//------------------------------// // 2: Initialising. // Story: Remnants, Forgotten. // by AnkhOmega //------------------------------// Initialising Applejack woke early, the sun was still rising by the time she was out of bed, showered and making breakfast. Big Macintosh joined her at the table almost exactly after she was done cooking up the lightly spiced porridge that they usually shared before getting to work in the fields. The meal at the ancient looking family table was, as usual consumed in silence. Big Mac was a quiet soul by nature, not speaking much more than affirmations unless he absolutely needed to say something, and Applejack was too lost in her thoughts this morning to be of any use as a conversationalist. She was worried, about two things in particular, and for once in her life neither of her worries for the day involved the farm. Today, she was worried about a much more potentially ruinous couple of problems. Namely, If Twilight Sparkle was okay, and how the hay she was supposed to tell her that she was quite possibly in love with her. She set off to do her work around the farm without even a nod at Big Mac, completely lost in her head. She even forgot to leave the stove on a low heat to make sure that Granny Smith and Applebloom didn't end up with a solid bowl of congealed sludge. Her mind was occupied on her problems. The first problem would likely go unsolved for the a while yet, Twilight was working off in the Everfree after all, and that place wasn't exactly known for being the nicest place in the country. She knew Twilight could handle herself of course, she was one of the most powerful Unicorns in the country, but the Everfree was a tricky opponent at the best of times. Even if she wasn't in the Everfree, she'd still be in danger. There seemed to be a world ending disaster ever other week in the town. The fear of something bad happening to her probably wasn't going away any time soon. The second problem was much more pressing, the party last night had left her with the plan to write her feeling out in a letter, but she had absolutely no clue on how to even begin it. Let alone how to phrase it, or deliver it. What if ah don't say it right? What if she takes it the wrong way?...What if she's not even into mares? Sun an' moon, what if ah drive her away? This line of thought brought Applejack swiftly through her chores, before she knew it it was nearly noon, and she was nearly done, just having one more tree to buck. She was still devolving into a doubt filled panic attack when the tree she bucked deposited not only apples, but a prismatic pegasus into the buckets she'd placed around the trunk. Rainbow Dash rubbed her head, most of her sitting in a bucket far too small for her, and looked around confusedly for a moment, before spotting Applejack and beginning to glare at her. “Hey! What gives? I was napping there!” Dash snapped, she never was in the best of moods after being interrupted from her favourite pastime. “Huh? Oh, sorry Rainbow. Didn't see ya up there....” came the distracted response of Applejack, who was already starting to drag the newly filled buckets to a wagon. Dash's new seat included. Rainbow popped herself out of the bucket and began gently hovering next to Applejack, annoyed glare shifting to a look of mild worry, “Hey, you alright? You look a little out of it...” Applejack stopped tipping of the buckets for a moment, looking at Dash as if she'd only just noticed her. “Ah, heh. Yeah ah was uh...thinkin' about Twi', an' that letter.” she said, her tone betraying her thoughts. Dash picked up on it right away. “Oh...Uh... Wanna talk about it? I can help ya with the letter too, if you want.” Applejack sat down for a moment, prompting Dash to land and seat herself beside her. “That...that might be good, might help to air out these thoughts a bit.” Rainbow nodded, and tried her very hardest to sit still and listen while her friend spoke. “Ah....Ah just don't know what to do anymore. Every time ah try and tell her how ah feel, ah just...get these thoughts runnin' through my head. 'What if she says no?', 'What if she's not even in'ta mares?', 'What if me tellin' her...makes her not even wanna talk to me anymore?', That kinda thing...” Applejack trailed off. Dash nodded along, and when her friend went quiet for a moment, said “No offense AJ, but that's crazy. Even if she says no, which she won't, I really don't think she'd wanna shut you out. And..ah jeez, I don't know if I should tell you this, but...” Dash looked around, making sure they were absolutely alone in the fields, Applejack perked up at this, looking around as well. Dash leaned in conspiratorially “I am totally sure she likes mares.” “Oh? How'd ya figure?” Applejack whispered. “I..uh..flew in on her reading some...what does Rarity call them? 'Special Interest Magazines'. And it was kinda clear she wasn't just researching. If you catch my drift.” Dash smirked at Applejack's rapidly expanding pupils. “You..ya sure?...wait..Rares has them too?!” AJ asked, incredulously. “You didn't hear it from me.” Dash winked. That was a small revelation for the farmer, she never would have guessed Rarity to be the type. She always seemed to be obsessed with high-up stallions. Applejack was pondering the implications of this new knowledge when Dash derailed her with a question. “So, how about that letter? What'cha got so far?” “Aheh, ah haven't really gotten past 'Dear Twilight'. Ah have no idea where to go from there. Do ah just come right out and say it? Or do ah try to butter 'er up a bit beforehand?” “Well, I know what I'd say. 'Hey, I'm awesome, you're kinda awesome, Wanna be awesome together?' or 'Hey, nice flank! Wanna see how fast I can make you rainboom?'” Dash seemed overly proud of those lines. Applejack was less than impressed. “Y'all ain't too good at this whole romance thing neither, are ya?” “Hey! Those work!....sometimes.” Dash huffed indignantly. “But yeah, I'm guessing you want something more Sparkle-specific, huh? Well...she's kinda cute, in that naughty schoolteacher-y, saucy librarian-ish kinda way. And her flank is not that bad...I guess you coul-” Applejack cut her off, “Rainbow! Ah ain't after her fer her body! Ah like her fer who she is!” “Uhh...'Your personality makes me hot, lets do the bedroom foxtrot?'” “Rainbow! Ugh...Please, never ever let me be your wingpony if y'all decide to go date huntin'.” “Hey, that one could work! You never know!” “Still...ah think ah'm gonna ask somepony else fer some help. Ah think Twi' might require a bit more of a...delicate touch. No offense.” said Applejack, apologetically. As much as Dash may claim to the contrary, she'd rarely seen her out and about with anything resembling a love interest. “Oh...nah, nah it's cool....” Dash replied, “You're missing out though! I had like, twelve horn ones!” Applejack chuckled and stood, “Ah'll have ta hear 'em later sugarcube. Ah'm gonna take a wander over to Rarity's, see if she's got any tips.” she started to slowly trot off down the road into town. “Alright. Remember, You didn't hear about the magazines from me!” Rainbow shouted after her as she returned to her favourite napping tree. Applejack was smiling as she trotted, even if Dash was a little too focused on one liners, maybe she could use something from the focus there. After all, nopony really minded a compliment on their posterior all too much. ..//.. “Hey! Fat flank, move your keester!” Twilight winced as a teamster somewhere behind her yelled at another. They were being annoying loud, loud enough to drive her to distraction. She had been sitting in front of The Door ever since she got her tent to liveable conditions (evidently you didn't get a pocket dimension unless you knew somepony who knew somepony). She had retrieved her parchment and set about scribbling down observations, copying runes for later study and trying to determine why the thing had stopped humming. It felt like all the power that was there was gone, evaporated. That was sort of impossible, without something draining it there it could never rid itself of the power it had stored away. Was something active behind it? Did she activate an ancient security measure? She was still pondering when a bowl started floating in front of her face, causing her to jump back reflexively. “Hah! Got you. Would you like some lunch Twilight?” came the amused voice of Unearthed wisdom, who was levitating a couple of bowls of dried grass and a few drinks. “S-sure...Don't do that again! You nearly gave me a heart attack!” Twilight responded, watching the bowl come down in front of her along with a glass of water. She was kinda hungry, and thirsty. She idly wondered what time it was, she looked up to find the sun directly above her. It was nearly noon. She had spent almost the entire morning staring at the door. She sighed, mildly annoyed at her biological needs interrupting her study, and took a sip from the glass. She almost immediately sprayed it out, making a few of the runes in front of her glisten. “What the hay? Did you put alcohol in my drink?!” she asked with an accusatory glare at Wisdom. Wisdom chuckled, “Nope. I'd say the fermentation process put that there, could you not spray it about so much though? Good Stalliongrad vodka is hard to come by this far south.” Her eyes widened, “No! Not vodka! Any drink other than vodka.” she said, panic etching its way into her features. Wisdom raised an eyebrow, “Oh? Would this have anything to do with the pudding revolution? Twilight's pupils shrunk to pinpoints. “...h-how did you find out about that?” “I did some digging, and leaned on a noble or two to get some details, Comrade Sparkle.” He smirked, she was very clearly deflating “Although I don't quite know the full story yet, would you be kind enough to share?” Twilight sighed, hanging her head, “Fine. You're probably going to keep digging until you figured it out anyway.” She took a bite out of her bowl of dried grass and started to tell the tale of one of the more embarrassing days of her life... ..\\.. A few months ago... Princess Celestia was bored. Very bored. Day court had, over the last century, become increasingly tedious. If it wasn't a noble requesting something preposterous, like proof that Twilight Sparkle wasn't the most dangerous being outside of the military and should be locked up for national safety, then it was ponies whinging about taxes. She was actually fairly certain that even if she lowered them they'd still complain. Time stretched on as an earth pony dressed in what he clearly thought were highly fashionable, and probably very expensive, clothes rattled on about how that one percent rise in the cost of fertiliser was destroying his business, and would therefore ruin the economy. Celestia, managing to hide her boredom behind an austere face, was wondering whether she should get Twilight Sparkle to investigate whether or not complaining about taxes actually caused a temporal anomaly that slowed time down to a crawl. The complaints were, mercifully, interrupted by the doors to the throne room smashing open, a familiar purple unicorn swaying her way inside with a few hiccups. “Twilight? What is the meaning of this?” Celestia asked, a little worried for her faithful student. “Shut it bourgeoisie tyrant!” came the oddly toned response from Twilight, stunning Celestia into silence. Nopony, let alone her faithful student, had called her something like that in at least two hundred years. “I have seen through your lies!” Twilight hiccupped, “You have no control...over da puddink.” Something clicked in Celestia's mind, the swaying as Twilight approached, the sudden shift in behaviour, the odd accent she had adopted...Twilight had been drinking. Celestia couldn't help but let worry work its way into her features, this could end very badly. Wait...pudding? She thought. Twilight's horn started to glow, the doors slammed shut, locking bars falling into place as the entire room started to rumble softly. “Yesh! There is proof! She cannot even deny it! The puddink is free, you cannot oppress further!” Twilight made a wide, sweeping gesture to the assembled nobles and petitioners, spinning on her hooves. “And you! You push the proletariat down into the custard, depriving them of the whipped cream so you can hog it all for yourselves!” Twilight ranted. Most of the assembled ponies looked at her with a mixture of fear, confusion and suspicion. Princess Celesta got slightly more worried when the rumbling worsened, centuries old clumps of dust were being knocked free from the ceiling rafters. It would have shamed her to admit it, but she had no intention of stopping her student. As worrisome as the situation was, it wasn't another tax dispute. She would intervene if it got dangerous, she promised herself that. Twilight spun again, putting too much force into it, and ended up facing the door. She blinked confusedly for a few moments before slowly shifting around to face the princess again. A door to the side of the throne flew open, an exceptionally loud voice emerging from them, “WHO DARES DISTURB OUR BEAUTY SLEEP?!” Princess Luna barged into the room, with the remains of a mud mask on her face and an oddly frilly eye mask around her horn. “You! Deceiver of the chocolate! You will not betray the puddink again!” Twilight slurred at Luna, whose rage quickly subsided into confusion, she sidled over to her sister with an inquisitively perked eyebrow. Celestia mouthed 'Drunk' at her and shrugged. Luna was confused by the Stalliongrad accent, as far as she knew, Twilight had never been there. As the rumbling worsened to the point where it was becoming hard to stand, Twilight's horn began glowing enough to bathe the entire room in a violet light. Twilight smiled triumphantly. “And now! The revolution has begun! Down with tyranny! Onward my goopy warriors!” Suddenly the rumbling ceased, the violet light cut out and the room felt the spell unleash. Princess Celestia had a split second to look up. She saw it, a 6 foot deep, solid, block of tapioca pudding. In the shape of the room. She managed to crack a half-smile. Then it hit with a thundering splash. There were minutes of stunned silence as a room full of pudding covered ponies blinked away the tapioca covering their eyes and settled their collective glares at the one unicorn in the room unsullied by dessert. Slowly the anger in the room rose, nobles started yelling about ruined clothing and hairdos, petitioners screamed about their destroyed or lost forms. Twilight swayed on her hooves, looking around at the outraged faces. She hiccuped. Then an unexpected sound rang out. It shocked all in the room, their protests died in their throats as the entire room shifted their focus. The princesses were on the floor. Rolling around in the dessert covering everything. Laughing their heads off. ..//.. “...- a little after that the guards barged in and put me in a cell to cool off.” Twilight finished her story. Her eyes had remained resolutely fixed to the, now empty, bowl in front of her as she told the story, it'd been months since it had happened but she still couldn't look anypony in the eye while talking about it. She look up at the sky, the sun had moved westwards steadily during the retelling, but it couldn't be too late into the afternoon. She looked to her side, to try and gauge how much damage the retelling had done to her reputation. She found the space Wisdom was occupying empty, his bowl overturned and half it's contents spread out across the floor. She looked around, it was quiet. Too quiet, she couldn't even see a member of the team milling about. Then she felt something that made her fur stand on end. A hot breath on the back of her neck. She was about to turn around when she heard the growl, low, rumbling and deep. She risked a glance behind her, and caught a glimpse of a dark brown mane, light brown fur, and a red scorpion tail. There was a manticore behind her. She must have gotten too distracted by the story to notice. She went over her options. She could try and run, but it was very close and she couldn't run all that fast. She could attempt to knock it away, but that would only give her some time, manticores were fast, somewhat out of shape librarians were not. At least she would have some time to figure something else out. She silently cursed her past self for not taking Rainbow Dash up on an offer of starting a exercise regime. She quickly gathered some energy in her horn, unleashing it in a wave behind her. She heard the surprised yelp of the creature as it suddenly found itself being pushed away from it's prospective meal. She quickly got to her feet and turned towards the stairs leading out of the dig site. She cursed, the manticore hadn't gone as far back as she'd hoped. She wished she could see over the edge of dig site, she wanted desperately to teleport out so she could run but she just couldn't risk the possibility of a miscalculation and ending up with her legs buried in the mud while there was a hungry predator about. She started backing up, she needed time to think and the manticore was back on its paws. She could try to teleport past it, but that ran the same risks as attempting it on the pit, if she knew the place a little better she could reduce them, but this was still mostly unfamiliar territory. She could attempt to hold it in her kinesis, but she wasn't sure if it was strong enough to break out of her influence. She could- Her backside touched something cold. She'd backed into the door, she had nowhere left to go. The manticore prowled towards her, stinger raised high, fangs bared. It was angry and hungry. She pushed herself against the door, as if the millimetres would help. It gave in. The door opened behind her and she fell into a dimly lit tunnel. She blinked. She had a chance. She moved herself fully into the tunnel, as the manticore charged, she grabbed the door in a field of magic, slamming it shut as hard as she could. The manticore slammed into the door, slumping to the floor momentarily. As soon as she heard the clang of an impact she released the door, summoned a ball of white light to follow her and sped down the tunnel as fast as her hooves could carry her. ..//.. She had run for what felt like hours. She could hear the manticore somewhere in the tunnel behind her, it was snuffling around, searching her out through smell. She slowed to a trot, she couldn't keep up the gallop for long, she needed somewhere to hide. She was getting a little desperate in that regard. She had spotted doors similar looking to the entrance along the corridor, minus the arcane symbols however. Most of which looked either rusted shut, too bent out of shape to open, or refused to budge when she tried them. The manticore was closer now. It would catch up with her soon, and she'd be dinner. She was becoming frantic. Then something unexpected happened. A door opened of its own accord up ahead, bright golden light leaking into the corridor from it. She took it as her luck holding out, running into the room. What she saw in there made her forget the danger she was in, albeit temporarily. The room was filled with strange machinery, most of which she couldn't even guess the purpose of, all of which attempting to fulfil it's purpose. Most of which were stopped by the state of decay they were in, moving parts stopped where they weren't needed or span endlessly, missing a connection. The room itself wasn't much bigger than her bedroom, but felt entirely more cramped, the grey painted walls felt claustrophobic, the ceiling too low and the room too full. What really caught her attention however, was the one thing that seemed to be working perfectly. An orb floated in the middle of the room, covered even more intricately with symbols than the entrance. One of the glyphs glowed a light red, it swivelled to point at her and she felt something. Something looking into her very being. The glyph changed to a deep green. The orb lowered itself and moved to sit in front of her face. She didn't know why, but she got the feeling it was staring at her. It started making an odd buzzing noise, repetitive and modulated. It almost sounded like words. A growl from behind her knocked her out of her reverie. She turned her head, spotting the manticore blocking the entire doorway. This is it. She thought, I'm going to die. The buzzing got a whole lot louder. The orb floated upwards, the glyph returned to red. The manticore roared, paw raised and ready to strike it's next meal. The buzzing snapped, the orb spoke. “..-ntent detected. Ceasing hostilities.” A beam of light burst from the orb, it burned bright and hot, the smell of sizzling flesh filled the air. A paw thumped to the ground. Twilight screamed. The orb fired again, beam focused on the manticore's tail, the predator unleashed a pained roar as it lost a second limb. Twilight backed into a corner as the orb moved over the manticore, it's beam fired again, flat and long, down towards the creatures neck. It's head rolled into the room, lightly smoking. Twilight watched as the orb moved over the corpse of the manticore, neatly dismembering it's remaining limbs with it's horrifying attack. When it was finished it floated back over to her, she cowered, hoping it'd be painless. She risked opening an eye when no death came. The glyph was green. A sharp snap of buzzing came from the orb before it spoke six words that confused her more than it would from any other source. “We are here for your protection.”