//------------------------------//
// The Forgotten Station 
// Story: Ruins 
// by TheMajorTechie 
//------------------------------//

"So, how was it?" Izzy cocked her head. "Did you meet any humans on the other side?"

Sunny shook her head. "No, not rea--wait a second. You know about huma--"

"Nothiiiiing!"

Sunny snorted. "Well, I guess it makes sense that you unicorns still know some history."

Hitch cleared his throat.

"Oh! Right. We should probably get going now." Sunny turned to Spike. "Thanks for showing us around! It's been really fun getting to learn about this place. Would you mind if I dropped by again someti--"

"--Who said I wasn't gonna be going with you?" Spike smirked. "It's been ages since I've left Ponyville. These old bones are aching for adventure!"

Sunny rolled her eyes. "Okaaaay, gramps. Don't forget to bring your cane while you're at it."

"Again," Hitch groaned. "Are we really bringing everyone back with us? I know Sprout made a mess after Izzy visited, and... uh, after everyone else stopped by as well, but what are the townsfolk gonna think when they see him?"

Zipp nudged Hitch's raised hoof away from Spike. "We'll get to it when we get to it, sheriff. Let him enjoy life for once, will you?"

"Sheesh, I make a joke about being a decrepit old dude and all of you hop on the bandwagon."

"That's 'cause you are a decrepit old dude." Izzy smirked. 

Spike pretended not to see her pull a pair of sunglasses out of nowhere. "So. We headed out now? Gotta say bye to Twilight before we go."

Everyone looked to Hitch.





"I can't believe you. All of you."

Spike responded to Hitch's complaints with a wide grin as he continued trailing behind Zipp and Pipp through the air.

"I mean, seriously. How can a guy like you pull off puppy eyes with that body? You knew I'd cave when you asked to see this Canterlot place, didn't you? Couldn't you have gone by yourself with all that time you've spent living alone?"

Timby barked beside Hitch.

"Mount Canterhorn, right?" Zipp shouted back.

"Yeah!" Spike responded. "Canterlot was built into the side of the peak. The last I heard of it, Cloudsdale had to anchor itself to the mountain when the magic started to fade. There should be a palace there as well, but I'm not sure if--"

"That's where we live!"

"Wait, what?"

"Canterlot's still there." Sunny peeked over Spike's shoulder. "Or at least, a part of it is. It's known as Zephyr Heights now. Zipp discovered an old airship station underground. I'm not sure if anything else from that time survived."

An amused huff rose from the dragon. "Guessing that's the result of the two cities merging."

"Mmyeah, you could say that. My dad sometimes told me stories about Celestia and Luna. Said that they lived for thousands and thousands of years, but then they just... disappeared. You said you still talked with them, right?"

"Talked. I'd rather not wake up choking on a rubber duck or whatever again."

"Oh."

"...Have you... uh," Hitch's voice mumbled from behind Sunny. "Maybe considered asking them not to do that?"

Spike sighed. "Yup. Got a platter of cheese in response, courtesy of Luna. At this point, I really think they've both gone off their rockers. I know it's all probably in 'good humor' or whatever they'd call it, but I don't like spitting out anything bigger than maybe a scroll or two by dragonfire."

"A platter of cheese."

"Yeah."

Izzy quietly giggled behind Hitch.

As for the stallion himself, he paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "...Was it good cheese?"

"No."

"...Oh."

"...Y'know..." a cocky smirk began to grow across Spike's face. "Back in my day, some cows could talk. I wonder where ol' Lulu got that cheese from..."

A pause.

"Oh. Oh. First the puppy eyes, and now this?" Hitch groaned. "Please don't be like Sunny. I already know plenty enough about what happened in the dungeons."

"I said that was a joke!" Sunny grumbled. "You really held onto that all this time?"

"That's why you don't tell a pubescent colt about the Canterlot Ho--"

"O-kaaaaaay!" Spike dipped downward, sending the ponies and timberwolf on his back lurching backward. "That's enough of that, thank you."

"Like you're one to talk."

He could just barely hear the snickers of Zipp and Pipp up ahead.





Spike stared up at the eroding rafters. "It's a lot less... dusty than I thought it'd be."

"You can thank Zipp for that." Sunny chuckled. "She's been a bit of a one-mare-army in keeping the place in shape. This is the airship station that we were talking about earlier."

"It's so..." Spike took a tentative step deeper into the room. A quiet chuckle escaped him. "Familiar. I never rode on any of the airships myself, but I remember seeing this place a few times before..."

He turned to the shattered murals barely holding to the window frames. To the open doors of the station from which they'd arrived.

"I missed so, so much. Didn't I?"

"Eyup." Sunny pointed a hoof at the stained glass surrounding the doors. "Do... you recognize any of that, by the way? The three separate crystals, I mean. I know the mural's pretty damaged and all, but you can kinda tell what's what still."

"Hm?" Spike turned his head to Sunny. Then back to the doors. "Oh, those?" He scratched his head. "--Man, it's been a while. I think those were the forms that the Elements of Harmony took on when they rematerialized. I wanna say that it happened right around the time when magic started to fade when that happened. Can't say for sure, though. The newspapers were all shutting down left and right around that time."

"Elements of Harmony, huh?" Sunny walked past Spike. "I can see the connection. Six elements became three crystals, one for each tribe, right?"

"Mm-hm. And then they just kinda disappeared. I was thinking of going out to collect them all just in case, but... well..." He hung his head. "Twilight happened. I didn't want to leave her, even after she was long-gone."

"But we found them again!" Izzy chirped, pulling Spike into a hug. "And just like us, they fit together just like a puzzle!"

Spike cocked his head. "You mean you've wielded them before?"

Sunny shrugged. "Yeah, you could say that. They didn't actually do anything at first when I fit them together. It was after the town came together when they activated. I even got a neat set of wings and a horn for a little while!"

"So... the entire town... hm..." Spike's face shifted from expression to expression as he continued his muttering, punctuated by a single sigh after a few seconds. He broke away from Izzy. "You know what? I don't understand this magic mumbo-jumbo anymore. It's been too long since I've seen it. I would say that it sounds like everyone there's now the collective bearers, but if only you saw any effect, then that could also mean that you're the sole bearer of the Elements..."

"Ooh, the Elements of Harmony?" Discord's disembodied head emerged from Sunny's saddlebag. "What fun! Send me a postcard the next time you shoot the rainbow death lasers!"

Spike snorted. "Guessing you were with us the entire time?"

Discord reappeared before Spike with a snap. "Indubitably," he bowed. "I say, you've got some nerve slandering your former princesses the way you did earlier. I mean, I'd be doing it as well, but you didn't care to invite me?"

Spike raised a brow. Timby continued clutching onto Hitch's unamused head in surprise.

Zipp coughed. "Alright! I guess the gang's all here then. Who's up for a tour of Zephyr Heights proper?"

"Ooh, Zephyr?" Discord clapped his mismatched limbs together before shouting into the ether. "'Shy, I didn't know your rascal of a brother got a city named after him! Maybe these two little princesses here are actually his great-great-great-great-great--"

"Discord, I'm feeling kind of... peeved right now..." Fluttershy's voice rung through the station as a small tornado of dust and loose paper began to form in the center of the station. "You better behave, mister."

The weathered flooring beneath them began to rumble. Small chunks of debris lifted into the air, spiraling about within the whirlwind as the light streaming through the stained glass flickered erratically. 

Fluttershy's airy voice cut through the wind, still timid as ever. "Um... would everypony mind stepping back a little? I don't want anypony to get hurt."

Larger items began to take to the air now. Pieces of glass and stone swirled about, and Timby clutched ever harder to Hitch. Spike shielded his face with an arm.

Discord, for his part, munched on his popcorn silently.

"Fluttershy!" Spike shouted, "Are you sure a tornado is part of whatever it is you're trying to do?"

Pipp squeaked as she too began to lift off the floor. "Oh--"

"Gotcha!" Spike grabbed her by the hoof. "Flutters! Can you hear me?"

Just as suddenly as it formed, the tornado dissipated. All at once, the formerly-airborne rubble collapsed into a heap in the middle of the station floor. 

A pale-yellow pegasus lay atop the debris, unconscious.