//------------------------------//
// Another very short journey 
// Story: Legends of Equestria: The Long Road Back 
// by JimmyHook19 
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Later that very same day, the scene began to shift quite drastically. Mistmane and Starswirl had decided to spend but half a day at the Happiest Place on Earth TM, and as such needed to find somewhere else to go for the rest of the day. One of the oldest social divides that exists in the suburb of Anaheim, part of the conurbation of Los Angeles, is that between Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm. The more affluent people who occupied the area would traditionally go to Disneyland, owing to its more upmarket nature and superior social standing. On the other hand, people of a lesser economic standing, to put it politely, would go to Knott's Berry Farm, a nearby theme park that had been built on top of a berry selling stand in the 1940s and 50s, and was continuing to expand even to this day. Amongst their more notable items included some authentic locomotives and rolling stock from the narrow gauge empires of Colorado, as well as original equipment from the region and time period (mostly 1880s through to the 1950s). In fact, it was said that if you lined your camera up carefully and took your shot at the right time on the railroad, you could fool somebody into thinking you'd taken them in the 1960s!

So, after completing the time at Disneyland, it was the time appointed for Mistmane and Starswirl to set off into the mysterious lands of this fine city. They started by heading forth to the southwest as one normally does, and this would take them in the direction of even more exotic lands. During this process of heading southeast, they joined the right hand lane and in doing so maintained their plan of keeping to the right. Keeping to the right was very important at this point, as keeping right would allow them to make a very important maneuver. Steel Rain.

No, not Steel Rain. This trick which they had so marvelously executed was to enable them to turn to the right, followed by another right, and then another right, which soon had them going so far right they would go flying off the spectrum (yay, politics jokes). After turning right, they would then proceed to turn left, and then a slight left would naturally follow them. After staying there for a while, it was time to exit this road and go onto another one. They took an exit, and then turned to the right on a road, before following this up with another left turn, and then another left turn, before arriving at this place which Mistmane had mentioned. Whilst they have fun there, let's check in with two other characters.





Sable Spirit had taken up her position on the podium at the control station for the Skyhammer satellite. Skyhammer was a relatively recent addition to the arsenal of Project 722, and was the first in a new generation of weapons. Following the creation of the United States Space Force in 2019, Project 722 had been assigned, amongst other things, the duty of researching weaponry in outer space. This had included reviving the long dormant Strategic Defense Initiative project, but making a number of changes to the design in order to make it work more efficiently. These changes included replacing the laser batteries with particle accelerators, as those would function more efficiently in Earth's atmosphere than lasers. The station was still under construction, but in the meantime the Skyhammer project had been greenlit.

Skyhammer had been developed from research carried out into Starswirl's journal, and comprised a magic fueled core linked into a targeting grid and several focusing chambers. The result was believed to be the most potent weapon ever developed, and it was almost totally invisible too.

"Is the satellite in position?" she asked, impatient.

"Satellite is passing over the West Coast of the United States... now." The screen lit up to indicate the satellite approaching its target. "We will be in position to fire in 24 hours."

"Why is this taking so long?" Sable Spirit demanded.

"The satellite passes over many different points during its orbital flight, and doesn't anchor to a set location," the soldier explained, adjusting his tracking gear. "It's passing over the West Coast, but the wrong part. And orders from high up said to target California, not Oregon."

Sable Spirit held back from lashing out. After all, Colonel Peterson hadn't been entirely pleased at her killing one of her men in her anger. After all, once this weapon was fully operational, there was very little the hated Mistmane could do. It would be as if everything stood completely still in one place at all times.

She laughed to herself. Mistmane had been a thorn in her side for far too long. And now, that thorn was going to be plucked... one way or another.





After quite a happy afternoon just having fun at Knott's Berry Farm, it was time for Mistmane and Starswirl to return home to their hotel in which they stayed, for staying there would enable them to stay in this place for no fear of being booted out. So, they began their return trip. They proceeded to the south of the park, and then made a U turn, before heading in another direction by turning to the right. They then turned left, and merged onto another road entirely. They then merged onto it again. After a short while, they merged onto another road, and then found themselves passing a large building with the legend UNION PACIFIC on it. Neither of them had any idea what that meant, so went on their way and took an exit. Then they took another exit, and found themselves going up an entirely different street, which was by its nature entirely different, and then they found themselves back at the hotel. It was a nice hotel, with all the amenities a pony could want after a long day at work. So they went in, and rested for the night, not knowing what was coming.