//------------------------------// // 5: Shipwrecks and Ponies // Story: The Path of Twilight // by RDDash //------------------------------// “It’s kind of cold out here,” it's been several hours ever since Twilight and the group entered into forbidden territories.  Seven ponies, six on the ground, plus one in the air had been traveling across the snow in the very large valley “It’s should be cold, we are very close to the north pole, Rainbow, and... ” Twilight shivered “full of monsters that we shall not speak off.” “You mean an endangered species of the northern harpy, I am so very disappointed in you Twilight, I really hoped you are not going to impale her with that thing.” I won't have to do that Fluttershy, I'd I didn't end up getting spooked by it half to death. I guess we are just lucky we never met Arachne or Lamia.” Rainbow Dash blinked, “What's Arachne?” “Arachne it's a very old legend of… well...” Twilight cringed, “very very long ago there was an Earth pony mare called Arachne, her special talent was to weave cloth, one-day Nightmare Moon became very jealous of her, so she used an ancient magic to turn her into the spider, the end.” *So, don't get me wrong while that is kind of very mean, but I still don't get it.  Why we should be afraid?” Twilight frowned, ”Dash, Arachne is a codeword used by scholars to classify giant pony eating spiders.if one of those is going to show up here it's not going to be pretty for all of us, and they never are alone, they always travel in a very large group.” “Oh okay, forget that I asked then.” Twilight quickly shrugged her off, and then focused her attention to Starlight, “Those spiders don’t exist here, right?” Starlight quickly shook her head, “I’ve never seen them when I was the last time here, I don't think they like a cold climate”, she smiled sheepishly, “I do like to read sometimes, so I know a few things. Besides, I don't think that we would have any problems with the spiders, where we are going. Perhaps not the kind of spiders that you think.” Starlight's words caused Twilight to raise an eyebrow. Seeing that, Starlight quickly spoke again, “You will see.” For the next few minutes traveling group of ponies spends their travel in complete silence that is until Pinkie Pie broke it, “Right, I almost forgot. While Twilight and Rarity have been spending their time in the company of Starlight Glimmer Rainbow and I  have met a new friend, Sugar Bell. She is...um...she is a baker, yes … And ...her baking is...um... very good.” she said with the forced smile. Twilight frowned, “Pinkie I know that tone of voice, and that usually means that you hate it  whichever it is she has made.” “Well of course I am, as a baker, I do have a pride in my work...and...and I just can't imagine that somepony would remove her cutie mark so that they could spend the rest of their lives creating those atrocities, no offense.” “Huh?” “Sorry Twilight, an automatic response to something in the parallel universe.” “Aha.” “I mean what kind of sadist would envision that kind of torture onto ponies.” “I am afraid that would be me,” Starlight said with the sad smile. “Although I would like to remind everypony that process is completely voluntary. She can quit the project anytime she wants.”  Starlight then trotted right next to Pinkie Pie, “ She probably wanted to tell you some sob story that I am some kind bitch and a tyrant, that oppresses others ponies against their will.” “I guess that probably was the case, yes,” Pinkie Pie nodded. “Hey, that's not fair you broke the fourth wall. That’s my job.” Starlight Glimmer sighed, “no that's was a basic psychology, but if you feel like ever to change your lifestyle you know where to find me.” “My lifestyle is just fine to thank you very much,” Pinkie Pie politely declined. Rainbow Dash who have been hovering over them decided to butt into the conversation, ”Wait? I am slightly confused.” Starlight raised an eyebrow, “What about?” “Well, I mean like if the ponies cutie marks are removed then what happens next? Would they become talentless hicks? Or is it something else going to happen? Like maybe they cannot perform very specific things which are their talent?” “Uh, I see. That's probably would be worth an effort to publish the results of this social experiment into the scientific paper about magic.” Rainbow shrugged off, “Sounds like an egghead stuff then.” “You asked ” With that being said the trio continued their conversation, meanwhile Twilight and Rarity have been having their own conversation. “Twilight what's the matter?” Rarity noticed a strange look on her friend's face “It’s nothing Rarity, I just remembered that you managed to swap a crystal inside of your own lightsaber, and well, I imagined what would Rainbow would have done if she suddenly ends up having her own lightsaber. “She would probably try to stick a prism inside of it, I could only imagine the disastrous result of that.” Rarity laughed, “A rainbow laser sword for a rainbow-maned pegasus, now that definitely sounds like something she would do.” Twilight nodded to her friend, “That's Rainbow Dash for you, many years later the scholars would probably say that her lightsaber color represents equality or something.” She shrugged. “But in reality, she made it the color of a rainbow because it would be 20% cooler.” “Correct me if I am wrong but that story about spiders, isn't Nightmare Moon told you about that story, so does that mean she constantly visits you.” “Yeah, but this time she completely refuses to move away from inside of my mind. She says that last time Discord went too far. She also says that she would fry that good for nothing a-hole next time she will sense his presence.” Twilight continued speaking, her voice becoming a slightly more monotone. “Okay...” “She also says that she is very excited to be here again, and she also says that I probably would need her help in the starship graveyard.” “I see, I don’t seem to remember Starlight ever mentioning it.” “What? You mean the graveyard thing?” Rarity sighed, “Yeah,... Must have slipped my mind.” She replied sarcastically.”You know I never thought her to be, how would I put this, kind and caring.” Twilight blinked, you don't tend to hear that every day. “I think that calling her that still going to be a stretch, I don't think she is…” Twilight sighed, “Well, how would I put this, you see she definitely cares about the ponies, In a sense that she is kind and caring. It's more like she needs others ponies just as much as they need her, like a somepony to lead them.” Rarity realized her own mistake, “Yes, that what I probably meant to  say, please continue.” Twilight nodded her head, “You could argue that combination of the relationship of Princess Luna with her sister and the geopolitical situation of that era created an alter ego of that monster. That of course came from outside and in this case was more than welcomed by the Princess.” “And it really strange that for almost a millennia we never had any major conflicts, and now it was almost like all of the floodgates had been opened. It almost felt like in the moment of extreme desperation she chooses to be cruel.” “What about the eternal night, was that really necessary?” For a brief moment Rarity allowed herself to be part of the very strange discussion. “To a certain extent yes, to Nightmare Moon Princess Celestia was a weakling and incompetent ruler,” Twilight flinched, she never liked to bad-mouth her own teacher, even if she has been speaking theoretically. It wasn't technically Princess Celestia fault that things end up that way, Twilight still hated to say anything bad about her mentor. “So, in order to weaken her own sister Nightmare Moon removed the Sun out of the picture, and it's not really as catastrophic as it sounds, It worked out because of magic, right?” “I am sorry dear, but what do you mean? I thought we were discussing a philosophy of Nightmare Moon’s rise to power.” Twilight nodded her head, “Yeah, we do, it's just…Oh, that's right, sometimes I forget that she sees the world in four dimensions. And yes I am trying to justify a life under a totalitarian regime to be more than acceptable to the alternative, and the alternative is the possibility of being miserable under the iron hoof of the Invaders and other forces who would wish harm to the Equestria.” Twilight couldn't help herself but she eventually devolved into a nervous chatterbox, that did happen from time to time. “It would be funny to mention this but we, Nightmare Moon and I, absolutely despise making stupid decisions for the sake of it being evil. Like if you actually need to make an evil choice than you better have a rational explanation of why you are making it.” Rarity nodded in agreement, “Once again that makes sense. I suppose sometimes making a good decision can be a lot more foolish than making a bad decision.” Twilight decided to ask a certain question, “What do you call it when you are forced to make a bad decision, but this bad decision would bring the results that you want.” In response to that question, Rarity replied, “I would probably call it acceptable losses like you said if the results outwait the  collateral damage then it  would probably be worth it.” Twilight nodded her head, “I also think it would be worth to mention this, that until now I would have probably completely rejected the possibility of having Nightmare Moon as a ruler of Equestria.” “Choosing the lesser of the two evils ... huh?” “Exactly!” The shout from Twilight caused both mares to fall into awkward silence. “Oh, what am I saying?” She blinked a few times. “Twilight?” Rarity stopped in the middle of the snow. “I completely understand what are you trying to say, even though, when you chose to oppose Nightmare Moon you’ve made a decision, and perhaps thousands of years from now the ponies would look back on us as extremely lucky to live in the golden age.” …... The point of view switched back to the trio only this time Applejack and Fluttershy have joined them too. “What do you think Rarity and Twilight are talking about?” “I dunno,” replied Pinkie, “Oh wait I do, they are both had been discussing Nightmare Moon and geopolitical situation of the world  thousands of years ago, also they’ve been briefly discussing you, and  which color of the plasma  beam that you are going to use for the lightsaber, although I kind of agree that it's kind of sounds extremely dumb.” “Huh, you mean that deadly glow stick that apparently now Twilight has, and I think Rarity has one as well. Wait, what do you mean dumb?” Pinkie Pie frowned “Rainbow Dash please, just don’t call them deadly glow sticks, that's highly disrespectful. At least you could just call them a magic sword, that what Twilight is calling them now, ” She paused. “And to answer your question, which color of the blade would you choose for yourself? For some reason, Twilight thought it would be funny that you would insist on it to be a rainbow.” Rainbow Dash snorted, “Really? I think I am going to be perfectly happy with the blade of the color of my fur. Let me guess they thought I am going to try to stick a prism inside of it.” “Well yeah, how did you...” “You said it yourself  multiple times that it was a saber made of light...” “Wicked,” for some reason, Pinkie Pie said that particular word randomly, which then caused Rainbow Dash to stare for some reason. “Oh, right sorry.” “Oh and I suppose Rarity had mentioned it by the name of laser sword, but they clearly aren't made of lasers. Sorry Pinkie Pie, but I am just going to call them deadly glow sticks.” “But..” “Pinkie, there a reason why EUP still use spears and not swords or any other swinging instrument of death. Every single time the Pegasus would be forced to swing a sword, it would be extremely impractical because it would get in a way of wings. Speaking of wings, it going to be the primary target for an opponent to hack away, especially if they are engaged in the air, then it's an instant death sentence.” “Well, I know that, but we are not talking about that.” Twilight immediately overheard what Rainbow Dash had said about the tactics of aerial combat, “Say, what the Pegasus would do if they are to be engaged with a Unicorn.” “They are going to Ignore them,” Rainbow Dash shrugged her head, “Pegasi do have the high ground advantage when it comes to engaging the Unicorn, or an Earth Pony for that matter Pinkie Pie snorted through her teeth which caused the others to raise an eyebrow at her. “Sorry,” she said. “It's just an inside joke.” Rainbow's reply didn't discourage Twilight from forcing out the answer,  “Unicorns can shoot lightning, with the help of the magical arts.” “So can the Pegasi, and we don't even need the clouds to do it,” Said Rainbow Dash with the boastful smirk that's been plastered on her face. ”It's just the natural weather magic.” Twilight could sense that partially what Rainbow had been saying was complete horsefeathers, that, or she would need to brush up on the restricted section in the Canterlot library when she comes back to town. “Dash, please just answer the question,” Twilight said in the calmest voice possible. “Fine,” Rainbow Dash sighed, “The engagement protocol of the ancient tribal warfare dictates to engage and neutralize the wizards with the extreme prejudice. I am sorry Twi, but I would be forced to break your horn if it ever would come to that. Which I am saying that I don't really want to think about.” Twilight Sparkle was slightly shocked that Rainbow Dash would resort to address it in such a personal manner, “That’s, that actually makes sense in a very disturbing kind of way. But anyway, I didn't realize that you studied the ancient warfare of the three tribes.” “Well, you probably know that yourself but I always thought that history classes are not that boring, and the best thing about them they are one of the easiest classes.” At this point Applejack who had chosen to remain silent, decided to voice her concern, “Uh, girls! Shoot, I really didn't want to say nothin’, but I think we just arrived at our destination.” True to her words the ponies had been standing in front of giant megastructure which would seem to be buried deep in the snow and ice. “I don’t know what it is, but that looks really awesome.” Twilight sighed, she didn't need to guess to whom that voice belonged, “Alright girls, you know the drill, if everything would go wrong then it would probably be in this particular time frame.” With that, she ignited her lightsaber with a loud snap. a few moments later Rarity ignited hers as well. Out of all ponies, Pinkie Pie snapped at her, “Just why would you even...” “What? All I am saying is that if any conflicts are going to happen it will probably happen here.” “Well yeah, but you just, don't you even understand what you just did.” Twilight could hear the amount of frustration in the voice of her friend, even so, she used the same exact voice that she used when talking with Rainbow Dash. “Pinkie Pie a work of fiction does not follow the same rules of the real-life world.” Pinkie Pie facehooved herself, “We are…” she shook her head, “never mind that, let’s just go to our possible doom.” “There's not going to be any doom,” everypony booked at the source of yet another voice of their now familiar guide. “Trust me. I know, I was there before, you know, and I survived.” “Yeah, it's very suspicious, it almost like you are leading us into a trap! Is it a trap?” Pinkie Pie jumped next to Starlight which then caused her to jump in fright. “Pinkie Pie!” almost instantaneously something inside of Twilight's eyes flashed dangerously, which then caused an over-enthusiastic pink pony to back away. A few seconds later the spark in Twilight’s eyes abruptly vanished causing her to shake her head. “I know that you are trying hard sometimes, but now is not the time.” Both Rarity and Starlight quickly glanced at Twilight, both with different degrees of concern. “Like I was saying we are not going to be in any danger. This place had been dead for a long time...” “Did somepony died?” Fluttershy meekly voiced her own question. Everypony briefly glanced at her, and then returned their attention to Starlight who by that point closed her eyes. “There are a few dead skeletons everywhere on the superstructure, but I would guess some of them just died on the spot when that thing crashed into the ground.” “You would guess?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Its, Uh... Its well... you can examine the bodies of the dead aliens for yourself, Princess. My opinion on the matter was just a theoretical assumption.” “Good enough for me,” nodded Twilight. “So, how would we find the entrance?” “Right through that big hole over there,” Starlight quickly pointed towards what looked like something punched a giant hole into a hull of the megastructure like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Oh right, of course,” Twilight pouted and then briefly glanced towards Rarity, as well as towards everypony else “After you your highness.” Twilight briefly threw a blank look at Starlight, and this time she just trotted right into the ship, lightsaber casually levitating in the air. The others soon followed her lead. Several minutes later the ponies continued to walk inside of the shipwreck, that is until one particular pony voiced her question. “So, what do you think happened to this piece of junk?” “It fell from the sky and then crash-landed on the planet, Rainbow Dash. It happened approximately long, long time ago.” Rainbow Dash could feel slight annoyance radiating from Twilight like the answer wasn't obvious enough on its own. “Well, doh! I mean what specifically happened to it?” Twilight sighed, “That I don’t know. Any ideas on that Starlight?” Starlight’s ear's slightly twitched in response, “Oh, um, I didn’t really pay any attention when I was the last time here. And I wasn't really interested in the exploring, that heap of unidentified metal.” Twilight once again couldn't help it, but she raised an  eyebrow in surprise, “But, you have a basic idea of where everything was before you grabbed that thing.” Starlight slightly flinched at the idea,“You could say that I just stumbled on what looked like a storage area, grabbed a completely random thing and then run off.” Starlight ears twitched again, “It was to damn scary to be alone in here. I felt like something had been watching me.” “Hm...” Twilight only hoped that whatever it was wouldn't be much of an issue. In any case, everything was a bit to quiet for her liking, “I guess no one is home, otherwise we would have met someone already.” “Something,” automatically corrected her Starlight, "We would have met something, your highness.” “Stop calling me that!” Twilight suddenly shouted, which then caused others to glance at her. “Quiet!” Shushed Pinkie Pie, “We don't want to attract the unwanted attention.” “Sorry,” Twilight blushed feeling ashamed of her outburst. “Gotta agree with Pinkie on that one Twi, I don’t really want to meet those strange critters from outer space. If there are any here of course.” Twilight nodded her own head and then shifted into the back of her mind, You've been awfully quiet ever since we stepped in inside of this ship Aren't you a bit excited to be here once again. Oh, believe me, I am. it's just I can really place my hoof on it from which era this particular ship is. Twilight heard Nightmare Moon reply to her. What the hey does that mean? From what I could tell from such a generous commentary of our guide, the ship probably operated by the mixture of living beings and droids, but I suppose droids were an extremely common feature on this ship. The one thing that, I suppose confuses me, is that she mentioned some alien corpses scattered on the ship. Why don’t we go and have a closer look, at where exactly this ship came from. Twilight sighed, Alright, I will probably regret this decision much letter but alright, I will see if I have time.