moonie!” Minuette said with a far-too-happy grin. “Worst-case scenario, we—” “Blow the trolley off the track and send us plummeting to certain death?” Moondancer interrupted with a raised eyebrow. Minuette’s smile didn’t even flicker. “I’m sure we’d get a last-second save.” It was at this point it occurred to Twilight death was often used as a narrative device in some types of romance. Usually to make the final cumulation of the plot resolve itself in particularly dramatic manner. Or occasionally, just for kicks. I really hope we’re not in that kind of narrative. Brown described the spell and the procedure. It was about as dangerous as Twilight expected. They had a fifty-fifty chance at blowing themselves up. Twilight swallowed as they positioned themselves in a circle around the large motor pulling the trolley along the track. Brown and Clear were closest to the missing wall. That concerned Twilight, but somepony had to be on that side. Anyway, Brown had insisted for ‘optimal alignment of cross-magical leybeams.’ Twilight was beginning to suspect Doctor Brown enjoyed making up terminology. Or he had a desperate need to embellish simple quantum magics phrasing to sound more intelligent. “Now!” he cried. All six ignited their horns and blasted the motor with their magic. As were most things in high-magic facilities, the mechanical innards of the motor were heavily shielded. It took several long seconds for their power to get through.  The calculations were simple. Twilight had checked them herself. Sadly, as pink magic started to swirl around the motor, Twilight determined she had not properly calculated for the disrupted magic caused by the narrativium rifts. Such as the one that opened above the motor. Uncooked rice rained down on all of them. No one seemed particularly surprised when the trolley suddenly shot forward at ten times its normal speed. Startled, perhaps. But not really surprised. The trolley zoomed around a bend in the track. Twilight wasn’t particularly surprised when Clear Clay stumbled and toppled out of sight through the massive hole in the trolley side. Concerned, perhaps. But not really surprised. Brown screamed and dove after her. Twilight lunged forward, wondering if this would be one of those Heroic Scenes or Tragic Scenes. Considering how Brown clutched Clear, who was now dangling several hundred feet above the Clockmaker’s Guild, Twilight thought it was even odds. Sunset, Minuette and Moondancer rushed to her side. All of them grabbed Brown’s hindlegs just as he started to slide. Sunset tried to cast a spell to levitate all of them up, but yelped when her magic popped like an overinflated balloon. She shared a look with Twilight. “I really hate stupid plot twists!” Sunset shouted over the roaring wind. “You and me both!” To Twilight’s surprise, Clear wasn’t screaming. Neither was Brown. In fact, they were just staring into each other’s eyes. Oh, for Celestia’s sake… “They’re slipping!” Minuette shouted. Despite the efforts of all four of them, within a few seconds, Brown and Clear were dangling from the edge of the speeding trolley. They had seconds before they plummeted to their deaths. “Hi guys!” Twilight, Sunset, Moondancer and Minuette all glanced up. “Let’s just be honest here, girls,” Sunset said, completely nonplussed. “We’re talking about a disruption in Equestria’s natural narrativium field. Is there any possible way that she couldn’t have shown up?” “Nope.” “Not really.” “No way.” Pinkie Pie waved at them, riding on the back of the Hippogriff Princess Skystar, who waved in an equally cheerful manner. “My Pinkie Sense told me there was going to be the dooziest doozy there ever was down here, so Skystar and I cut our twenty-eighth date short to come and see what was up!” “Of course you did.” Twilight facehoofed. Sunset was right. It was impossible for Pinkie to not be here. Just then, the tram’s speakers—used to welcome guests to the Clockmaker’s Guild—started blaring out dramatic music. It had a lot of trumpets. “I hate today,” Twilight muttered. “I’m losing my grip!” Minuette cried. The trolley took a hard right. Twilight didn’t even catch whatever insane maneuver Skystar pulled off to stay beside them, but it had Pinkie squealing with joy to the point where she gave her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek. Skystar giggled. “Dammit Pinkie!” Twilight shouted. “Would you please help them already?!” “Oh! Right! Hi-ho Skystar! Away!” Skystar laughed, reared in midair—which should have been impossible—and darted downward as all four lost their grip. Doctor Brown and Professor Clear dropped like bricks. Clear did at least have the decency to scream as Brown clutched her in his hooves. Despite the trolley’s speed, Twilight had no trouble making out the streak of pink and yellow tearing over the Guild like a comet, leaving a stream of bubbles behind them. Twilight rolled her eyes, but still found herself biting her lip. Skystar put on an extra burst of speed. Brown and Clear were less than a hundred feet from slamming into the bedrock. The music suddenly began to reach its crescendo and tension filled the tram like a living thing. The narrativium disruption reached critical mass around the hippogriff and the earth pony. The sound barrier exploded with a heart-shaped shockwave of yellow and pink. It was blinding, but Twilight couldn’t look away even if she wanted to.   “Gotcha!” Skystar cried, even though they were far too distant to hear her voice. Pinkie and Skystar caught Brown and Clear with a mere ten feet to spare and swooped back up to meet them. Sunset collapsed to her haunches and Minuette fell into Moondancer’s hooves, trembling with nerves. Twilight looked at Sunset and raised an eyebrow. “Sonic Loveboom?” Sunset shrugged. “Why not?” “Should I ask how Skystar can carry all three of them?” Moondancer asked. “Plot,” Sunset said with a sigh. “Hey!” Pinkie shouted as they flew up alongside the trolley. “No talking about my girlfriend’s plot!” Brown cradled Clear in his hooves. They were already in a passionate kiss, oblivious to the entire world. “Welp, they’re out,” Moondancer commented as she shoved Minuette off of her. Minuette pouted heavily, but Moondancer didn’t seem to notice. After a few seconds, Minuette gave up the pouting. “Hey, at least they got us on this trolley! And through a door or two!” “So,” Twilight said, rubbing her forehead. “They played their role in the plot, and now they’re done?” “Looks like it,” Sunset said. Twilight growled at nothing and everything. “Minuette, Twilight?” Moondancer said. “I hope you know where we’re supposed to go.” “Yeah. I do.” Twilight said. “Still, without Brown, there’s no way to monitor the rift. Pinkie, get them somewhere safe and then the two of you get out of Canterlot!” “Awww… but we want to do more super dramatic rescues!” Pinkie pouted. “Now Pinkie!” Twilight shouted. Sunset’s hoof landed on Twilight’s shoulder. “If they can actually fly, we may need them. They can help evacuate the facility.” “They won’t be fast enough!” Twilight snapped, whirling on Sunset. “You don’t get it! Without Brown, I don’t know if we can stop this!” “Of course we can,” Sunset laughed. “And what makes you so confident?” “Dramatic tension, of course!” “Ugh, I hate romance plots,” Twilight moaned. “So, about my question this morning…” “I’m not answering that until after this whole mess is over!” “Aww… fine.”