"(Urp) Somehow, I knew those gems were too good to be true. (Urp) They were of poorer quality than I thought. I bet Garble had something to do with it!"
"Oh, you'll be fine, Spikey-wikey. Just rest that poor tummy of yours for the day and you'll be right as rain by tomorrow."
"Thanks Rarity. (Urp) Please tell Twilight I won't be able to attend our little side project. (Urp) She'll be in her bedchambers."
"Of course Darling."
Rarity stopped by Canterlot Castle after her business in the capital was over. She intended to see Twilight in the throne room when she saw Spike limping his way down the hallways. She of course escorted him to his quarters and promptly headed to Twilight's room.
Twilight meanwhile, now that the day's cooldown is over she could resume to finally reach her intended destination. "Alright, now to set for Equis number 40..."
There was a knock on the door. Thinking it was Spike, she carelessly said, "Come in," without looking and resumed speaking, "Alright Spike, we have the right world inputted this time and we are now ready to meet me."
"I'm sorry, meet who darling?"
Twilight jumped as she turned to see Rarity by the room's entrance. "Rarity?! What a surprise! I'm sorry, I thought you were Spike."
"Oh, I'm afraid poor Spikey-wikey has a bit of a tummy ache after taking some poor quality gems," said Rarity with her usual dramatics. She then cleared her throat when she noticed Twilight looked as though she was ready to leave somewhere. "Were you going somewhere?"
The Princess hesitated, she wasn't sure if she could tell Rarity that she was off to a little ego trip. But then again, it was Rarity, one of the most balanced within her friends. And this isn't the first time Twilight showed her friends inter-dimensional travel, soooo.....
"Actually Rarity, now that you're here; how would you like to join me in a trip to another world?"
"THIS PLACE IS BEAUTIFUL!"
Rarity gasped at the marvel that is the pocket universe as she strolls across the field of grass. She approached the small river and listened to the crisp yet soft sound of the water running. She walked closer to the bank and noticed the crystal clear water. Beckoned by its pristine state, Rarity lowered her self to take a drink.
Her eyes widened with wonder as she turned to Twilight, "Darling, have you tasted this?! This is the clearest, sweetest water that I have ever tasted! IT IS TRULY DIVINE! And I mean it in the most literal way possible!"
Before Twilight could reply, Rarity was already making her way to the lone tree in the middle of the world. "It's so peaceful in here! I've never seen such a sky, or felt such a soft grass, or tasted such a divine water! It's utterly remarkable!"
"Actually, what we are seeing here is the default theme to this world," explained Twilight, "This theme is called "His meeting place" and apparently the themes are changeable."
"You mean we could change the theme?" Rarity squealed with excitement, "How ravissant! I can't wait to see the other..."
A scream was heard from the area around the tree, prompting the two mares to rush for the noise. As they approached, they see Twilight's 5th counterpart; She stood just as tall as Celestia with her mane flowing in mystic purple sparkle (similar to Luna's mane) and her wings spread glittered with sparkling dust. She was embroidered with a golden chest plate, golden horse shoes and a crystal tiara that glimmered like the stars.
She would have seemed like the most regal being next to Celestia and Luna were not for the fact that she was also clad with black-tinted brass goggles, a headset with speakers and most notably; a strange copper tank-like contraption strapped behind her back between her wings. The contraption appeared to be connected to her head set with thick cables, and strange Hands protruded from the holes on the sides.
"Oh this is dreadful!" her counterpart exclaimed, "I can't stay in this pocket universe! I still have my duties to attend to! If I'm not back, Project Rainboom will..." She stopped as she notices Twilight and Rarity appeared in the picture.
"Hi there," Twilight spoke with her usual greeting, "You might be wondering why you're here, so I'll just say that I..."
"Rarity? Is that you?"
Twilight was stopped by the interruption and noticed her counterpart was staring at Rarity with eyes wide with sadness and glee. Rarity gave the mare a puzzled look, half-expecting the greater alicorn to burst into tears from her expression.
"Um, yes?"
Suddenly, two mechanical arms burst from the counterpart's contraption, pulled Rarity towards her and landed on the white unicorn into the mare's embrace, "IT REALLY IS YOU! Well not you really, it looks like you're from another reality. BUT IT'S REALLY GREAT TO SEE YOU AFTER 23 YEARS!"
"Excuse me darling, but I need to breathe."
"Oh dear, where are my manners? Sorry," The great alicorn sheepishly smiled as she released Rarity from her embrace, "I'm just glad to see you! Oh, Spike would be charmed to see you again!" She stopped when she noticed Twilight was left behind. "Oh sweet Cadence, I really am out of it today. Silly me. You must be why I am here I presume?"
"Yes I am," Twilight stepped forward and held out a hoof, "I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship and ruler of Equestria." She then turned to Rarity who was now catching her breath, "And as you already know, that is Rarity."
Rarity gave a cough as she cleared her throat and made herself proper, "Ch-charmed to meet you, miss...?"
Twilight's counterpart extended a pair of hands from her machine to shake each of the hoofs, "Oh the pleasure is ever mine, darlings. I am Twilight Sparkle; Empress of Equis, ruler of the united creatures of the world, Lady of Progress!"
"E-EMPRESS?" Twilight's pupils shrank to pinpricks when she heard this, "Y-you mean, you...?"
The Empress pressed a mechanical finger on Twilight's lips to silence her, "Ah-Ah-Ah. If you're wondering if I earned that title by conquest, please; I united the whole world with nothing but my own persuasion towards a simple goal: PRRRROOOGRESSSSSSSS!" She gave a sing-song voice as she announced the last word, similar to how Rarity often announces her idea.
"What I did was simply incentivise every creature to join Equestria in our pursuit for progress!" The Empress continued, "Be it Science, be it Magic; anything to revolutionize the world's technologies into a new Golden Age was encouraged when I took over as Cadence's successor! Soon, every nation asked to join us as vassals or annexed states to get a piece of our technological leap. And all of our hard work has finally culminated into our greatest achievement of our time: Project Rainboom, The first Lunar Rocket! The name was Rainbow's idea."
It was at this point that Twilight's soul just left her body. Too many questions were compressed due to the many revelations and implications within such a short amount of time.
Rarity on the other hand had other concerns, "How... Impressive darling. Just what gave you such ideas for this progress?"
"Oh, funny story that. It all started when I received an invitation from a world called, Prosperity. The invitation called for the brilliant minds across hundreds of worlds to visit and showcase their most brilliant discoveries, inventions and theories. Professionals from all walks of life from so many different creatures from countless realities were there; Wizards, Scientists, Alchemists, Explorers, Philosophers, Archaeologists, Biologists, Historians, Poets, Fortune Tellers, Time Travelers, Spirit Walkers, Zoologists, Entrepreneurs, Artists, Chemists, Sorcerers, Witches, Florists, Farmers, Athletes, Seamstresses, Fashionistas, Practical Magicians, Stage Magicians, Mages, Connoisseurs, Chefs, Artisans, Architects, Musicians and so much more!"
"As you can see, it was quite the overwhelming opportunity of a lifetime. So naturally, I brought everyone I could to experience it. I practically brought all of Ponyville and half of Canterlot to experience the world; and it was all so worth it! I've met such amazing minds there: There was Albert Einstein who introduced to me the theory of relativity, there was Merlin who spent hours debating with Starswirl about the many fundamentals of magic, The Elric Brothers who showed me a new method of Alchemy, Dumbledoor and Professor Xavier who gave me pointers on how to run the school of Friendship, Muramasa Sengo who introduced a method of metal craft imbued with magical properties, Hououin Kyouma and his assistant Kurisu Makise who warned me and Starlight about the dangers of Time Travel, Scott Whitaker who was a local introduced me to his world's first artificial intelligence, Daniel Goodshot who explained to me the Inter-dimensional gates built by the race called the Starcatchers, Rockefeller Toolonie who gave me access to inter-dimensional travel, and another version of myself called the Sparkle of Wisdom who was one of the greatest philosophers I've ever come to know. She really gave me good advice. Almost like Princess Cadence..."
"Slow down there, darling. I could hardly keep up." Rarity stopped her trail of thought, "I think we're coming off topic, wouldn't you say?"
"O-of course, silly me," the Empress imitated Pinkie's expression before continuing, "Overall, the knowledge we learned there, we brought back to push our world a full century ahead in technology and culture. Oh you should have seen it! You were so ecstatic over the different forms of fashion you found in that world. Applejack's farm found a means to increase the harvest ten-fold, Pinkie Pie's parties became more creative and amazing each time, Rainbow Dash broke every athletic record (due to techniques) and later on speed records of new (experimental) vehicles, and Fluttershy found more effective ways to run her animal shelter. We all did such incredible achievements, oh those were the days!"
Rarity sensed a certain sadness from her last sentence, "You sound like those days are over. Surely your path of progress hasn't stopped, after all you did just say you were about to go to the moon."
The Empress let off a sad smile as she sighed, "Oh it never stopped. I never stopped. Everyone else just passed on."
Rarity raised an eyebrow, "Passed on?"
She turned to look at Rarity with the melancholy and fondness of countless years, "For 95 years I have been ruling this empire. 30 years ago, we all planned for the greatest project of our time. 25 years ago, Rainbow Dash was the first of our friends to die. 17 years ago, Applejack was the last of you to die."
Rarity stepped forward to give her friend from another world comfort when the Empress stopped her with a smile, "I learned to come to terms with it all. I know, that there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. Time comes for all of us eventually. For some of us, it just takes a lot longer. I kept impressions of all of you to keep your memories alive within me. That way, so long as I live to remember, they are still alive in my memories.
"I hold no regrets for every moment that has passed since I first set foot on Ponyville. They were my most cherished moments. All that I could do now was to carry on our last promise we all made 30 years ago. The Element Bearer's last legacy: To plant a new tree of Harmony and spread the spirit of Friendship beyond the stars."
The unicorn teared up from her stalwart determination to press forward. She turned around to look at Twilight somehow has not yet recovered from her earlier breakdown. In fact, it seemed to have gotten worse.
"Empire. Technology. Vassals. Annexations. Cadence's Successor. Space. Moon. Other worlds."
"Oh dear, it seems I might have broken her."
"Oh don't worry darling, she'll get over it."
Just then a feminine voice came out of the Empress' headpiece, "Empress, please report to the Tower. Luna 11 is about to launch in ten minutes!"
Right on cue, the seal's signal that time is almost up started beeping.
"Well Nelly, Ah better get the move on it!" The Empress once again shook hoofs (with hands) with them. She spoke to her headset, "I'll be there in a flash, Luster! Don't start the party without me!" and she readies herself.
"Best of luck darling!" Rarity cheered farewell.
It was then Twilight finally snapped out of her stupor, "Wait! I HAVE SO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS! How did you meet the Sparkle of Wisdom? Do you know anything about the crazy version of us roaming around? How do we get to Prosperity? What about Princess Celestia? What method are you using to go to the Moon? Please, TELL ME!!!!"
Before any of Twilight's questions could be answered, the bright flash of light enveloped them. The last thing they saw of the Empress was her waving a mechanical arm with a "Ta Ta" read from her mouth.
All Twilight could do was just scream, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"