//------------------------------// // CanterLogic // Story: Forgotten: Sunrise // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// Determined to beat Sunny to the kitchen that morning, Sunset set her alarm for 6:30 and took a quick shower. After getting dried off, she made her way to the kitchen, and took a look around, finding a waffle iron in the bottom right cabinet. "Now we're talking," Sunset said to herself, taking out the appliance and setting it on the counter, before searching the pantry for flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. She combined the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl, and then went to the fridge to get the wet ingredients; eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla extract from the pantry. Knowing she wasn't going to need the entire mix this morning, she took what she didn't need of the dry mix and poured it into a jar and sealed it for later, before adding the wet ingredients to the bowl, making a thick, gooey waffle mix. She heard Sunny's alarm go off as she was spraying the waffle iron with cooking spray before turning it on to heat it up. By the time the first glob of waffle mix hit the iron, Sunny had come out into the kitchen. "That smells good already," Sunny commented. "Two semesters of Canterlot High cooking," Sunset replied, lowering the top of the iron down, and the sizzling commenced. For her part, Sunny went over to the cabinets on the left, and got the table set with plates, utensils, and glasses, before pulling the pitcher of orange juice from the fridge. Ten minutes later, they each had two jumbo waffles on their plate, topped with syrup and butter. "So what did Pipp say about you coming back to Zephyr Heights?" Sunny asked as she started into her waffles. "We haven't hammered out specifics, just that she'd love to have me back in town whenever I'd like. I don't want to rush over there, I was thinking about camping on the way there." "Well, I've got some camping equipment from our excursion to Princess Twilight's castle you can use. We can get the cart packed up before our tour in a few hours," Sunny told her, continuing into her breakfast. "So, how much of Twilight's history have you figured out?" Sunset asked the earth pony. Sunny put a hoof to her chin. "When I compare the contents of the Guardians' friendship journal with the memory gems found in the castle... I'd actually say under half; by that, I mean that I've managed to put just under half of the memory gem images to specific entries in the journal; the castle is only really mentioned at the very end of it, when they defeated Lord Tirek and banished him back to Tartarus... And I'm wondering if that place even exists anymore. I just found it weird that she didn't even so much as mention you in it, even though one of the memory gems prove you're telling the truth about who you are." "Well, that journal was mass produced; probably not the best thing to tell them about an alternate dimension that was able to be accessed via mirror and other spontaneous locations around the world," Sunset commented. "Yeah, that's true. Quite enough Equestrian magic leaked through to that world as it was; not to mention ancient mages just, well, tossing threats over there to get them out of Equestria." After breakfast, the pair of mares packed up the cart for the camping trip towards Zephyr Heights, and Sunset was realizing that having Ray along might prove tricky. "Sunset, I don't mind looking after Ray, I promise. When Izzy heads back to Bridlewood, and you go to Zephyr Heights with Zipp and Pipp, this place will feel a little empty. It'll be nice to have a little company until you get back," Sunny told her. "Truth be told, it would make traveling a bit easier, and he is really good with new ponies. I got enough food for him to last a few weeks, and I know I won't be gone that long. You sure?" Sunset asked. Sunny nodded again. "It'll be good practice if I ever want to get a pet of my own. He's in good hooves, you have my word," the earth pony told her. With that, they put the cart up next to the front door, ready for Sunset to leave later in the day, and they were off into the Maretime Bay morning towards CanterLogic. "There's one more thing that I've been trying to wrap my head around. Do you know what time dilation is?" Sunset asked Sunny as they made their way down the main street. "Something about time moving at different rates in different places?"Sunny answered. Sunset nodded. "The mirror world had counterparts for everypony in Equestria in my time, but it was more technologically advanced. Equestria didn't match the mirror world's tech until, well, until now. I'm willing to bet that when magic left Equestria, it threw the time dilation even more out of whack. I can't help but wonder if it really would have mattered when I came back through the portal. Would seconds passing turn into weeks, months, or years passing over here?" Sunny could only shrug. Nearly all of this was beyond her. "I should probably just stop occupying myself with those kind of questions; I'm not likely to get any answers, and I'm here now," Sunset commented. "It's perfectly alright to have questions, especially in situations like this. But true, don't drive yourself nuts with them," Sunny offered as they came up on the CanterLogic's wide, front walk. The factory sat on top of the highest hill, overlooking the rest of downtown Maretime Bay. A concrete walk ringed the building, with stairs leading down to a lower walk, providing stairs up the hill from almost any point around the structure. The two mares walked side by side up the center walk, up to the two sets of double doors. Stepping up to them, the left set of doors slid open, and they walked into CanterLogic's main concourse. "Whoa," was Sunset's first comment, looking around at her surroundings. There was no hiding the inner workings behind 'tourism' areas here; right after coming through the first hallway, there were grabber arms and multi-level conveyor belts everywhere, snaking throughout the central area to all the different levels of the factory. The center room was quite large, and in the back was a large, T-shaped stage. This must be where they held product unveilings so tourists wouldn't have to go far. The two mares went to a visitor's kiosk that was being occupied by a light pink mare with her mane spiked up in the back. She wore a collar and necktie. An ID badge was clipped on the left side of her collar. "Good morning, Sunny. Nice to see you again!" she greeted. "Good morning, Sweets. This is Sunset Shimmer, a new friend of mine. We're wondering if we could do a tour this morning," Sunny said. "Anything for you, Sunny, and pleased to meet you, Sunset," Sweets replied, getting out a clipboard and picked up a walkie talkie on the desk, calling for a replacement to come to the kiosk. A dark blue stallion came from a door in the wall behind her, and with a nod and smile, took her place as she stepped out from behind the desk. "So, new to town, Sunset?" "Very new," the unicorn replied, nodding. "Well, CanterLogic can be seen almost anywhere you stand in Maretime Bay, boasting four stories above ground and two floors below ground, it finds its roots right here in town nearly 43 years ago. Back then, our now-CEO was just getting started on the ground floor..." The tube elevator slowly descended down to the floor, before the doors slid open, and the trio of ponies stepped out. "And here is our Research and Development area. Being underground allows operations to continue around the clock without disturbing the quiet nights of the surrounding populace," Sweets explained. Sunset took it all in as best she could. More pipes, cranes, and conveyors ran along the outer edges of the large room. The whole area had an industrial green hue to it. The tour had been very informative, and to Sweets' credit, she had been very forthcoming about CanteLogic's rather racist roots, how nearly all of their products had been some sort of deterrent against unicorns and pegasi, and how they had been rebranding ever since the reunification months ago, having opened up trade relationships with companies in Zephyr Heights, as well as ongoing efforts to bring non-intrusive industry to Bridlewood. The three of them came up to a large elevated platform in the back, accessed by a ramp with yellow and black warning stripes. Up on the platform was a cargo trailer of some sort. A half dozen ponies were on top, looking like they were hammering rivets into a metal frame. In Sunset's mind, it looked mostly like an incomplete semi-trailer, but considerably more rugged, based on the tires. "Hope he hasn't been exhausting himself," Sunny commented as they came up the ramp, seeing sparks fly from the underside of the trailer. "Oh, just the usual arriving a half-hour before the first shift," Sweets commented. "Visitors, Sprout," she called to the pair of red and white legs laying exposed from underneath. The sparks stopped, and out rolled the red earth pony on a garage creeper. "This is Sprout Cloverleaf, and this is his latest project," Sweets announced. "Looks like it's coming along great, Sprout," Sunny commented as the stallion lifted off the welder's mask he was currently wearing. "Thanks, Sunny. Feel free to have a look around; it'd be great to have an opinion of how things look from somepony who hasn't been staring at this thing for the past 48 hours," Sprout commented. Sunny nodded with a smile, before going to do a walk-around with Sweets, leaving Sprout alone with their unicorn visitor. "Sprout, right? You were one of the drivers of the truck, right? Thanks for getting us to town safely," Sunset greeted. Sprout nodded with a smile. "That's me. It was Sunset, right?" Sprout asked, the unicorn nodding in return. "Happy to do it." "So, I can only assume you're the owner's son? Good to see you don't have one of the more cushy jobs upstairs." Sprout nodded. "I've only been here for a few months. I used to be deputy for the MBPD. That didn't end well. You see, I... I don't have the cleanest past..." Sprout admitted, his gaze averting away from Sunset. When he risked looking at her again, he saw that her smile had only widened. "Finally, somepony I can relate to." Sunny slowly took in the incomplete trailer that would eventually connect to the back of the Scouticus, and could only imagine all the things they were going to be able to bring back from the Crystal Empire, and any future ancient sites they might visit. She didn't think they'd be able to get the whole library's worth of books into the completed trailer, but it would cut more than a dozen trips down to probably two or three. When she came back around, she saw Sunset talking to a rather enthusiastic Sprout. "Hey, Sunny?" Sunset started, taking a step towards her. "Could you send me a text when you find out when Zipp and Pipp are ready to head out? I think Sprout and I are going to go grab some lunch."