//------------------------------// // Photograph // Story: Forgotten: Sunrise // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// Sunset sat in the front-most passenger side seat, securely strapped in as the Scouticus Maximus lurched downward as it began to descend into the enormous bowl-shaped valley of snow that contained the frozen remnants of the Crystal Empire. She would have thought that having made this trip recently, Sprout would have seemed less on edge. It took her a moment to realize that they hadn't been towing a trailer that was as long as the vehicle itself the last time, so their maneuverability was not as great as it had been the previous trip, and he obviously didn't want that careening out of control, taking the front half with it. She was stunned when they had stopped outside city limits and she beheld the massive cyclone of wind and snow that completely occluded the Crystal Empire, and that according to Zipp, this storm was completely unmoving ever since the region was scouted months ago, and it was likely the reason that the Empire had remained unknown to all three tribes until Sunny began to uncover ancient history. After a couple minutes, the incline began to flatten out, and Sprout gently began to apply the brakes. "I'll try to get it closer to the library this time," Sprout told Sunny as he began to make a wide right turn, turning the truck and trailer all the way around on the frozen surface, coming to a stop next to a large four-story building. He set the parking brake, and everypony began releasing themselves from their harnesses. "Alright everypony, let's get suited up," Sunny said, getting up from the front passenger seat and coming towards the back, unlocking and opening up the cargo compartments that were built into the floor, while Pipp, Zipp, Sprout, and Sunset went to the very back where the cold weather gear was hanging in both corners. There hadn't been time to get Sunset fit for gear of her own, but since Izzy was out of town, she tried hers on, and it fit closely enough. Sunny gave her a quick tutorial on how the built-in radios in the hat worked, and after they all tugged their masks and goggles on, they stepped out into the eye of the storm. Sprout was the last one out, flipping on the vehicle's amber beacon lights to give a clear indication of where it was parked if they had to move further away. Sunset found the stillness absolutely unsettling, with every single crunch of snow under her hooves in complete clarity with no wind to mask the sound. "Well, Hitch and I never really got done with the house we were checking out, so I'd like to go back there and pick up where we left off," Sprout said. "No one should go alone, who's up for going with him?" Sunny asked. "I will," Sunset said, nodding at Sprout. "Alright. Zipp, Pipp, and I will unload these containers and start going through books," Sunny replied. "Alright. Remember what I told you about the spell tomes?" Sunset asked. "Look for the old ponish numerical symbol on the front corner or the binding, and try and keep them separate from whatever else you pack up, so I can go through them and sort through them later, find out what's safe and what isn't." Sunny nodded at her. "Will do. We'll be on channel one, you and Sprout on channel two," the earth mare told them. Sunset tapped her left ear twice, going to the second radio channel, quickly followed by Sprout. "Come on, it's this way," Sprout said. Sunset was surprised to see hoof tracks in the snow already. "I'm guessing from your first trip here?" she asked. "Yeah," came Sprout's reply through her earpiece. "I'm really amazed the tracks are still here, but if the storm keeps most of the blowing snow out, then I think hoof tracks and tire tracks would last a lot longer than usual. Not to mention that we're the only ones that have been up here in... Who knows how long." Sprout and Sunset retraced his and Hitch's hoof tracks to a three-story structure. "How did you get in last time?" Sunset asked. "Second floor window up there," Sprout answered. "Hm..." Sunset mused, looking around for a moment, before her horn lit up. Sprout moved aside, and two orange beams shot out from the tip, impacting and quickly melting the snow drift against the building. The snowmelt quickly refroze after it ran down to the ground, but the front of the structure was quickly and efficiently uncovered, revealing the front door and windows. "Let's go in through the front this time, what do you say?" Sunset asked Sprout, whose stunned expression was concealed by his cold weather gear. "Whoa," was his only response to seeing that degree of magic this close up. It was certainly more flashy and extravagant than Izzy's levitation or her glowing claw-things at the concert the other night. "So you've been in here before? What did you find?" Sunset asked, as her horn lit up again as she began to magically fiddle with the lock on the front door. "We're guessing this place was the home of a crystal guard; the only thing we pulled out so far was a couple suits of armor; one went on display in the Museum of History in Maretime Bay, the other one went to the museum in Zephyr Heights. We'll have a lot more room this time around, but I'm not sure how much we'll get, I know Sunny wants to save most of the room for the library, and have one of the largest buildings in town cleared out." After Sunset's spell had the lock sufficiently thawed, there was a click, and then she braced herself again, as her dual heat beams shot out and traced along the doorjamb, meeting at the top before parting and going down the sides again. She repeated this motion several times, until the sides of the entryway were positively steaming from the heat it was now giving off. After a minute, the beams dissipated, and she tried the door again, and it rotated inward on its hinges as she pushed, opening the way. Sprout followed her inside, and they both noticed the change in temperature. It wasn't warm, but it was certainly more bearable, as they both pulled their goggles down, letting them hang from their necks and tugged their masks off, depositing them in their saddlebags. Sunset shook her head, but kept her mane tied back, not wanting to have to tie it back up when it was time to put the headgear back on when they were done in here. "Getting things out of here should be a bit easier now, with that kind of access. I gotta say, it's still a bit unsettling, seeing a place that used to be lived in, look like this. Untouched for so long." "Yeah, it's a bit eerie, I'll give you that. Maybe it'll be a little less eerie if we can put some names and faces to who lived here. For instance, how about you start there while I take a look at the living quarters," the unicorn said, pointing the earth pony to the stairs, where framed photographs hung on the wall. Sprout nodded, making his way over to the crystal steps, and began to study the pictures, as Sunset went to the large room on the left. There was a couch, two end tables on either side, a center table, and a fireplace built into the far wall. There was a candle holder on each end table, and a larger, six-slotted candlestick on the center table, all with their wax sufficiently burned down. There was a frozen stack of wood next to the fireplace. "No doubt they had to keep warm constantly until the order came down to evacuate... That would be my guess..." Sunset said to herself as she tried to picture what the city's final days were like. "Flash Sentry..." she heard Sprout say from the stairs, and the unicorn's heart skipped a beat. "What?" Sunset asked, turning back towards the foyer, nearly galloping across the crystal floor back to the stairs, where Sprout stood staring at a picture on the wall. "What did you just say?" "Colonel Flash Sentry, of the Crystal Empire E.U.P. Guard," Sprout said, turning to her and pointed the tip of his hoof at the photo he had just read the golden plaque of. Sunset came up the stairs, and Sprout went up another few steps to make room as Sunset's breath quickened as she closed in on the picture frame in question, and laid her eyes on the aged stallion in dress uniform. It was really him. The features were decidedly more equine, obviously, but the eyes... She certainly recognized the confidence in the eyes, as hers began to tear up. "You knew him?" Sprout asked, as he saw how captivated the unicorn was by what he had discovered. The stallion in the photograph was nowhere near her age; his posture and proud expression denoted likely decades of experience. She slowly reached a hoof up and softly touched the photograph, before lighting her horn up and ever so gently removed it from its place on the wall. "Sunset?" Sprout asked again gently, getting her attention. The unicorn took a breath, and glanced at him before returning her gaze to the picture. "Sort of. I sort of knew him. I knew a... A mirror version of him, if that makes any sense," she answered. "From the world you came from?" Sprout asked softly, and she nodded. "It still bugs me... Wondering if it's been just as long as I've been here... Or if just as much time passed over there as it did here, and all of their lives passed by in an instant... Ugh, time dilation, I'll never be able to wrap my head around it." Sprout looked at the rest of the pictures on the wall. "Well, it looks like he lived a long and happy life, and had more than a few descendants," Sprout pointed out, motioning to the rest of the pictures as the rest of them ascended along with the staircase. Sunset tore her gaze away from the frame she held, and saw that Sprout was indeed correct; young ponies in cadet armor were gracefully aged as the photographs climbed the stairs, until new ones joined them as new generations were born. Seeing this took away some of the weight from Sunset's heart and mind. If this was Flash's family home, he had lived a fulfilling life, and multiple generations had followed in his hoofsteps before this storm threatened the city. It had easily been a century or more. "Did we bring materials to protect these for transport?" Sunset asked him as she wiped her eyes. Sprout nodded immediately. "Pipp packed plenty in the truck. I'll go get them, be right back," Sprout replied, squeezing past Sunset and descended the stairs, putting his mask and goggles back on before heading outside. Sunset also headed down the staircase back into the living room, as she sat down on the frozen couch, gently running her hoof over the photograph again, taking another deep breath as she did so. "Good to see you again, Flash."