//------------------------------// // New Worlds // Story: Amber Ashes // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// Fluttershy’s wings felt like they were on fire – all she was trying to do was fly, why was it so difficult? Painful? Clank, clank, clank. She pushed the aggravating tone of the gears out of her mind, trying to focus on her wings. She needed to… flap… harder… Why did her armor feel like it was getting heavier? That didn’t make any sense! “FLUTTERSHY!” Rainbow shouted. “GET RARITY AS FAST AS YOU CAN!” Fluttershy sensed the desperate urgency in Rainbow’s voice and acted. She allowed her wings to go limp, canceling her upward motion. She pulled out her grappling hook and launched it at the falling, unconscious form of Rarity. The hook flew true, leaving a streak of blue, sputtering magic as it flew. Had it been working properly, it would have snugly wrapped around Rarity and brought her back. As it was, the hook moved in alarming, erratic motions that violently tied a rope around Rarity’s stomach, prompting a gag reflex. But Rarity was no longer in danger of breaking every bone in her body when she landed on the dirt below. Now Fluttershy had to worry about herself. Her armor felt like an anvil tied to her body, and her wings felt dead. She flooded all the magic she could into her limbs, but all she got were sparks that barely altered her momentum at all. She was falling toward a large metal gear’s flat side, so all she had to worry about was keeping her bones from breaking. Roll. Conserve your momentum. She twisted her body into a gentle spin so her back hooves would land first. With a careful, calculated motion, she angled herself forward. When her hooves slammed into the bronze gear, she rolled instead of pulverizing her bones. The impact was still painful, but she avoided a fractured bone through her efforts. She held tight to the grappling hook, the tool pressed tightly to her chest. It was still reeling Rarity in, and within a few seconds had dragged her limp form over the edge of the gear. Fluttershy ran to her. Her armor may have suddenly been exceptionally heavy, but that was only a problem if she was trying to fly. Here, on the ground, she had more than enough strength in her legs to move with it. Her first instinct was to check Rarity’s vitals with a magic spell, but her wings weren’t cooperating. She opted to check Rarity’s pulse, finding a strong, albeit aggravated, beat in her neck. Rarity was safe. Fluttershy looked around for Rainbow Dash, seeing the pegasus trying to make her way to them by jumping across various gears. She was fine. She wasn’t using her wings… Fluttershy examined her wings. Something was wrong - they had no magic flowing through them, and she doubted she could fly even if she removed her armor. They simply weren’t providing lift anymore. And her enchanted grappling hook hadn’t quite worked properly… She moved to pick the tool up. It wouldn’t stick to her hoof. “What…?” “I couldn’t find the thief,” Rainbow said, walking up to her. “I can’t pick up this grappling hook,” Fluttershy said, tapping the tool a few more times in disbelief. “What in the name of Saturn…?” “Wow. We’re in a true mundane universe.” Rainbow sighed. “That means no magic. Including traction hooves.” “…We use magic to hold things?” “Yeah. What, you didn’t think being able to grab things with a flat, bony thing on the end of your leg was natural did you?” “But… Everypony does it! It’s just…” Fluttershy took a breath and let it out. “So… there’s no magic here.” “That’s right,” Rainbow said. “We used all the magic we brought with us trying to survive that teleport. …Which probably went wrong because there wasn’t enough magic on the other side, but I’m no wizard.” “That’s probably a good bet,” Fluttershy said, turning back to Rarity. Her horn was exposed and the coverings on her face had fallen off in the action, revealing a painful grimace. “She needs magic…” “Unicorns can survive without it.” “She’s in so much pain…” “It’ll pass, from what I’ve seen.” Fluttershy sighed, feeling inadequate without her healing magic. Rarity would just have to suffer. “So… where are we?” “I have no idea.” Fluttershy looked around, taking in the immense expanse of gears. Virtually every surface was a giant gear or was related to the motion of the gears in some way. Smaller cogs turned constantly, providing an eternal background whirr to the world. The larger ones moved only with the clank clank clank that resonated with more intensity above them, a bit like the ticking of a clock. Everything was either bronze, a bright white light, or brown dirt on the ground far, far below. At least there’s a bottom to this thing, even if there might not be a top… “Have you ever seen anything like this?” Fluttershy asked. “Not exactly,” Rainbow admitted. “There are worlds that are ‘endless’ repeating patterns of buildings, trees, scenery, the like. I’ve never seen one made entirely of gears.” “Could we be inside a larger structure?” “Maybe? We’d have to move around to find out. And without magic, we aren’t exactly… nimble.” Fluttershy’s hooves may have been useless – but her wings weren’t. She folded one of them around the grappling hook to pick it up. “This works as a normal grappling hook without magic. It can take us where we need to go. The rest of my weapons – aside from the guns – should work as well.” Rainbow nodded. “The dimensional device and my pulse cannon should still work. They’re designed to be all-purpose.” “Pulse cannon?” Rainbow lifted up her hoof, gesturing at the rectangular device strapped to it. “It’s a stunning weapon. Works almost anywhere.” Fluttershy nodded. “So… which way?” “The thief went up,” Rainbow said. “…I’m not sure we can move up with Rarity like this. And if the thief’s smart at all, she’d change directions the moment she was out of my sight.” “So we have no idea where she is.” “Yeah. I doubt she’ll be able to use the dimensional device though. It’s currently set to this universe, and she wouldn’t know how to set it elsewhere. She’s stuck here, just like us.” “What if she’s from here?” Fluttershy asked. “…I doubt it. Pegasus wings don’t work here.” “Hmm…” In the silence, the clank clank clank resonated within their minds. “That is going to drive me crazy,” Rainbow hissed. “Let’s head to the ground. Less moving gears, and it might be quieter.” They carefully tied Rarity up in the grappling hook’s rope. It took significantly longer to do that with just their mouths and their wings, but they managed. Slowly, cautiously, they descended to the dirt below, accompanied only by the endless clank clank clank of the gears. ~~~ Pinkie screamed as the reptilian monster dove to eat Applejack. Applejack, on the other hoof, had enough awareness about her to duck to the side and equip a metal spike from her toolkit. The monster had not been expecting a metallic spike to its jaw, so it took the full brunt of the attack with a massive screech. That attack would have killed or seriously injured a pony. To this monster, the spike was comparable to getting stabbed with a tack. Beyond painful, but not exactly damaging. Pinkie took a few steps back. She needed to run, she wasn’t a fighter. She was just a silly mare who liked books! This was too much. But Applejack… Applejack was in danger. Even though Pinkie barely knew her, she knew it would be wrong to leave her behind. They were a team. They needed to stick together. Pinkie took a breath to calm herself – failing to do so, but she did manage to keep herself from running while screaming at the top of her lungs. She stood in place, shivering. All she could think to do was glare and shout at the creature. “Back off you big meanie!” The monster ignored her, opening its mouth in an attempt to devour Applejack again. “Tsk, should have listened to the pink one.” Twilight cast a massive laser spell that erupted from her horn with enough force to shake the ground. The monster’s head took the brunt of the attack, barely having a moment to screech before reducing to dust. The now headless reptile wobbled for a bit before falling down, dead. Pinkie suddenly felt very, very useless. Twilight blew the smoke off her horn. “This adventure has been a great workout for my magic.” “That was just a workout!?” Pinkie hadn’t said that, and neither had Applejack. Rather, it had come from a red unicorn stallion in black armor sitting in a nearby tree. His jaw was square and he had a truly absurd number of swords strapped to his back. “Yep!” Twilight said, standing proud. “Got anything bigger for me?” “Uh… yeah.” The stallion jumped down from the tree, joined by another red unicorn in similar black armor, though this one was a mare equipped with what Pinkie identified as guns, but glowing with what was probably ‘magic’. “We totally could have handled that on our own, though.” “My companions were in need of assistance.” “Why did you take them out with you, then, fellow hunter?” “We’re lost,” Pinkie said. “She’s also not a hunter,” the armored mare said, taking a few steps forward, letting everypony see her skeptical face clearly. “You have far too much magic within you. What are you?” “I am Twilight Sparkle.” “And I am Red Riot, and this is my brother Red Rage. We are hunters. What are you?” “A really, really good wizard.” Red Riot furrowed her brow. “I don’t think she’s buying it,” Pinkie whispered. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Right, you want to know what I am… Eh, I’ve been hiding like this for long enough, might as well put on a show. Prepare your eyeballs!” With a flash of light from her horn, Twilight floated into the air. Her body stretched until she was thin, graceful, and twice the height of any sane pony. With a shimmering burst of sparks, two immense feathered wings popped out of her back, shining like the stars themselves. Her mane and tail extended considerably, becoming ribbons of nebula mixed with swirling ethereal galaxies. Four silver shoes appeared on her hooves, and a sparkling crown materialized on her head just above her absurdly sharp horn. Pinkie’s jaw dropped. Alicorns aren’t real, her brain told her. She mentally beat that part of her brain up for being so dumb at a moment like this. “I am Empress Twilight Sparkle of Unity,” Twilight said, her voice the same as it had been before. “I am the immortal of ponykind and a force for peace in my galaxy.” Rage, Riot, Applejack, and Pinkie only stared at her. “And this is why it’s usually better to be a unicorn. Gawking takes up so much time.” Riot recovered first, shaking her head. “Right. Sounds like you have quite the story to tell. I’ll want to hear it on our way back to Musk – staying here just isn’t safe.” “Talk about myself for the duration of a road trip?” Twilight smirked. “Psh, who would do that?” “You,” Applejack deadpanned. “Yeah. Me,” Twilight chuckled. “Lead the way, and I shall tell you the history of the galaxy and Unity…” “I… I never asked you what your story was!” Pinkie realized. “I told you everything about my life but never… How could I be so oblivious?” “To be fair, I was trying to avoid talking about myself,” Twilight admitted. “Ponies tend not to respond amiably to the overbearing space queen.” Pinkie looked at the purple alicorn before her. She was so tall, so imposing, so… majestic. “You… you’re so… you don’t even need us, do you?” “Not really, no!” Twilight said with a smile. “But it’s nice to have company, and you two are related to this whole world-bending business somehow, so why wouldn’t I keep you around?” “Ahem!” Riot called. “Maybe we should get moving?” Twilight rolled her eyes. “If you insist. I could blow anything in this forest to oblivion, but if it’ll make you feel better…” She flapped her wings, jumping after the Red siblings with a soft glide. “…Why are we even here?” Pinkie asked, aloud. “To listen to Twilight,” Applejack said, passing Pinkie with her eerily mechanical walk. “But… we’re supposed to be a team! Work together! Like… I don’t know, like a proper adventure!” Applejack shot her a confused look. “…Never mind…” Dejected, Pinkie followed after them. ~~~ Rarity woke up with a headache. It no longer felt like her horn had folded backward and rammed itself through her brain, but it was still painful enough to make her groan. “Oh, you’re awake!” Rainbow carefully removed Rarity from her back, setting her on the dirt below. Fluttershy trotted over, concern evident on her face. “How are you doing?” Clank clank clank. “Can somepony shut off that infernal ticking?” Rarity whined, slowly bringing herself to a standing position. “Sorry, no can do.” Rainbow pointed at the gears all around them. “We’re in the ticking.” “…Joy…” Rarity muttered. “What happened while I was out?” “We lost the thief and discovered that this universe has no magic in it at all. That’s why you have a headache. Hooves don’t work, and neither do Fluttershy’s enchantments or our wings.” Rarity checked herself over. The cloth she usually had over her head was long gone, though she retained her goggles. She tried to remove them with her telekinesis at first but quickly discovered that wouldn’t work. Right. No magic… She had to carefully press her hooves to the side of her face and peel off the goggles. It was exceptionally difficult to hold the accessory on her flat, hard hooves. So this is what she meant by “hooves don’t work”. She was able to slide the goggles into the rags surrounding her midsection. For the first time in a long while, Rarity’s face was completely uncovered and her mane wasn’t styled to hide her horn. She wished she had the magic to deal with that… “Wow,” Fluttershy said. “You actually… look nice.” Rarity allowed herself the smallest of smiles. “Thanks. I was told I was a mare of considerable grace when I was young. Haven’t had the opportunity to think about it in a while.” Rainbow spoke up. “You also look like you need a nap, even though you just had one.” “Some mares are just tired…” Rarity answered halfheartedly, focusing most of her awareness on the world around them. They were currently on the ground, surrounded by the soft dirt upon which the entire mess of gears rested. She appreciated the feel of healthy, moist soil beneath her hooves. It was a great change from the desert sands, and she would not doubt be immensely thankful for it if she didn’t have a gaping hole in her soul where magic should have been. “Why?” “Why what?” Fluttershy asked. “Why all these… gears?” She pressed a hoof to a nearby brass beam that held up a gear far above them. “What do they do?” “I dunno,” Rainbow admitted. “Keep the world running without magic? Nothing?” “Maybe it really is a clock,” Fluttershy suggested. Rarity furrowed her brow. “Do we have any way to find the thief?” Both pegasi shook their heads. “So we may need to find a way to survive. Without magic, we will need access to water and food.” “I found water already,” Rainbow said. “A few of these pipes have it running through them. No food yet.” Rarity stamped the soil beneath her. “Nothing growing at all?” Rainbow grunted. “Rarity, we’ve been wandering for hours, if there was something growing here we would have found it.” “Right…” Rarity continued to look around, taking in the surroundings, looking for anything useful. And then she saw it. An earth pony in metallic boots and goggles holding a wrench in an elastic strap. He saw her at the same time she saw him. He took off in a run. “There’s a pony!” Rarity shouted, pushing through her fatigue, entering a gallop. Fluttershy and Rainbow didn’t need any further prompting: they jumped into action, though Fluttershy was significantly slowed by her armor. To Rarity’s annoyance, Rainbow was galloping faster than she was, overtaking her with ease. Rarity forced herself to swallow her pride and not push herself beyond what was reasonable. Let Rainbow have her little victory, being the fastest pony wasn’t really worth bragging about to begin with. “Fastest pony alive!” Rainbow shouted with glee, running even faster. I swear I am going to punch that mare in the face before the day is out. The three of them snaked through a maze of brass poles, gears, and railings, kicking up significant amounts of dust in the process, though nowhere near as much as one would in the desert they had left not too long ago. Suddenly, Rainbow stopped in her tracks, wings flaring. Rarity made sure to skid to a stop right next to her. “What is it?” Rainbow pointed at a tree. Not just any tree, an apple tree brimming with red fruit. Arranged around it in a circle were several smaller trees that weren’t old enough to bear fruit and a few dozen earth ponies all wearing mechanic getups similar to the one she’d seen on the fleeing stallion. There wasn’t a pegasus or unicorn among them, but unlike so many earth pony towns Rarity had seen in her life everypony here looked… happy. It was uncanny: many of them moved in precise, creepy time, matching the clank clank clank perfectly while others moved to their own beat. All enjoyed the green of the apple tree and the fruit it offered. Fluttershy arrived, collapsing in a heap, nearly hyperventilating. “I’m… here… what did I… miss?” She saw the tree. “Oh. A tree. That’s nice…” “You know what a tree is?” Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy looked to their left at a small mare with a big smile. To nopony’s surprise, she was wearing a similar getup to all the other ponies. “Uh, yeah, who doesn’t?” Rainbow asked. “Me, a few kilocycles ago,” the mare said. “I also don’t know what those things sprouting out of your back are, or all the stuff the yellow one is wearing… you’re new. And that’s exciting!” Her smile widened even further. “Hi! I’m Dust! I’m the manager for this sector of the Mesh!” She shook Rarity’s hoof without even waiting for her to offer it and laughed. “I have no idea what any of this means but I’m ready to find out!”