The storm quickly let up. It didn't last too long but it still left its small damages. Such as to Dawn's Hooves when she took one step out the door afterwards and into a puddle of mud. Great.
She grimaced and scuffed her hoof against the wood of her house. Leave it to fate to screw her over. If things weren't at a standstill right now, she was sure she would continue to get the smallest stick in the stack. But now was not the time to cry. Now was the time to act. Sky Blue flew out with Juniper and dropped her on Dawn's back before perching herself on Dawn's head behind her horn and crown. They were ready, what about the rest of the town?
Dawn turned her attention to the rest of the houses lying quietly among the beauty of nature. Was she doing this herself?
"Are we the only ones awake?" First Light asked.
"I'm not sure," Dawn answered. "It's not smart to make estimations out here. This isn't Psera."
"Hey!" Dawn whipped around to the roof where Lucky was smiling down to her. "We've already started. Come on." Lucky flapped her wings and took back off into the air, flying into the valley to scower.
"Guess that answers that question," First Light commented.
"Yes it did." Dawn soared off the ground, expanded her wings and embraced the humid air after Lucky, over all of the green and brown of earth.
She caught up with Lucky and asked, "Any sign?"
A claw was pointed in the distance towards the mountains. "Not yet. But we are searching. Another team is walking up the mountain to see if they can make something out up there."
Dawn really hoped they would find something soon. The nagging feeling that they were running out of time ate at her mind, and it would be too late top stop the war burning under their hooves.
Progress had been slow, but assistance has been acquired. Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, and Rainbow Dash were no longer alone. Scientists, mages, and noted names from the far reaches of Equestria gathered here in the famed Castle of Friendship, a forgotten legend if they ever knew one. Now they all wore white lab coats, tinkering with the machines connected to the castle's walls, reading the data outputted by their printers, making constant adjustments that will allow them to control the Castle and the magic that flows within.
Starlight Glimmer was working on the compiler, where all the magic would converge and be expelled by the antenna pointing to the sky above them. Rainbow Dash was working on getting the magic to "explode" when it leaves that point.
Sunset Shimmer was working on getting the magic coursing through the castle to feed into the machine. The rest of those supplied their assistance wherever it was allowed or needed.
But none of it would matter if they couldn't figure out this expulsion effect. Sunset's combed over the data so many times. She's hunkered over their work table repeatedly, adding the numbers, repeating the tests to gather the data they needed. But nothing seemed to be working or adding up. The frustration was beginning to eat at their minds.
"This makes no sense," she said to herself. Everything was ready and they would be able to control the magic already flowing, as well as any additional current. So why wasn't it controlled?
She hurriedly went over their tools. Castle, artificially created magical controller, antenna. It was all here. The science behind all this was unfathomable yet accomplished. But what was missing? This frustrated all the geniuses surrounding the table.
"Maybe the controller is faulty," one suggested. "Again."
"After two replacements I highly doubt it by this point."
"Maybe it's not enough current to control?"
"No, we're over eighteen Bells, it's more than enough current. We have more than what we really need. " Sunset sighed and ran her hoof through her name. "Everypony, this is our only chance to protect ourselves against Psera. We can't screw up here; we won't get this chance again."
Starlight raised the schematics of the castle from the table, one of the many sheets littering this tabletop and read it over. They were looking at this wrong, from an angle that wouldn't help them. How did this castle work before? All the Elements of Harmony were present, but logically speaking, whether they were here or not, it always worked. The Elements were the embodiments of...
The Elements. Starlight slammed her hoof down on the table and shouted, "That's it!"
Sunset stopped her rambling. "What?"
"The Elements of Harmony. No matter what we hook up to this place, the magic inside won't work without the Elements of Harmony present. That's how it was controlled."
Sunset grew a smile so massive it would've been creepy were she not in charge. "We need to get to the Princesses. Now."
Merry Fire and Crystaltite found themselves walking alongside the Princesses. Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, seemingly the leaders of this front against control. But it was clear they were still on tense hooves. Their military occupied the halls with Equestria on one side and Psera on the other. Staring at each other with the anger and subtlety of children, waiting for another to make a move, even as their rulers crossed their sights.
"It's hard to believe," Cadance started off. "That after all this time, you have yet to see the country of Equestria. I wonder why Queen Arcadia never showed you."
"Well she did want to leave it all behind," Merry reminded them.
"It's impossible to forget. But we seemed to have made amends with Psera and their fair ruler. I was expecting things would be different. But it would seem that we are back to where we started."
Cadance stopped their progression and faced Merry. "It seems our friend is treading down the path of revenge, something Equestria does not do."
"Queen Twilight 'Arcadia Nova' Sparkle is no longer a part of Equestria," Merry sternly told them. "She rules in Psera."
"Of course. But whether she acknowledges it or not, Queen Twilight 'Arcadia Nova' Sparkle will always be a firm inspiration to Equestria and IHT's members, a name known to all here in Equestria. She is beginning to lose that name faster than she created it."
"For once, I cannot rebuke your claim," Merry admitted. She turned and continued their progression, albeit with a heavy hear and worry painting her face. "I too am concerned for Queen Arcadia's sanity and leadership. Losing both her daughter and husband to the same enemy is certainly enough to hurt a standard citizen. But Queen Arcadia lost her citizens as well. She watched them all die."
Merry stopped and faced them with a grave expression. "I've never seen fury like the fire I saw in her eyes that day. I fear the safety of the Zebras as much as you do. The reason I came here to try and coerce you to give up the Zebras is to ensure that you do not suffer the same fate as they have. We all know that Queen Arcadia's power is unmatched by any living pony out there. She is bound to do something dangerous that we cannot prevent once the action is taken. Even if it is outside of the law and Narmeelah's Tome.
Luna queried, "And how exactly are you going to stop it?"
"We cannot. We can only question her intentions and determine if it is the right action to take. If the House votes that it isn't, then we will deny the Queen's order, whatever it is."
"And if it is?"
"Then we, her military and country, will follow her judgement to the letter, and do what must be done. Psera was raised on obedience, power, defense and prosperity. This tradition will not end. Not now during this cold war, not ever."
"And what if following this order dismantles the integrity of your society and civilization?"
"Then the proper steps will be taken to get it back. Trust me, Psera knows very well how to protect themselves from unjust leaders." Merry stopped in front of a window and observed the city of Canterlot. Its citizens were flowing to and fro beneath their hooves, going about their day as if nothing else was occuring. "It's a shame really. But the process must be witheld."
Merry's words did flips inside of their minds. The clear nature of Queen Arcadia's plans had yet to reveal themselves. The attack that transmogrified an entire country into ash, dust, and Zebra remains was not the one she was looking forward to. The attack that left Shining Armor with a broken hoof and Princess Cadance covered in small scrapes and bruises was not the one they needed to fear. Something else was on the way.
The need for that shield was as its greatest for this Cold War. There was no telling when Queen Arcadia would point her weapons to them.
"It seems so long since the attack," Luna said. "I could only hope that Dawn and Madun has found peace."
They joined Princess Merry Fire at the balcony, observing the reasons for their positions move about their day. Some with gusto and some with a tenseness in their steps, as if the next one would mean their imminent death.
"It is evident that Queen Twilight 'Arcadia nova' Sparkle has yet to find any herself."
For a lost world fitted with only the soulds of ponies banned from time and space, it sure was active with other creatures. Bugs constantly fluttered towards the coat of the lost, restraining them from a peaceful journey back to where they were centuries or decades prior.
The constant flicks of Night Life's ears were ignored, he wasn't the only one. The fluttering of wings and constant swats at the air behind him from the rest of his party was a firm reminder to their predicament: treading up a mountain to find the bridge between time and the void.
Lucky landed next to Night Life from above, rashing through the branches to settle gently at his side with a puff of fire from her snout. "She's awakened and now searches with us," she informed him.
"Good," he replied. "She will be able to detect whether there is a way to get to the other side."
"About that. Do you truly believe she'll be able to find anything?"
Night Life stopped walking and gazed ahead to their destination. They were nearing the top of the mountain. Albeit smaller than the average majesty of earth, yet taller than one's average hill, the tread was tiring.
"I believe nothing," he answered. "I can only hope she knows what she's doing. The only thing we have to lose here is our sanity. But out there, past this bubble of time and space, lives are being lost. If she believes that we can get out, and has proven to us that we were being kept prisoner, I believe she knows what she is doing. Now let's continue."
His words weren't unheard. The team of twenty creatures from this world followed behind him. Jumping over boulders, climbing trees and scanning the earth with their eyes, ears, and noses. Only to reach the top fruitless.
"This is becoming frustrating," a pony mused, attracting attention. Disguised as a mare, the Changeling morphed back to their true form and pointed over their shoulder. "We not need be walking in circles. We cannot find anything this way."
Murmurs of agreement ascended from the crowd.
"We cannot escape in a such a manner relative to a guessing game."
"We should squeeze the information out of that pony in chains down there."
Night Life held up his hooves in an attempt to disperse the crowd. "Everyone, please. Without the technology, we cannot simply search the island in a day and find what we are looking for. Everything here is manual."
A young stallion, the age of a teenager approached and queried, "Isn't it possible for Princess Dawn to possibly scan the island with her magic? I have seen methods of this done before."
"I'm not too sure of Dawn's true magical capabalities. All we have is the physical work at this time unless told otherwise."
Roars of unhappiness grew from the crowd. An older mare with the agility of a foal rose upon her hooves and shouted, "This is pointless!" She stomped her hooves down and landed them with a lound clang, loud enough to garner attention.
Night Life, Lucky, and the rest directed their sights to the sound. Silence reigned among their party, for on this island, metal was nonexistent. But that sound, that ringer of hope, was definitely the source of a metal. But directly underneath her hooves were nothing but dirt.
The mare scrambled off the spot when Night Life and Lucky approached. Their claws and hooves grazed upon the earth until they met warm solid material, thick yet cool enough to raise their heart rates.
"Dig." One word spoken and all creatures dug at the location. Dirt flew through the air and piles were pushed to the side until finally a metallic luster appeared before them in the form of a long spike. Dented with age, it jutted from the ground pointing to the sky at an angle. But they had more to carve through to see what truly lied beneath this monolith.
"Someone send up a flare," Night Life ordered. "We could use Princess Dawn's help."
Lucky tilted her head back and inhaled through her mouth. A small orange ball slowly materialized in the back of her throat before she blew, propelling it into the sky and watching it burst with a small bang of flames. The spectacle was not lost.
Princess Fresh Dawn, scouting through the skies with two pegasi. Her eyes twinkled with orange when it exploded, bringing worry into her heart before she saw the group down below gathered around a small spike jutting from the ground. They found it.
Dawn ordered, "Get all the teams to head to their location. Meet us there."
The Pegasi banked in one direction while Dawn smoothly glided in the other. She approached cautiously and flapped her wings to a slow descent. The entourage gave room for her large wings to land and walk forward to what they discovered.
She quickly asked, "Did anyone use any magic?"
"No," Night Life answered. "We've just begun digging."
Good. Any form of magic performed that wasn't to detect could interrupt the spell currently in place. If there even was one.
"Okay, everyone stand back." Dawn closed her eyes and gently met her horn with the tip of the monolith. She poured her detection spell inside and encountered something. Something great, something wonderful, something powerful.
Even more magic. A spell was contained inside, frozen with age and time. This was the bridge.
She pulled back and proudly announced, "This is it!"
The group cheered, throwing up their hooves and flying into the sky. The doorway back to reality had been found.
"There's only one issue." All shouting and celebrating ceased, and attention was brought back on Dawn. She pointed to the monolith. "The magic is contained within this monolith, but this is a bigger artifact than what we see. We need to dig more to unearth what it truly is. If we don't, we can't activate the magic inside."
"So we have to dig further," one assumed.
Dawn nodded to their enlarging group of creatures. "We must dig around it. We cannot move it from where it is sitting. We have to pick the dirt away or else it won't work. I too will help. If we all work together, then we can get out of here by tomorrow morning."
"Then let's get started!" One cheered. Their words were reinforced with cheers and chants to the sky. What else could Dawn do but bring it all together by digging herself. Her hooves grew dirty, but so did the others' when they followed her example. Nothing would come out of this without hard work. Dad taught her that.
She wondered how dad was faring during all of this.