Keep on scouting using stealth. Sniping targets from a distance if necessary. 77%
Research log #590
We did it!
We should have done this from the start and avoided this entire mess altogether. To recap the last eleven days, after taking apart the device, readings that hadn't been making sense for over one and a half years just snapped into place!
All my research has been focused on trying to figure out what kind of complicated spellwork made up the device, but that was bound to fail due to the way the device works! The reason we couldn't figure out how the machine worked was that it's not based on spellwork but a system that feeds currents of electricity into a matrix of alicorn to create a mass-less bridge to a point far away from the device!
The only hurdle we face now is identifying what kind of power source the device has and charging it for another jump so we can send somepony after Fluttershy.
-Twilight Sparkle
Twilight put the paper back down on her desk. She had been so excited when she wrote the log. Had she only known what kind of monstrous task it would be to get the device working again, then she would have been much more reserved about her chances.
It had taken only a couple of days to figure out what part of the machine was responsible for powering the device. What they found hadn't been too encouraging.
Whatever was powering the device was so advanced that even the most theoretical of Equestria's physics couldn't exactly explain how the power source worked. The theory that came closest to explaining the device was one thought up by a unicorn called Particle Bit who had written a thesis that claimed the world was built out of billions of small bits of various types, but he had been shunned by the scientific community because they found his theory too ridiculous to be true. This didn't make tracking the stallion down any easier, as after he moved out of Canterlot he practically vanished.
Not that this fact discouraged Twilight in any way as after a month of searching and following paper trails she found him working in a grocery store. The first time she had met him he had fervently denied having any involvement with anything physics related. Luckily, after some convincing, he realized Twilight hadn't come to mock him and took her to his apartment to show the work he had kept doing. In the few years of his self-imposed exile, he had continued his work and refined it, devising various experiments that proved his theory.
Twilight, knowing that his theory might be instrumental to unlocking the secrets of the device, got him a position on her research team. What she hadn't known back then was that even with the stallion's help it would take a total of two and a half years—from the moment of Fluttershy’s disappearance to now—to gain enough of an understanding of the device to find out what kind of fuel it needed, how to produce that fuel, and how to kick-start the power source.
The device's generator in the most basic of terms used two of the smallest bits of matter and smashed them together to generate energy. To create this bit wasn't too hard. Water contained two of the small bits along with one air bit which could be separated using magically generated electricity... if done in small quantities.
A large problem with the newly discovered material was that it had a habit of exploding if exposed to flames or electrical sparks and storing it seemed to be nigh impossible as it seemed to leak through everything. It had taken Twilight and her small team a long time to design a machine that was capable of creating and storing the new 'flammable air' they had discovered in relevant quantities.
Constructing the machine brought another problem to the table as Equestria did not have anything close to the necessary components being manufactured by existing industry, so it would all need to be custom crafted. For that they needed griffin engineers. The thing is, griffin engineers are expensive, very expensive.
At some point, the costs of the project had gotten so high that Celestia buckled to pressure from the nobles and had intervened, cutting the amount of funds Twilight could use. The unicorn hated it with a burning passion. She intellectually knew Celestia was right to stop her from plundering the treasury, but emotionally she only cared about getting back her friend.
But after the painstakingly slow progress and many cycles of production, they had made enough of the material to fill the device's reserves and were able to put it back together. Twilight had been extremely thankful for her habit of religiously maintaining her notes. It had ensured they had a step by step guide of how to reconstruct the entire device to the most minute detail. Something that had taken a lot of time itself but definitely had yielded its results, the device standing proudly on its raised platform with the blue energy encased alicorn swirling in its center.
"Twilight, would you mind coming with me? My sister and I have something we want to talk to you about." The voice was that of Celestia. Twilight looked over at Particle Bit and the few other pony researchers that the unicorn had hoof picked from Canterlot University to help her with the project. The ponies shrugged and went back to work, indicating that they had no problem with their head-researcher leaving.
"What's it about?" Twilight asked as she followed Celestia out of the structure, passing a number of royal guards that had come with the princesses. Not that the site didn't have its own small attachment of guards—they were in the Everfree forest after all—but the royal guard wouldn't let the princesses go anywhere without what they considered adequate protection.
"In just a moment," the princess told her as she lit her horn and teleported both Twilight and herself away from the ruin. The two appeared in the throne room of the old castle of the two sisters where Luna was already waiting for them. "Now Twilight, before we can speak I must ask you to allow me to place a geas on you so you cannot speak of this to others."
"What happened to Honesty? That aspect of harmony not important anymore?" Twilight said bitterly. Her relationship with the princess had soured a bit due to Twilight being of the opinion that the princess shouldn't have caved to the nobles' pressure on her funding.
"Twilight-"
"Just get it over with, Princess," Twilight responded, cutting the princess off. It looked like Celestia wanted to respond but held her mouth shut and sighed, lighting her horn and placing the geas on Twilight.
"What we are about to tell thee has not been spoken of even between us and our sister for over ten thousand years," Luna said as she sensed that Celestia had finished her spellwork. Twilight went a bit pale as she felt a bit of regret at her crass behavior towards the solar princess.
"What is it about?" Twilight asked both the princesses.
"When we were born or created, we still don't know which one of the two is true, my sister and I were given the task to maintain something called 'The Array' by our father and mother," Celestia started. Twilight wanted to summon a feather and notepad to take notes but the geas killed the summoning spell immediately. Twilight grumbled as she accepted that she wouldn't be able to do anything with the given information other than think about it. "The Array is a protective field around the planet that effectively hides it from any outside observers. The sun, moon, and stars you see in the sky aren't true astronomical objects but a projection on this Array."
Twilight's jaw by this point had hit the floor. The fact that the princesses moved the celestial bodies was an undisputed fact among the magicians' community. The two princesses admitting that they did nothing of the sort ripped one of Twilight's fundamental beliefs right off its supports and had it crashing down. "T-the sun... and m-moon aren't... Why are you even telling me this?"
"Because when thine friend, the Element of Kindness, used that device, it punched a hole in the Array," Luna said gravely. "A hole we cannot fix, only patch, as the knowledge pertaining to the creation of the Array died with our parents."
"What this means is that, if the next pony being sent through results in the same damage as it occured when Fluttershy went through, we cannot allow you to further proceed with this project," Celestia finished for her sister. Twilight swallowed as all the blood had drained from her face, making it look extremely pale.
"Then I better make this one count, shouldn’t I?" the unicorn said nervously, both princesses nodding in agreement.
"Let us return to the device to decide who gets sent into the darkness of the universe to find thine friend," Luna said as this time it was her who lit her horn and teleported the three back down to the device. As they appeared, the guards were frantically running around and getting orders from Shining Armor to pack up and organize search parties. The captain stopped as he noticed the two princesses along with her sister and approached them.
"Princess Celestia, you should not run off without your guard, and Princess Luna, I was not informed that you had left Canterlot in the first place!" Shining said as he bowed in front of the royalty.
"Thank you for your concern, Captain, but the matters we discussed with your sister required princess Luna to be present. I will not speak of this any further, so I ask you to gather the ponies required for the meeting," Celestia told Shining who grimaced but obeyed the order he had gotten.
"Captains Spitfire and Darkwing are already present at the table along with the Element Bearers," Shining told the princess, escorting the three towards a large round table that was set up in the inner chamber that also housed the device.
"Princesses," the two other captains acknowledged as they stood up from their chairs. The thestral, Darkwing, bowing deeply while Spitfire saluted the monarchs.
"At ease, captains. I'm sure it would be appreciated if we did not draw out this meeting too much," Celestia said as she eyed the Element Bearers and Twilight sat down on a chair next to Rainbow and Pinkie.
The purple unicorn looked over at her brother, the Wonderbolt captain, and the Night Guard captain and noticed that none of them were wearing their usual attire. Shining and Darkwing were wearing plate armor that, at first glance, would look like their normal armor, but a closer inspection would show something much different. For one, the plates were much thicker than the usual armor and the attachment points for weapons were something ceremonial armor simply didn't have. Spitfire also differed in uniform as she wasn't wearing her wonderbolt outfit or dress suit but a black garment of sorts that had a plethora of filled little pockets, not to mention the large knife and wingblades she was wearing.
"Yes, we should get this started. I'm sure that you have been briefed on the situation regarding my friend, the Element of Kindness, before this, so I won't repeat what happened to her. We're here to discuss which one of you will make the trip to wherever the device takes you," Twilight said. Dash immediately shot up in protest.
"What! Are you saying that we aren't we going after Fluttershy?!" The pegasus protested, Twilight sighed as this was one of the points where the unicorn agreed with the princesses.
"We need a professional for this one, Dash. Fluttershy has been gone for two years and is most likely long gone from wherever she ended up. The captains are among the most experienced trackers we have to offer and have acted as diplomats on occasion, so they're the best equipped for this. I'm also not sure if we can send more than three ponies up along with the equipment to try and come back. My calculations get wacky if there's more than two," Twilight argued, Rainbow only getting angrier because of this.
"We're her friends, Twilight! If there's anyone around this table right now that should be using that device, it's one of us!" Dash shouted.
"ENOUGH! The decision is not thine to make!" Luna bellowed in the Royal Canterlot Voice, but Dash was far past the point of backing down.
"HORSESHIT! I'll stay LOYAL to my friend whether you want it or NOT!" Dash raged back and jumped off her chair, making a beeline for the device. Twilight saw the world slow down as the device immediately reacted to the approaching pegasus and activated, the rings in its center increasing the speed at which they rotated. Everyone froze, not exactly certain what was about to happen. Only the bearers knew as they had seen it happen once before two years earlier.
With time rapidly running out and no way of removing Dash from the device's influence, Twilight had to make a quick decision who to send along with the enraged pegasus. To be honest, her calculations hadn't just broken down at sending three ponies but at two as well, only to a lesser degree. It might be safer for Dash to be sent away completely on her own.
Come on, Twilight, THINK! Who to send along with Dash, if anyone!
1. [Send no-one. It's too dangerous]
2. Send Shining.
3. Send Spitfire.
4. Send Darkwing.