//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: The Explanation // Story: The City of Kransitogo // by 13enjamin_Marshall_MLP //------------------------------// ---- The sun rose above the City of Kransitogo, shining its beautiful sunlight onto the buildings. Applejack woke up, and looked over at Apple Bloom, who was still asleep. Being the great big sister that she is, she pulled the covers over Apple Bloom, and let the little filly sleep rest more. “I’ll be right back, sugarcube!”, Applejack whispered to Apple Bloom, while rubbing her mane. Afterwards, she left her room, and met the rest of the Mane Six in the hallway. The six ponies all looked at each other, and nodded before walking down the hallway. In the hotel’s lobby, the Peace Family was waiting for the Mane Six to arrive. After they finally made it to the lobby, they sat down for tea and donuts, and prepared to talk about Apple Bloom’s nightmare. “How did you not see the dome?”, Stephen asked. “It has been here the whole time!” “I guess we were so taken away by the amazingness that was this city, we haven’t really noticed those details”, Twilight replied. “But, why didn’t you mention the dome at the auditorium?”, Applejack asked. “We thought you all already knew, and we didn’t want to point out the obvious”, Flare explained. “Yeah, because it was very easy to acknowledge the hexagonal sky with our mindsets being focused on everything else!”, Rainbow Dash sarcastically said. “Ah’ still have questions! How did the dome appear in Apple Bloom’s nightmare, despite the fact she hasn’t seen the dome up until she woke up from said nightmare? And why wasn’t Princess Luna in said nightmare, even though it’s her job to save ponies from their nightmares?”, Applejack asked. “We don’t know”, Stephen replied. “There are actually many mysteries surrounding this city”, Flare mentioned. “Mysteries?”, Twilight replied. “What do you mean mysteries?” “Follow us”, Stephen said as he, along with the rest of the Peace Family, got up from their seats and walked outside. The Mane Six followed them, and they walked through the city. The city was busy that morning. The ponies were refurbishing the buildings and the attractions were being tested. The sun was pretty bright, the air was fresh, and the sounds of the wind were relaxing. As they walked down the streets, Stephen cleared his throat, and prepared to explain the backstory of the City of Kransitogo. “I think it’s time we explain everything. Time we explain the wall, the entities, and the overall backstory of this place”, Stephen told the Mane Six. ---- “About ten years ago, this city wasn’t actually a city, but rather a small town. A town similar to YOUR hometown, Ponyville. The citizens were very happy with their home. Heck, they were even happier back then than they are now. Do you want to know why? Because they had more freedom! Unfortunately, that freedom didn’t last” “On one fateful day, in the Town of Kransitogo, a curious filly decided to take a walk in the woods. Unfortunately, she didn’t know the danger that she would find in the woods. As she was trotting along, she saw the silhouette of another filly. She greeted it in a friendly way, with no response. She trotted closer to it, and was stunned when she found, herself. Or, what I mean is, it was another one of her. Except that version had glowing green eyes, no mouth, no nostrils, was transparent, and was MAD. The creature just stood there, staring at the little filly. The filly quickly ran away from the creature, with the creature quickly chasing her. After she made it out of the woods, the townsponies saw the action, and saw the creature touch the filly with its hoof, causing them both to completely disappear” “The creature she ran into was an antimatter entity. The entity wiped the little filly from existence. Every trace of her existence was also erased. Everypony saw what happened, and knew the filly was wiped from existence. They couldn’t remember who the filly was, but they did know that whoever she was, she was gone forever. After that incident, they quickly built a giant wall around the town, protecting themselves from the entities. Since then, the wall just kept growing larger, taller, and wider. And eventually, the dome was built, keeping the entities out for good. They also built a tunnel that connects this city to the rest of Equestria, with the tunnel ending on the other side of a border that keeps the entities inside that specific area of Equestria” “The citizens believe that the reason for the existence of these entities is because of a machine that hides underneath the city. A machine being illegally run by a serious criminal. They say the machine is a particle accelerator, one that was poorly built because of budget constraints. And thanks to that fact, the entities continue to exist, and they aren’t going to disappear anytime soon unless somebody shuts the machine down. That’s part of the reason why the Peace Family came here. So we can find the machine, and shut it off for good. We want to free this city from the entities. Isolating everypony in. We don’t know how Apple Bloom saw the dome in her dream, or why Princess Luna didn’t appear, but still” ---- “Wow”, Twilight replied. “That’s dark” “Hold on”, Rainbow Dash said. “I understand if you wanted us, the Mane Six, to help you guys with your mission. But why did you invite so many of our friends here as well?”, she asked, with Flare responding with, “Because this place is awesome, duh! We just wanted to be nice, and invite so many of your friends here!” “Wait, Apple Bloom did mention a particle accelerator device in her nightmare!”, Applejack realized. “Really?! Where was it?!”, Stephen quickly asked. “Ah’ think she said it was in the hotel’s basement!”, Applejack answered, with Flare Spark replying to her answer with, “Then THAT’S where we’re headed!” The Mane Six and the Peace Family ran back into the hotel. But Applejack stopped when she noticed the Cutie Mark Crusaders walking out of the indoor water park. Apple Bloom was wearing a green one-piece bathing suit and a pair of sunglasses, Scootaloo was wearing a red one-piece bathing suit and a pair of goggles on her forehead, and Sweetie Belle was wearing a pink one-piece bathing suit and a sunhat. All three of them were carrying their swimming bags as well. “Oh, hey Apple Bloom”, Applejack said, as Apple Bloom and her friends stopped and looked at Applejack. Apple Bloom moved her sunglasses to her forehead as she replied, “Hi Applejack! Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and I had such an awesome time at the hotel’s water park with Babs Seed! We rode these giant four person waterslides, we relaxed in the hot tub and lazy river, and we had a delicious lunch!” “Wow! Sounds like ya’ had a blast! Where ya’ headed now?”, asked Applejack. “We’re now heading to the arcade!”, Sweetie Belle replied. “Yeah! I’m going to win over ten thousand tickets!”, Scootaloo yelled with excitement. “Okay, but aren’t ya’ going to change back into your peace suits?”, asked Applejack again. “Not yet”, Apple Bloom replied. “We’ve worn our peace suits for two days straight, so we want to wear something that doesn’t cover up as much skin, and what else but our bathing suits? We’ll change back after our time at the arcade, but for now, we want our Cutie Marks to get fresh air!” That last part made Applejack chuckle a bit. The Crusaders ran off after saying goodbye, with Applejack being happy they had a great time. “Applejack, come on! We need to find the device!”, Twilight reminded Applejack. “Oh, sorry!”, Applejack replied, as she attempted to catch up with her friends, which she did. “Why’d you stop?”, Twilight asked. “Ah’ saw my sister and her friends finally having fun! Ah’m really happy for her!”, Applejack replied with joy. “That’s sweet, but please don’t get distracted! We need to shut off that device!”, Twilight replied. Applejack’s face drooped a little, leading Twilight to apologize for being a tad forceful. “Ladies and gentleponies”, Stephen announced. “The basement” ---- The ponies have finally made it to the door that leads to the basement. Stephen opened the door slowly, and peeked inside, finding the same elevator from Apple Bloom’s nightmare. But, of course, since it was really small the Mane Six and the Peace Family all had to squeeze in, again. The ponies were not pleased nor comfortable in the elevator at all. Once the group of ponies made it to the staircase, they all knew that Apple Bloom was right about the staircase being creepy. They all walked down carefully, making sure not to disturb anypony who may be down there. And that’s when Applejack remembered. “Wait, didn’t Apple Bloom say there was a painting of a pizzeria with an entity inside?”, she thought to herself. She looked to her left, and believe it or not, she saw the painting. Only this time, the entity wasn’t there. Applejack shuttered with fear, as she continued walking down the stairs. Stephen opened the door that was at the end of the staircase, and the group of ponies gasped after they saw what was on the other side. Can you guess what they saw? Of course you can. You’ve known about it since chapter two. It’s the laboratory. I mean, they knew that they were going to see a laboratory, but they were shocked when they saw what was inside. The machinery inside looked like it came from the future. A lot of the gadgets had a circular artstyle, the metal was completely nonexistent of rust, and the chemicals were glowing bright greens and purples. Heck, for as awesome the city looked, it still looked like it came from the present, rather than far from the future. The group of ponies all had one thought in mind when they saw the futuristic devices, “Who built this place?, as nopony actually knew, yet. That’s when they saw the particle accelerator, running as quick as Sonic the Hedgepony, and looking as unfinished as a movie made by the Asylum. But from the looks of it, the device seemed to be getting repaired, while it was still running. Twilight saw blueprints on the table, and it seemed the owner of the laboratory was trying to rebuild it in a way where he could take control of the entities. Once Twilight realized what the owner’s plan was, she quickly warned the rest of the Mane Six and the Peace Family. But after the group of ponies heard the truth, they heard a pony stomping his hooves, and they turned around to see the cloaked pony applauding them for finding the truth, evilly. “Well done, Twilight Sparkle! You found the truth!”, the anonymous figure said. “What the-? Who are you?!”, Stephen asked. The cloaked pony removed his hood, with everypony gasping at his reveal. “No, it can’t be!”, Twilight said with a shocked tone. The pony who was hidden behind the cloak was, Stephen Fisher, from the future. ----