March 6 1010 A.G
Ponyville
Sweet Apple Acres.
3:00 PM
*Knock, knock knock.*
It was a chilly afternoon in the small town of Ponyville. There is barely any snow on the ground, and it was warmer than usual. That means spring was right around the corner.
Later today, the Apples are going to throw a party to celebrate the coming spring season. Even though it’s a bit early to celebrate that but hey, it doesn’t matter. Every pony likes parties.
Especially in Ponyville.
“Atlas, what a nice surprise. Come in, come in.” She said, allowing the human to enter her house.
“Good afternoon, Pear.” Atlas greeted before putting his sweater on the coat rack.
“So what brings you to my farm? The party doesn’t start until seven.” She asked.
“Artemis wanted me to ask you something. But he’s a bit busy with work right now, so he asked me to ask his question for him.” He said as he took a seat on the living room couch.
“Ok.” She said before sitting right next to him.
“Remember when you invited me and my siblings, and we decided to volunteer to take some of the guest on a tour of the farm and the Whitetail woods? Like something similar to a Haybale ride.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, since the ride is educational, Artemis wants to know if it would be ok if we drive over to the castle of the two sisters. And use our new truck instead of your husband’s old tractor.”
“Does he know where that castle is located?” Pear Butter asked.
“Yes, he does. We know that the forest has a scary and dangerous reputation. But the good news is that the castle was only a quarter of a mile deep in the forest and Twilight found a safe route to it. So, we should be good. And we have powers. If something goes wrong, we could just teleport ourselves back.” Atlas reassured.
“Ok, but you mentioned that he would be using your truck. Is it outside so I can see what it looks like?” Pear Butter ask.
“It’s not outside because it’s not yet complete. But in two hours me and my brothers are going to Hollow shades to pick it up. But I do have a picture of what it will look like.” Atlas said before taken a fold piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Pear.
“So this new truck of yours can handle the conditions in the Everfree?”
“Yep, you can handle anything this country can throw at it. Well, except for lava for obvious reasons.”
“Ok, you convince me, but let me see if my husband is ok with this idea.” She said before heading out the door to get her husband.
After waiting in the living room for 10 minutes, Pear Butter came back inside.
“Congratulations Atlas, Bright Mac is on board with your brother’s idea, but on one condition.”
“What is it?”
“He wants to narrate the first half of the tour.”
“The first half is when we’re going around the Apple and Pear farms, right?”
“That’s right.” Pear answered.
“Artemis will be fine with that.” Atlas responded.
“Is there anything else you want to discuss with me?” She asked.
“No that is all. Bye Pear. See you at the party.” Atlas said before he walked over to the front door and grabbed his sweater from the coat rack.
“Goodbye Atlas.” She said as she watched the human exit her house and leave her farm.
===•••===
Hollow Shades.
Steel inc factory.
5:35 PM
After taking a train from Canterlot to Hollow shades that took around 2 1/2 hours, the triplets didn’t want to take a long carriage ride to their destination. So they decided to teleport instead.
When they arrived at the factory, they saw that Paxton was waiting for them as promised.
“Hey boys, welcome to my factory.” Paxton greeted.
“Hello Paxton.” They said unison.
“Are you three ready to see your new vehicle?”
The purple unicorn stallion ask.
“Definitely. We’ve been waiting all week for this.” Apollo said.
“So, where is the truck anyway?” Artemis asks.
“It’s still inside. I just finished putting on the tires.” He opened the double doors with his magic. “Follow me.”
They follow the older stallion to the main floor of the factory, where tanks, guns, construction vehicles, and much more were being built.
“Hey Paxton, how come there’s so many tanks being built?” Artemis ask.
“Well, that’s because the world saw how effective these fighting vehicles are. These machines were able to bring an entire empire to its knees. Ever since then, the equestrian military and our allies around the world has been ordering a lot of SB-15s. Thankfully all of my factories are able to handle the high demand.”
Finally, after a little bit of walking, they arrived at a quieter part of the factory.
And parked in front of them was their new truck.
The vehicle question was pretty large, about the same size as a standard four-wheel firetruck. It had a flat nose cab with two doors on each side. And it has a gray coat of paint.
But what made this truck unique was that it had a pair of tracks instead of wheels in the back. Right below the cargo part of the truck. Within the tracks were three tank wheels.
(The halftrack looks similar to the truck in the photo, except it's smaller and it only has two front wheels.)
“Wow, it looks even better in person.” Apollo said in amazement.
“Paxton you really outdone yourself.” Atlas said.
“Thanks. Now don’t just stand there, check out.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” Apollo said to himself.
Like a child on Christmas Day, Apollo approached the large truck, open the door, and hopped in the driver seat.
After he close the driver side door, he took a moment to look in the back and saw that there were three rows of luxury leather seats.
He whistled before saying. “Worth every freaking penny.”
When he looked down at the dashboard, he saw that the highest number on the speedometer was 105.
“How in the heck can this thing go so fast?”
“I built the engine.”
“AHH!” Apollo turned around and saw that Atlas was sitting right behind him.
“You really need to stop using your magic to sneak around.” Apollo said.
“I’m not stopping anytime soon.” Atlas responded. “Can I have a turn in driver seat?”
He let out a sigh before responding. “Sure, I was going to check out the back anyway.”
Apollo got out of the half track and walked to the back. He opened both of the rear doors, revealing a sizable cargo space.
Inside of the empty space are eight seats, four on each side. And Artemis was sitting in one of the seats.
“You need to sit down right now. These seats are very comfy.” Artemis said.
Apollo was skeptical.
“They don’t look like it.”
“Just come in here.”
Apollo climbed on board, unfolded one of the seats, like you would do in a movie theater and sat down.
“Wow, you’re right. This is comfy.”
===•••===
A few minutes later.
“So what do you guys think?” Paxton ask.
“It’s perfect.” Artemis said.
His siblings nodded an agreement.
“I’m glad y’all like it.” The purple unicorn pulled a pair of car keys out of his right pocket.
“Who is driving?” Paxton asked.
The siblings looked at each other and decided to settle it by playing a few rounds of rock paper scissors.
Apollo won.
Paxton toss the keys to him. “Y’all have a nice rest of your evening.” He said before walking away.
“You too.” Apollo replied.
All of a sudden, Atlas teleported away in an orange flash of magic.
Artemis had a gut feeling where his brother went.
‘He’s in the front isn’t he.’ he thought, as he turned around and saw that Atlas was in the front passenger seat.
“Dammit.”
Atlas roll down the window with a smug look on his face and said. “It’s not my fault that you’re slow, you snooze you lose.”
Apollo laughed as he was walking towards the vehicle while twirling the car keys on his index finger. Artemis rolled his eyes.
After everyone put on their seatbelts, Apollo put the keys in the ignition and started the engine.
When the large factory doors opened wide enough for the half track to leave, the driver gave a goodbye honk before driving away.
===•••===
7:08 PM
Ponyville
Sweet apple Acres.
“Does any pony know where the triplets are?” Spike ask before he took a bite of his caramel Apple.
“Maybe they’re still in town somewhere.” Rainbow Dash suggested.
“I remember Atlas telling me that they were going to Hollow shades to pick something up.” Twilight said.
“They better get here soon. They’re in charge of taking the guest around the farm and the woods.” Applejack stated before taking a sip of cider.
It was at this moment when they noticed a really bright light coming from the south side of the Orchard.
“What is that?” Fluttershy ask, shaking like a leaf.
“I don’t know, but I hope it’s not what I think it is.”
Applejack said as she reached under one the tables and grab a crossbow.
Soon more ponies notice the bright light as it got closer and closer.
The lights went away, revealing a truck coming to a complete stop in front of the main gate.
Every pony breathe a collective sigh of relief.
“For second there I thought there was some weird creature from the Everfree.” Applejack said as she sneakily put her weapon away.
“Same over here. Who is that?” Spike said.
While the main six wondered who could be could be in the vehicle, Pear Butter came out of her house with a tray in her hands. “Every pony, I bake some more apple fritters.” She said before placing the tray on the table. Then she noticed the truck at her gate.
“Oh, the triplets are here.”
“That vehicle belongs to triplets?” Applejack ask.
“Yeah, Atlas came by earlier to give me a heads up.” She said, before walking towards the gate and opening it.
The truck slowly entered the premises, turned around and backed up right next to the barn.
After that, the engine was turned off.
“What’s up ponies. Sorry for being late.”
Apollo said after he closed the driver side door.
“Howdy AAA, how come you never told us y’all get this thing?” Applejack ask.
“We wanted to see your reaction.” Atlas said. “But we did expect to see a whole crowd of ponies ready to shoot a bunch of lasers at us.”
“Well, we’re not used to seeing bright lights coming from the woods at night.” Rarity said.
Apollo chuckled nervously. “Yeah, sorry about that the road we were on lost power and i had to use the highbeams.”
“So are you boys ready to take ponies around the farm?”
“Whoa, slow down their cowgirl, we just got here. Let us enjoy some games and the food first.”
Atlas said.
“Ok in the meantime, I’ll get the tractor ready for you.”
“Applejack you don’t need to do that because we’re not using the tractor. We’re using our half track instead.” Artemis said.
“Ok. That’s a bit odd.”
“And we’re going to the castle in the Everfree forest.” Apollo said.
This caused the color to drain from the main six.
Except for Twilight.
“Are you guys fucking crazy?!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Do you know what goes on in that forest? The clouds are not controlled by any pony, the animals are weird. And last, but not least, it creepy!”
“And it’s very dark and scary, even during day.”
Fluttershy interjected.
“If you’re afraid of that Everfree, why do you live so close to it?” Atlas ask Fluttershy.
“I don’t live that close to the forest.” She answered.
“I know, but it’s kind of ironic don’t you think? You’re basically Zecora’s closest neighbor.”
"We’re only driving past the castle. We’re not actually going to stop and explore it. After we see it and I give a few facts about it. We get the heck out of the forest as fast we can. You guys have nothing to worry about. The path twilight showed me is extremely safe.” Artemis said.
“Twilight, you’re in on this?” Applejack ask.
“Yeah, when they told me what they were planning, I thought it was a good idea.” She answered before taking a sip of her apple juice.
“So are we gonna get something to eat or what?”
Apollo said as a stomach starts rumble right on queue.
“Yeah, I agree with Apollo, so let’s go.” Atlas said.
“I’ll go with them. See you girls later.”
After that, the humans walked away.
===•••===
7:30 PM
It’s been 30 minutes since the party had started, and finally the triplets were ready to take some of the party guest around the farm, take them to the castle of the two sisters and the Whitetail Woods.
After every pony got in their seats, Artemis put the key in the ignition and turned it. After that, the human gave a thumbs up to Bight Mac, who was sitting in the third row.
The yellow earth pony farmer turn on the microphone and said. “Is every pony in the front ready?”
“We’re ready!”
“Passengers in the back are you ready to go?” Bright Mac said, as he looked through a small window that allowed him to see the ponies who were sitting in the very back of the half track.
“Yeah!” They yelled.
“Driver, we’re ready to go.”
“Roger that.” Artemis before putting the half tracking gear and giving it enough gas to go at a steady speed of 25 mph.
“Welcome aboard on the sweet ride in sweet apple acres, my name is Bright Mac and I will be your guide…”
===•••===
7:45 PM
15 minutes later.
“Since we are leaving the farm, my friend here will be your guide for the rest of the journey. Here you go, Artemis, you have the floor.”
After Artemis grab the microphone with his magic and said. “ Thank you Bright Mac I hope you enjoy the rest of this ride like our passengers here. Quick question, is everyone enjoying themselves?”
“Yeah!” Every pony cheered.
“I’m glad to hear that. Now the next site we are seeing tonight is the ‘castle of the two sisters’.” He said before turning on the two of the remaining headlights that were off. “To get there we would have to drive through the Everfree forest. Don’t worry every pony, you’re in safe hands.”
‘Holy crap they were right. It is dark in here.’ Artemis thought as he drove deeper into the forest.
“While we wait to arrive at the castle, I’m going to tell you guys some background information about this place. The Everfree Palace, more famously known as the 'castle of the two sisters', was built in the very late years of Galaxia reign. in fact, it was completed 20 years before she stepped down from the throne. The Palace was one of the royal sister's favorite places and they spend a lot of time there in the beginning of their reign. Because of its peaceful location, and the nearby town of Everfree was also pretty cool too.”
The half track went around the bend and the castle appeared into view.
“Here we are. On my right is the castle of the two sisters.”
Every pony ooh and awe at the view of the castle.
The castle condition is radically different from the one in our timeline. The flimsy rope bridge that was spanning the canyon was replaced by a stone bridge. The tallest points of the palace was covered in scaffolding, and there is a ton of construction equipment surrounding the site.
“Ever since Princess Luna was freed from the dark clutches of nightmare, she’s been leading an effort to restore the castle to its former glory. Should be finished by mid-June.” Artemis stated. “Before we head to the Whitetail Woods, does any pony have any questions?” He said before levitating the microphone.
He then felt someone grab the microphone out of his magical grasp.
“Why was the castle abandoned in the first place?”
Sweetie Belle asks before returning the microphone to the human.
“That’s a good question. And the reason why is because the place holds a lot of painful memories for Celestia. Mind you she had to fight her own sister, which led to a three-year long Civil War. After the civil war ended, she had to defend her country from the felines, the dragons, and a bunch of pony kingdoms who decided to take advantage of Equestria’s weaken state. Which lasted another five years, known the war a survival. So, she wasn’t in the best state of mind at the time. She tried to go back, but it was too much for her, so she abandoned it. On a happier note, she healed overtime, and the castle is no longer abandoned.”
They stayed at the vanish point for a few more minutes before Artemis decided it was time for them to go.
When they were almost out of forest, Artemis spotted a large manticore sleeping in the middle of the road.
He slammed on the brakes to avoid colliding with the large cat. Luckily, the truck stopped 25 feet away from the sleeping feline.
“Is every pony ok?” Artemis ask.
“Yeah, we’re fine.” Said Rarity.
“Is that a manticore?!” Bright Mac exclaimed.
“Yep, that’s a manticore. I think it’s asleep.” Said Artemis.
“Do we have to turn around?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“We don’t need to turn around. There is enough space for us to pass on the side of the road. Give me a sec.” He said before turning off the engine.
He reached for a knob on his left and switched it from diesel to hybrid. After that he turned the engine back on. This time, it was drastically quieter than before.
The human drove the half track around the sleeping beast.
When he was in the clear, Artemis push the gas pedal down until the half track was cruising at speed of 50 mph.
He looked in his rearview mirror into his relief. It was still asleep.
===•••===
10 minutes later.
After enjoying a nice drive through the Whitetail woods, Artemis and his passengers made it back to sweet apple acres.
“Hello boys, how was the ride?” Pear Butter ask.
“Oh, it was great. Our guest had fun and we learn a thing or two.” Bright Mac said. “Artemis how do you know so much about that castle?”
“When I first arrived, I decided to research the history about this country to pass the time.” Answer Artemis.
“Maybe we should do this next year.” Pear Butter suggested.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Did any thing interesting happen?” Apollo asked.
“We encountered a manticore.” Artemis said.
“What happened when you encountered it.” Apollo said in shock.
“The cat was sleeping in the middle of the road so nothing bad happened.”
“That’s good to hear.” Pear Butter said with relief.
They then heard half track’s horn.
“Bright Mac, Artemis, the new passengers are ready to go. Are you guys coming or not?” Atlas yelled.
“We’re coming.” They said in unison.
===•••===
For the rest of the night every pony had fun in sweet apple acres. They played games drink and ate until their stomachs were full.
Sadly, the festivities soon came to an end, and every pony said their goodbyes.
Well, except for the triplets. They decided to drink a lot of hard cider with Rainbow Dash. And just like the fastest Pegasus in Equestria, the humans were too drunk to go home.
So, the decision was made to let them sleep over at the Golden Oaks library and Rainbow Dash will sleep at the farm.
===•••===
March 7 1010 A.G
9:10 A.M.
After the Yukon triplets woke up, had their breakfast and Twilight performed a spell to get rid of their hangover, it time for them to head back to the capital.
“Thanks for allowing us to sleep over.” Apollo said.
“It was no problem that’s what friends are for.” Twilight smiled.
*Honk, Honk.*
“That our queue to go, bye Twilight, bye Spike.” Atlas said.
“See you later guys.” Spike said.
“Bye Owllicious.” Apollo said before walked through the front door.
“Hoo.”
After that, the humans drove away.
“Man, we had a crazy night.” Atlas said.
“Tell me about it.” Artemis replied. “Next time remind me not to drink with Rainbow Dash."
“We will.”
*ROARRRR*
“What the hell was that?” Apollo said the color draining from his face.
*ROARRRR*
“Whatever it is, it’s coming from over there.” Artemis said deciding to drive to the source of the sound.
When they arrive to an another part of town, they were shocked by what they were looking at.
In the middle of the street was a large wolf made out of random pieces of wood, slowly approaching Bonbon and her daughter. The two ponies had nowhere to go since they were cornered against a wall.
The humans knew they had to do something.
Before the wooden monster can get any closer to them, Atlas came out of nowhere and punch this thing in the jaw.
Before the wolf can recover from being, Atlas grabs the creature with his magic and threw it against a large oak tree.
This gave Apollo the perfect opportunity to check on ponies.
“You guys, ok?”
“We’re ok.” Bonbon said.
“Good, now go.”
The cream coated mare nodded, grabs her daughter’s hand and ran towards the group of police officers that just arrived on the scene.
“Thanks for helping us.” Twist said.
“You’re welcome.” Apollo said before heading back to deal with the wooden wolf.
Well, at this moment, when Apollo saw that Atlas had beaten up the thing so badly that it disintegrated into a pile of wood.
“Yes finally!! Apollo we did it. We defeated it.”
“Hell ye-… no we didn’t.” He observed the wolf putting itself together.
Atlas, turned around and saw that the wolf was still alive. He had enough time to shield himself with a magical shield bubble before the wolf smacked him into a side of a building.
Don’t worry, he’s all right.
In retaliation, Apollo shot a beam of magic right at the creature.
Before the Timberwolf recovered enough to attack, Apollo. Spike came out nowhere and body slammed it.
“Hey guys, I brought the cavalry!” Atlas yelled, as main six joined in the fray.
A few minutes later, the Timberwolf wisely retreated back into the everfree.
“Is any pony going to tell us what the heck was that thing?” Atlas said after his adrenaline rush ended.
“That creature is a Timberwolf.” Fluttershy answered.
“That’s a Timberwolf? Oh my God.”
“At least it’s back and it’s weird home. Don’t worry when we get back to Canterlot. We’ll make sure that there’s some guards station here to make sure that thing doesn’t come back again.” Artemis said.
“You don’t need to do that we’re always prepared just in case if it happens again.” Said Applejack.
“Why are you guys acting like this is normal?” Apollo ask.
“Because we’re used to it. It only happens once or twice a month depending on the season." Applejack said.
The triplets did nothing but stare at them.
“You ponies are crazy.” They said in unison.
===•••===
Canterlot castle.
Celestia’s POV.
Back in Canterlot, Celestia was in the royal garden, enjoying the peace and quiet.
After having a meeting with a few senators and going through some paperwork, Celestia was finally able to unwind with a cup of coffee.
Sadly, her time alone ended when Cadence teleported right in front of her.
“Auntie, I have something you need to see.” The love princess said in a panic.
“What’s wrong Cadence?” Celestia ask as she put her coffee mug on the table.
“He’s back.” She handed her aunt an open letter with a picture stapled at the bottom of it.
===•••===
Dear Princess Cadence.
I have some urgent news coming from our military forces guarding the northern border. Today at 7:08 AM, Our troops have reported spotting a tall crystal structure 20 miles north of the border. After further investigation it has been confirmed that the structure is the old crystal Palace that your mother used to rule in back in the days of the old empire.
Your majesty, the Crystal city is back. Crystallia has been on high alert ever since the news became public. We’re ready to receive your orders.
Forever loyal, Prime Minister Scarlet.