Chapter 3
Rainbow Dash rolled over in bed with the intention of cuddling with Twilight, Only to wake herself up upon discovering that Twilight was no longer there. Rainbow Dash sat up and looked around. She realised that she heard voices from down stairs. Rainbow Dash rose from the bed and trotted down the stairs.
‘What’s going on down here?’ Rainbow Dash asked sleepily. She looked out to discover Lyra, Bon Bon, Trixie, Braeburn, Big McIntosh, and Derpy Hooves... or Ditzy Doo, whatever she was calling herself now, though Rainbow Dash had barely recognised her thanks to the fact that her eyes were straight, and the fact that she was clad in Canterlot Police Service CO19 riot barding and a schäferhund storm harness.
‘Rainbow Dash’, Twilight said. ‘Come, sit down with us’.
Rainbow Dash complied and trotted down the stairs, joining the seven ponies that were already there. ‘What’s going on?’ she asked again.
‘You remember me telling you about the final battle in the Old World?’ Twilight asked.
‘You gave me the gist of it... I think it was enough’, Rainbow Dash said.
Twilight frowned and just shook her head. ‘I think it’s time we all heard the whole thing’.
...
Pinkie Pie was fast asleep in her bed, dreaming, as she usually did, of Twilight Sparkle and her spending time together. In her dream, the two ponies were in Pinkie Pie’s workshop in the basement of Sugarcube Corner doing science.
In her dream, Pinkie Pie was in the process of mixing some kind of nameless miracle solution that would turn water into wine, and lead into gold, while Twilight Sparkle watched her looking impressed.
‘Wow, Pinkie Pie, I never realised just how smart you actually are!’ the dream Twilight said.
Pinkie Pie grinned as she turned around to look at Twilight. ‘I’m full of surprises!’
Speaking of surprises, for some odd reason, Surprise was sitting in the corner attempting to eat a stick of dynamite, but of course, being a dream, Pinkie Pie didn’t question the fact that it was out of the ordinary or even the least bit dangerous for somepony to be doing that.
Twilight trotted up to Pinkie Pie and placed her foreleg around her. ‘You know, I really do love a mare with a good head on her shoulders’, she said with a wink.
‘Oh Twilight, come on, I’m not as smart as you!’ Pinkie Pie said.
‘Well, we can’t all be perfect’, Twilight said with a grin, she leaned in close to give Pinkie Pie a kiss, but just before their lips met, Pinkie Pie awoke.
She sat up in bed and glanced around at her surroundings and frowned in disappointment. Then the guilt started to set in. This was starting to become an issue, Pinkie Pie loved Twilight Sparkle... but Twilight Sparkle was with Rainbow Dash, and she couldn’t help but feel like it was disrespectful to both of them for Pinkie Pie to keep lusting over her. The problem was she didn’t know how to get it to stop.
Pinkie Pie looked around her room, Gummy was sound asleep in the far corner, but more interesting was the fact that Monty Ulan was standing at her window looking out it through a pair of binoculars.
‘Monty? What are you doing? Don’t you ever sleep?’ Pinkie Pie asked.
‘Of course I do, Pinkie Pie’, Monty said. ‘I just can’t afford to right now, DI Auditore has been at Vinyl Scratch’s home all night and won’t leave town! I can’t run the risk of her coming in here and finding me!’
‘Because I’m sure she’s going to burst into my bedroom in the middle of the night and drag you away’, Pinkie Pie said in an uncharacteristically sarcastic tone for the pink party pony.
‘You can’t be too careful... oh look, it’s another robot! Or, actually... that might be the same one that went by an hour ago, I’m not sure’, Monty said.
‘You’re weird’, Pinkie Pie said.
‘You are one to talk’, Monty snapped back. ‘Okay, it’s definitely the same robot that went by an hour ago; it’s got that dent in it from when I threw rocks at it’.
Pinkie Pie shrugged. According to what Twilight had told her, Monty Ulan had never been the most stable of ponies in the world, something that Pinkie Pie had figured out late yesterday evening when he crawled through Sugarcube Corner’s kitchen window and begged her to hide him from Detective Inspector Auditore. Though, Pinkie Pie wasn’t exactly sure who that was, only that she wanted to take him to Manehattan against his will. Something about him apparently stealing things and disconnecting train cars.
Pinkie Pie had let him stay, of course, how could she not? She thought back to the time when she had carried part of him around in her head. She still didn’t particularly understand how it happened, and apparently, neither did he, or at least, he claimed not to. Pinkie Pie wasn’t going to push him for answers. The Old World had been hard for the earth pony.
Pinkie Pie rolled back over in her bed and made her way back to sleep, she’d leave her house guest to his... whatever he was doing.
...
The Pegasus pony trotted down the tunnel towards his destination. At the end of the tunnel was the steel door to the Everfree Plains Ballistic Research and Development Facility. The pony through the switch on the control console and took a step back as two hazard lights began to flash. A small buzzing alarm went off, and the air filled with the hiss of steam. Something from the inside pulled the metal gear back, creating a deafening screech as metal grinded against metal.
The doorway was open, free for Legion to trot inside. He took his first steps inside the missile base, not even phased in the slightest as the door began to side shut behind him.
Three robots identical to the ones that visited him late in the night, not a few days ago appeared from nowhere and swarmed around him. They all began to look over him for a few seconds, saying nothing.
‘We came, as requested’, Legion said simply.
‘Excellent!’ harked the same voice that had spoken to him a few days prior. ‘Please, come down to the control room. I have something that I think you will be very interested in seeing’.
Legion nodded, he followed the spritebots to the control room, where he got his first glimpse at his host.
The glowing green screen of the EPMB mainframe terminal, displaying the picture of Emerald Sparkle, she was giving off a sort of half smile as she beckoned him into the room, or at least, the picture was, it did not change with her mood.
‘Welcome to EPMB, Whirlwind’, Emerald Sparkle said.
‘We are not Whirlwind’, Legion said. ‘Though we remember him, we are Legion, for we are many’.
‘Whatever’, Emerald Sparkle said nonchalantly. ‘In any case, I am glad you were able to come, taking time out of your obviously... busy schedule. I’ve been watching you for some time. You haven’t exactly been keeping a low profile, so it was rather easy’.
‘We have no need to sneak about Equestria’, Legion said. ‘We go where the ones we remember are, and we unify them under us, we reduce redundancy’.
‘Yes I know... you’re not exactly very good at it, though, are you? Graham Cracker? Surprise? Ulixes? Pips Domino?’
‘We do not remember Pips Domino. He is irrelevant’, Legion said simply. ‘The others are... minor setbacks’.
‘”Minor setbacks” indeed, face it, you’re not very good at making your enemies dead and stay dead’, Emerald Sparkle said in a mocking tone.
‘We are not the ones who require help with our goals; we can turn around and leave’, Legion said simply and began to turn towards the door.
‘Very well. Please, stay, I know that you will want to see this’, Emerald Sparkle said.
Legion turned back around towards the mainframe terminal, and discovered the picture had changed to a different setting all together; he walked back over towards it and looked up. Emerald Sparkle was right, the information being displayed before him... this was going to be useful.
...
Rainbow Dash blinked a few times after Twilight finished her story. The only reason that they had been able to win in the old world had been thanks to the ghosts of her and Fluttershy. That was a little hard to swallow. Rainbow Dash didn’t remember any of it.
‘You’re taking it quite well’, Twilight said with nervous smile.
‘I...’ Rainbow Dash began. ‘I don’t know what to think about this’.
‘Neither do we’, Ditzy Doo said. ‘One moment we’re running for our lives away from Ponyville... because Vinyl Scratch is about to do something stupid, then a bright flash of light and we all wake up in new lives in a Ponyville never touched by the conflict?’
Rainbow Dash shrugged. ‘Well, on the plus side, at least that sounds like Vinyl Scratch’.
Derpy let out a small sigh. ‘Yes unfortunately it does’.