//------------------------------//
// Chapter 9 (Pt 1) 
// Story: Your Friends From Across Time 
// by EquestrianKnight97 
//------------------------------//

"I think those are monarch butterflies," Sunny said. "They're not exactly the same as swallowtail butterflies."

"How so?" Izzy asked, tilting her head. 

"Well, monarch butterflies are more orange than yellow. If these butterflies were yellow then they would be swallowtails instead."

Izzy looked all around the forest surrounding her as she dragged the wagon behind her. She tried her best to stay right behind Sunny so that the cart would not stray far from the path. In every direction were several separate groups of bright butterflies gently floating on their way to wherever they were heading.

"I think the sunlight is messing with my vision," Izzy confessed. "I could have sworn those wings were yellow."

Sunny giggled. "Well, I'm certain there are swallowtails out here somewhere. If we're in butterfly season like I think, we should be seeing all sorts of them."

"Well, if that's the case, let's just guess a different kind of creature."

"Okay. That's fair. What about squirrels? There's grey squirrels and red squirrels and fox squirrels ---"

"Oh! I can do that. We definitely had plenty of squirrels in Bridlewood! I should be able to point them all out!"

You watched the earth pony and unicorn converse as you were trailing them from a considerable distance. You were not far enough to be deaf to what they were saying, but you feared that you might cause Izzy some trouble if she were to swing the wagon and you happened to be too close. As well, you thought it was best to give the two their space, though it was more for your benefit than theirs.

At least you were outside once more to enjoy the fresh air. After your tour, you spent most of yesterday on the couch watching TV with Izzy, even after dinner. You went through numerous episodes of the Trotformers  series --- which you admit was very entertaining and action-packed, though it came with a side of campiness --- was stuck with two unbearably cheesey romcom shows, and sat through an hour-long session of weather forecast concerning the rainstorm that would be arriving today.

Despite being an immediate neighbor to Izzy on the couch, you barely talked with her while the programs were on, aside from a few agreeable mumbles whenever the unicorn made a comment. Once you realized that she was fine with being the main creature talking, you figured you did not have to contribute much to the conversation.

But that was all during the previous day, which ended after a quick shower before going to bed. Today, Sunny had woken you up while the bottom half of the bronze sun was still sequestered by the horizon. After breakfast, you helped the mares pack up their belongings and camp supplies into a rented wagon, which Sunny volunteered to pull first.

Pipp, who had received the message about Discord's location, told you and the others that Candlebright Cove was somewhere southwest of Maretime Bay along the coast, and based on an old, dusty map that Sunny had, it would take more than a day to get there at an average pace. 

At first, the hours went by fast during the morning, perhaps due to a boost of caffeine. Hours later, though, when you could barely see the structures of the town behind you, weariness had kicked the vigor out from your body, especially from your legs. It was not even the heat that got to you --- just the plain fact that you had trekked so far for so long.

Luckily for you, the mares were just as tired as you, including the pegasi sisters, who had to rest their wings after flapping them constantly. Even Sunny, despite her early optimism that they could all make it just a bit longer, admitted defeat in the end. It made sense, given that she was driving the wagon with tons of material. After a much-needed half-hour break, you all were on the move again, except this time Zipp volunteered to be the wagon driver.

After a few more hours, you all took another thirty-minute break, this time deciding to unpack the lunch that was brought for the journey. Izzy, feeling better with a fuller stomach, offered to drive the wagon this time. Based on just a mere hunch, you figured that it was now some time in the afternoon based on the position of the sun right above you all. 

You knew that in just a few more moments you and the mares would have to take another break, and you wondered in your head if you should volunteer to drive the wagon next. It would be the proper thing to do, after all --- as a way of showing gratefulness towards the hospitality that these ponies have shown you. Especially with Sunny and Izzy.

"Hey, [Y/N]."

You turned your head to your left where the voice came from. To your side was Zipp, who was once again hovering in the air.

"Hello?" you said to her.

"I got your name right, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Oh. Okay, that's good. Well, how have the past two days been?"

"Well..., aside from being sent to the future and being attacked by monsters, I say it's been alright."

The white pegasus looked down in embarrassment. "Yeah..., that makes sense. Well, I hope you at least enjoyed the tour Sunny and Izzy gave you. But I can understand if you wanted to see more of the Bay before Pipp and I came back."

You kept your straight face. "I got what I could out of it."

"It's just, you know, seemed important that we talked about how a pony from long ago just came here out of nowhere. Especially if magic's return to Equestria has anything to do with it."

"It's okay. That's a fair point."

Silence grew in the air as you continued to walk the same path through the forest. But an uneasiness in the back of your head advised you to be ready for that silence to break very soon.

"So...," Zipp began to say. "If you don't mind me asking, do you know anything about what may have caused Old Equestria to fall?"

"I already told Sunny and Izzy yesterday about how I didn't notice anything going wrong in Equestria." 

"I know. Sunny and I went through her notes while you were watching TV with Izzy. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that she probably didn't go farther with her questions." 

With her forehoof, Zipp reached underneath her wing and pulled out a light-blue box that was small and thin, and with her other forehoof she pressed on a black surface on top of the box that reminded you of the screen of the TV back at the Brighthouse before it was turned on. Once Zipp pressed on the black surface of the box, the surface lit up bright and colorful in a way you were not certain of how to describe it. With a few more touches to the box, the surface changed its appearance a few times and made some weird noises before she pointed it at you.

"Question number one: to your knowledge was there---"

You could not help but interrupt and point. "I'm sorry, but --- what is that?"

Zipp looked down at the object in her hoof. "This? Oh! I guess Sunny never exactly got to teaching you about our technology." She pressed on the surface again, generating another noise. "This is called a phone, or a cellphone. It can do a lot of things, but to make this quick it's mainly used for communicating with other ponies from long distances. But right now I'm using it to record our conversation."

"That sounds a bit like a telephone., except they're a bit larger and have to be connected to an outlet."

"Yep. We still have telephones here, but nearly everypony has their own cellphone. They're much easier to carry around. But back to my original question..." She resumed touching the screen and pointed the device at you. "So, question number one: As far as you are aware, were there ever any ponies in your time that tried to divide the three races, or at least proclaimed that one race was better than the others."

You breathed through your nose, not sure how you felt about addressing more questions --- especially if you had no good answers to deliver this time.

"I'm pretty sure ponies like that existed, but I don't know of any prominent ponies that tried to cause division like that. The only prejudice going around in Equestria was towards non-pony species. There's this group called the Homefront Foundation that has all these chapters all over Equestria, and one of their... grieveances is that Equestria was letting in too many immigrants, and that country was in danger of being overrun or something like that."

"Okay. Question number two: during your time, did there exist crystals that could house large amounts of magic? If so, how many existed?"

"I don't know that any magical crystals besides the Crystal Heart in the Crystal Empire's capital. I best I can tell you is that it kept the empire safe from magical snowstorms and other evils."

"Okay, then. I guess the Unity Crystals weren't made yet before you came here."

"Oh!" another voice exclaimed. "Is that the place where all those ponies used to shine like crystals? Sunny told me all about them once! The pippsqueaks definitely need to know about that place!"

Zipp's eyes widen. With incoherent, flabbergasted sputtering, she looked all around her until she gazed up. Following her gaze, you spotted Pipp floating right above you in the treeline --- higher than Zipp --- with her own cellphone in her hooves.

"PIPP!" Zipp shouted anxiously. "Are you really livestreaming right now?!? You're gonna tip off Discord and let him know where we are!"

"Ugh! Zipp!" the pink pegasus complained as she pressed on the phone's screen. "I'm not careless enough to do a livestream when we're in the middle of a mission! I'm just recording a video that I'm gonna edit later when we get back home. Think of how many ponies are gonna want to see somepony from the past!"

Pipp floated down to the same level that Zipp was at, except she was to your right. Like her sister, she brought the back of her phone towards your face --- her eyes beady with joyous anticipation.

"So, [Y/N]. If you don't mind me asking, what's it like being in the future? I mean, aside from ponykind being at each others' throats for moons and moons, don't you think that this time period is pretty rad with what you've seen?"

"Well, if ponies are at harmony with each other again, I guess this... timeline is alright."

Pipp nodded. "Okay. Okay. But like, what else do you like about the future? Is there anything here that you don't have back home?"

"I guess I can say that aside from the phones and TV, nothing seems really that advanced here."

"Really? So like you all had running water and electricity even back then?"

"Yeah. We did."

"Hey, Pipp," Zipp butted in. "I wasn't quite done yet with my questions. So how about you wait your turn, huh?"

In reluctant resignation, Pipp placed her phone underneath her wing, but not without a smack of her lips. "Well fine, then."

As the pink pegasus flew back a bit, the other pegasus sent out a sigh of relief. "Sorry about that. She's very serious about getting views from ponies whenever she can get the chance."

"What do you mean by views?" you asked. 

"Oh, right. You don't know what the Canternet is either. I guess the best way I can put it is that the Canternet is like this... reality where ponies can talk to each other and share information without being in the same room --- mainly by using their phones. There's all these sections of the Canternet like ClipTrot and Ponygram where ponies can look into each others' businesses. Pipp has a bunch of followers on the Canternet, and she wants to please them with new content whenever an opportunity comes."

You shuddered. "Other creatures getting involved in my life sounds like a nightmare."

Zipp failed to stifle her chuckle. "I get what you mean. I have my own accounts, but I also try to keep my social life as private as possible. Which I have to admit is a bit difficult for a princess." She pulled out her phone. "But back to where we were before. I do have one more question: does Equestria have any old spells or weapons or artifacts that can be used to defeat a great evil? And if you can, can you tell me where they might be?"

You bit your lip in contemplation. "Well, there's the Crystal Heart, which I already mentioned is at the Crystal Empire. Then there's this Alicorn Amulet that my guidance counselor had when she was going up against Princess Twilight. It was supposed to enhance a pony's magical abilities, but it could also corrupt their mind. After the princess defeated the counselor, the amulet was hidden somewhere secret."

"Are those the only devices you can recall?"

"Well, there are the Elements. They're these magical artifacts that can be used to defeat evil. The Elements came from these magical trees. Six of these trees actually used to exist, but the one in the Equestria was destroyed by King Sombra before I was born --- including the Elements it had."

"Where exactly are the other trees?"

"I know that each tree has a unique name, but I can't remember them, though. I do know that one is in Farasi, the homeland of zebras, abadas, and kelpies. One is in Caninia, the kingdom of the diamond dogs. Abyssinia, the home of these cat-like creatures. Ornithia, the home of the avians, these bird creatures. And then there's Cunabula, where the Knights of Harmony came from. And now that I think about it, there's the Cutie Map back at the Castle of Friendship in Ponyville. But the only thing it does is send creatures on missions involving friendship."

"And that's it?"

Confident in your answers, you nodded.

"This is all really interesting," Zipp admitted. She brought her phone closer to herself and tapped on it a few times. "Note to self: when given the chance, conduct research on the Crystal Heart in the Crystal Empire and contemplate on a possible journey there, as well as the Cutie Map in Ponyville's Friendship Castle. Given the hidden nature of the Alicorn Amulet, and the distance from the other countries that have their own Elements, it's unlikely that I'll find any of those objects."

With her short soliloquy done, Zipp hid her phone underneath her wing, all with a content smile evident on her face. "I'm sorry if my questions seemed a bit too much. It's just that when me and my friends went to look for the pegasus crystal, Discord told us how the crystals were created because of a pony who managed to cause disharmony in Equestria by dividing the three races. Since you're from the past, it made sense to assume you would know a lot of things that we don't know today."

You kicked a rock that was in your way. "It's okay. If you're trying to stop something like that from happening again, I guess you would want to be prepared."

"Well, I'm glad you understand. I probably have a few more questions for you later on, but I'm done for now." The white pegasus flew a little bit ahead of you while maintaining eye contact. "Even though I wasn't there, I'm pretty sure Sunny was losing it when she found out that you were around when Princess Twilight and the others were still kicking."

"Something like that," you admitted with a straight face.

"Well, I'm not as much of a cheerleader as she is, but I'm still excited to know somepony who has a first-hoof account of Old Equestrian history and culture in their noggin. But I'm not gonna bother you anymore. There's something I need to tell Sunny."

With those last words, Zipp zoomed ahead of you to meet up with the two mares at the front. Alone once more, you attempted to take in the environment around you --- especially the trees with their thick canopies. But less than a minute into your visual exploration, you heard a strange set of noises to your right. Turning your head in that direction, you were greeted by Pipp pointing her phone at you.

"If you don't mind me asking, what kind of celebrities were around during your time? I'm just dying to know what kind of, like, cultural influence they brought to Equestria."

An irrepressible sigh escaped your lips.