"Can you please stop for a while?" I asked her while we were still in the abandoned building that housed the lab. After all, I still had a few questions that weren't answered yet.
"Yeah, sure." she said and stopped walking. "Just ask way. You must be confused anyway." Well, confused is a rather tame term. Like, why am I here? How did I even get here? What exactly happened?
"What exactly happened in this world? I know Luna is in charge but what about the other things like those transparent gates and the masks." I asked. "None of you explained that to me."
"Well, a thousand years ago, Luna became tired of controlling the night after she found out everyone was sleeping during it, but awake and playing during the day. And so, she refused to lower the moon and allow the sun to rise and bring the day. Celestia tried to reason with her, but her hatred and grumpiness turned her into Nightmare Moon."
"So far, all of this happened in my world as well." I said. "Minus the obvious weird buildings and stuff related to it." It was good to get to know what was going on but still, what makes them think I'm the 'one' ?
"Oh, it gets better. You see after she turned to Nightmare Moon," she took a small pause and added "she banished Celestia first and took over."
"Just like that?" I asked, eyebrow raised. "No one tried to stop her?"
"No one knows how she did it, but mere moments after she banished her sister, a large spaceship appeared in the sky and a smaller one landed on the balcony where the sisters were fighting." lectured me Trixie. "Then, a big, grub-like and levitating entity came out of it and Luna bowed, proclaiming her kingdom as theirs. She stayed as the queen, though, taking it more like a cooperative effort than a coup and capture."
"Any other things I should know about?" I asked. "Anything?"
"Propaganda. If you didn't see or hear any of it on our way here, it's because those streets had their posters removed and it's transmission cut off. Remember the part about rations, and doing the greater good in her speech today?" she asked me.
"Yes, I do. Why are you asking?"
"Well, she gives us less rations for the sole purpose to force us join Civil Protection or CPs for short, who get decent food, water and can enter most of the restricted areas. A very ironic name if you ask me" she lectured me once more. "And, if you're loyal enough to the self-proclaimed Queen, you can sacrifice some or all the things that make you a pony to rise through the ranks. Want to be a soldier? You'll get a small modulator where your vocal cords once were, you'll be castrated and have your memory replaced. You'll also get a free gun."
"Apart from the free gun, that's rather... disturbing. I doubt anyone would sacrifice something like that. But there are others things on my mind. Like, where are all the fillies? They're pretty much everywhere in my universe."
"Even though Equestria is the center of the Combine's power on our planet, they took over the entire planet and set up a suppression field, which, in laymen's terms, is basically some sort of invisible shield around the planet the makes everyone sterile. However, for the sake of not killing everyone by sheer aging, they turn it it off once per fifty years for a year, for mares to have foals. It doesn't affect the growth of them but only they only allow a maximum of one child."
"We have to find a way to stop this once and for all." I proclaimed. "I can't even imagine how many lives were lost thanks to Luna's despotical rule."
"I agree but," she opened the hatch which lead back to the mine "she's not Luna. Maybe somewhere deep in that wretched mind of hers, but right now, she's Nightmare Moon."
"Then why does she want to be called like that?" We went back to the mine, making sure we were unnoticed and closed the hatch.
"Some say that's Luna's way of calling for help, while others say she just likes short names for boasting about her dominance. I'm not sure myself."
"Nevermind then. So, now that we are back in the mine, how do you plan on leaving the city? I'm quite sure that's no easy feat."
"Well, the safest, albeit the longest, way would be going through the old canals and then heading for the coastal highway to reach the prison."
"The coastal highway? What's that?"
"A highway used by CPs and soldiers for travelling via the armored personal carrier or APC. Basically a sort of impenatrable fortress on wheels. Regarding the coast, the Combine drained a huge part of the oceans during their "visit" and thus created many, many coasts. Saddle Arabia is now right next to Equestria, which is four times bigger. Haven't heard what has become of other kingdoms."
"Wouldn't it be easier to just go by train? Trains are always faster than going by foot."
"A train to Novum Prospectu? Have you lost your mind? That's like taking a one-way trip to hell while shouting 'hey, it's me, Rebellio!' to everyone during the ride. Although it does lead straight to the heart of it, there's no way the two of us could shoot our way through so many soldiers and sentries. Not to mention we would be on all the cameras."
"Oh. Right. So how will we get to the canals? I haven't seen any yet."
"Through the old train tracks of course." she said "Some of them have a canal to the right and we'll just have to follow it to get out of the city. Quite easy except... well, not at all."
"That's.... a long journey."
"Of course it is." she said. "Once you start, there's no going back. If you won't do it, who will?"
"Ehm... you?" I said, nervous and doubtful at the same time.
"Me?" My question obviously suprised her. "I'll help you get where you need to be, but the stallion-of-action, the "hero", has to be you and only you. If it weren't for your appearance, we would never know how to get Celestia back and thus, you are our key to making it happen. You are the 'one' mentioned the poem and that makes you unique. Have I made myself clear?"
My heart almost stopped when she finished that sentence. I'm no hero, for Celestia's sake! I'm just a regular stallion who studied medicine, got bored by working at the clinic and went home. One prophecy worked but that doesn't mean this one has to. I sighed, knowing that choosing certain death is better than a hunter-vs-hunted scenario. If I has another chance to make this decision I would say no and regret that but that day is not today. Time to throw away to kiddie gloves and get serious, someone's relying on me and can't fail them.
"Good. I have a plan, but need an extra pair of eyes for surveillance." I gazed at her oddly, curious as to why she needed my vision.
"Sorry, my eyes are not for rent. I need them to see things." She sighted and facehoofed, then looked back at me. I swear she wanted to kill me herself with that stare.
"Just... follow me slowly, shut up and do as I tell you." She led me back to the same alley, trying as hard as she can to brush past any cameras. After eaching it, we went to Sector 1, the same area where Nightmare Moon held her speech. Luckily, lady luck was on our side now and apart from a few patrolling CPs on guard duty, it was empty. Now, it was all about me, Trixie and her skills.