//------------------------------// // Loyalty // Story: The Creation of Harmony // by Time Ponies are cool //------------------------------// Chapter XXX: Loyalty "Blimey, they've sure tightened the security since I was last here. Reminds me of airport security in Manehattan," the Doctor said as the ten ponies walked out of the immigration center and into city of Utopia. "Airport?" Rainbow Dash asked, "What the heck is an airport?" "Oh, sorry. Still not around for you. Don't mind me. Forget I said anything." The Utopian immigration supervisors scrutinized each of the ponies, searching for any signs of deviousness, criminality and other possible disturbances to the peace of the city. They inspected their supplies, interviewed them with a polygraph, psychologically analyzed them, and tested them for potential disease carriers. They found the ponies acceptable and after hearing the story of their encounter with Princess Sidera from Sleek Scale, the supervisors gave them orders to see the Prime Minister in the great diamond palace at the center of the city. The population of Utopia was a hodgepodge of every race among the three kingdoms. Earth ponies, unicorns, rhinos, zebras, gazelle, warthogs and camels walked side by side on the polished pavement made of lavender quartz that glistened under the light from the palace. Pegasi and dragons flew above the buildings with only friendly regards for each other. In the residential circle, the streets were lined on both sides by neat lawns, gardens and elegant houses. A dragon waved the ten ponies and called out a welcome as he used white fire to trim hedges. In the public circle, the streets were crowded as the citizens went to and fro doing their business. The streets were lined with shops, stores, cafes, restaurants, parlors, salons, offices, parks and markets. Around the central plaza were an enormous library, a police station, a fire station, a hospital, two schools and a university. Utopia was fully equipped as a functional modern city. "What a disgusting and egregious city 'tis. How couldst they allow such rampant species mixing? Outrageous!" Starswirl the Bearded remarked as they made their way through the city towards the palace. "I think 'tis quite pleasant to see these residents living in harmony, when above the ground they would be at each others' throats," Rainbow Sword said. The others expressed their agreement. In this city was a state of harmony that was a relic of a bygone age from shortly after the creation of the Universe. At the same time, the city's technology, organization and government was a vision of the future thousands of years ahead. The ponies reached the plaza and stared in awe at the diamond palace floating above it. It was an enormous building that shined and glittered under the light. It's towers reached high towards the cave ceiling, with the center tower reaching the highest and containing the great light. Through expertly crafted windows, the ponies could see servants, employees, government officials, and others who worked in the palace. Around some of the towers, dragons were posted as guards, watching the area like gargoyles. The palace had three legs that reached towards the ground at its lowest part. At the center of the bottom was metal circle adorned with an engraving of a six-pointed snowflake. "How does it float like that?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "It's got to take some really powerful magic to levitate a palace that big." "Well, for starters, it's not really a palace," the Doctor explained, "Well, the Utopians made it into a palace, but it was originally a spaceship that came here through the rift. It's a bit of the founding story that was left out. The pegasus who founded Utopia discovered the spaceship here, made a life and, the rest is history." "Cool! It's from outer space!" Dash said, "So this thing can fly?" "Well, not anymore. The engines were severely damaged when it crashed and they were removed and made into scrap about two-hundred fifty years ago. In fact, it was about two-hundred fifty years ago that their understanding and use of technology really kicked off. Anyway, the ship's electromagnetic hover-mechanisms were in a repairable state so they got that up and running two and half centuries ago. The electromagnets are powered by rift energy, and this place is just swimming in it, so powering them isn't a problem. But rift energy can't be converted to a form of energy that the Utopians can use in anything else, so they need other sources. They were using plutonium reactors when I was last here, but I guess now they have something new." "If we're just gonna stand around here asking questions," Applejack said, "Then I gotta ask: where did this here ship come from?" "We have time to spare. Palace security is taking a while to let us in. So, the origin of the ship: This ship was a merchant ship from the Bridle Galaxy before it came here. That snowflake there is the symbol of the merchant classes of the planet-" The Doctor was interrupted when suddenly, at that moment, the circle with the snowflake engraving descended to the ground as a floating platform. The upper side of the platform was also decorated with the snowflake. On it stood a dragon even smaller than Sleek Scale. She was only around the size of Rainbow Sword, the tallest of the ten ponies. She was a lime-green dragon with orange eyes and short rounded yellow spines. She had a long whip-like tail and a pair of straight blunted horns atop her head. Her wings were extremely impressive and very large relative to her size. She wore a white uniform decorated with several badges and the same snowflake as on the platform. She greeted them, "Welcome friends. I am Captain Magma, co-captain of the Urban Guard with Captain Cattail, and I'll be your escort today. Prime Minister Brass Hoof waiting to see you in his office." The Doctor looked to Starswirl and Sword to see what they thought of seeing the Utopian Prime Minister. They shrugged, and he shrugged back. He looked to Twilight and she shrugged. He shrugged back. He looked to Pinkie and she just said, "What are we waiting for? Lead the way Captain, sir, Magma, ma'am, sir!" The ponies walked on to the platform and stood in a circle around Captain Magma. The dragoness stood at the center of the platform and stepped on a button at the center of the snowflake. The platform vibrated for a moment and then ascended up to the palace. The interior was one of utter brilliance and beauty. Despite the ponies from modern Equestria having seen it all before, the sight was still one to behold and the design was different as centuries of history would change it. The room was decorated with sculptures of rubies, amethyst, sapphire, emeralds, and other gemstones. The floor was diamond and the room had no ceiling, allowing the ponies to see the interior of the central tower all the way to the top, where the great light that illuminated the city was. Captain Magma walked past the ponies and they turned to see a staircase built onto the wall. She said, "The Prime Minister's office is at the top floor of the tower. Follow me." She walked towards the stairs. Twilight groaned, "You've got to be kidding me. We have to take stairs all the way up there?" "Oh, of course not! That would be ridiculously silly," Magma said, "These stairs are just for decoration and for emergencies. We use elevators." She went to stand by a set of glass doors beside the stairs and, using her tail, pressed a button to open them. Inside was a small square metal room. Magma invited the non-flying ponies into the elevator and pressed a button labeled with the number sixty. She said, "It is strictly against safety policy to have more than seven ponies or the equivalent weight on one elevator. So it'd be best if we relieve it of any unnecessary weight. The pegasi and I'll meet you at the top floor." Magma walked away from the elevator and the doors closed. There was a little ding and the hum of the elevator as it began to ascend. She then faced the pegasi and told them to follow her. She opened her massive wings and flew up the tower with Dash, Sword, Derpy and Fluttershy. As they flew, Dash said, "Listen, captain. I really don't think we have time to see your Prime Minister. The ten of us are kind of under a time limit." "The Prime Minister insisted on seeing you after he heard of how you dealt with the Unwanted Visitor. Normally he's too busy to have guests, so consider yourselves lucky," Magma replied. "But we have to continue our mission," Dash argued, "We've only got two days left and we need every minute we can get. Am I right, guys?" She looked to Sword for agreement, but he said, "I am certain we have time to see this great city's ruler. Perhaps even to see what wonders it has in store. Rest assured, our mission shall be completed in time." "You see? There's no need to worry," Magma said, "Everything will be just fine." Dash looked at Fluttershy and Derpy, but they also looked like they wanted to stay. They reached the top floor, incredibly high above the ground, and stood by the elevator door, which opened to allow the others to come out. Dash immediately went to the Doctor and said, "Doc, don't you think we should get going on finish our job? We don't have time to see the Prime Minister." "Don't be daft, Rainbow Dash," the Doctor responded, "We have loads of time. They're brilliant community, the Utopians. In every way. I for one would love to meet the new Prime Minister. I'm sure he's brilliant. And besides, what if he could help us find the next ingredient, eh?" Dash thought about his words for a little while and conceded, "Alright, then. I guess, if you think so, we can spare the time to see him." Magma led the ponies from the elevator, through a short corridor and to a set of silver doors. On both sides of the doors stood a pair of rhinoceros guards in the same uniform as the captain, but with fewer decorations. To the right of the doors was a keypad containing the numbers one to nine and the letters of the Equinese alphabet. Magma typed in a password and the silver doors unlocked. She stood up on her hind claws and pushed the doors open with her fore claws. Behind the doors was a wide round room. The walls were lined with tall windows with black curtains. The snowflake was carved into the diamond ceiling and there was a magnificent round carpet spread across the diamond floor. The place had a spectacular commanding view of Utopia. At the center of the room was a round marble table with a large clock as its surface. The background of the clock was the image of the sky. As the hours passed, this image would change from day to night and from night to day. Luxurious sofas were placed on opposite sides of the table and several well-crafted chairs beside the sofas. Opposite from Magma and the ponies was a very short black wooden desk. At this desk worked a warthog. He wore a maroon suit and a crown made of oak leaves. He had his fore hooves on the desk as he worked. One hoof was made of brass. He looked up from the papers he was reading and saw his guests. He had a young and lively voice, "Ah, you're finally here! Welcome! Please, sit." The ponies sat on the sofas and chairs and Prime Minister Brass Hoof greeted each of them. Magma stood at attention by the door. The Doctor returned the greeting. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Prime Minister. I'm the Doctor." "Oh, yes. I know who you are. You think you wouldn't be recorded in our historical archives. Especially after you saved the city from the Krafayis-" "Await! Be still!" Starswirl interrupted, "Thou art the Prime Minister?" " "Yes. I'm Prime Minister Brass Hoof." "What nonsense! I must protesteth to accepting this warthog as a leader, no matter how barbaric his subjects. A warthog canst not bear a ruling title. 'Tis wrong! He hath no royal blood!" Starswirl turned and addressed Magma, "Surely, thou agreeth with me? Warthogs hath not in their veins the blood worthy to rule." Magma replied, "It's not a matter of blood, sir. The Prime Minister is an elected official. The majority of the Utopian population chose him and so he's our leader for a term of ten years." "Election?! The population chooseth their leader?! Now 'tis just too much. This society is doomed to collapse without a secure monarchy. Even if thou hast no way to create a line of succession, thou must search for a sign from the gods as to whom they chooseth to rule thee." "Our rulers don't get their power from divine intervention. Power should be derived from the majority decision of the masses." Brass Hoof then stepped in and said, "Starswirl, take it easy. There is nothing wrong with a democratic society. My citizens chose me and they're happy. Isn't that enough to show that democracy works?" Starswirl gave his words some thought and replied after a moment, "Well... Mayhaps thine government hath some virtues..." "Great. I'm glad to see you can listen to reason. So anyway, Doctor! I never would've guessed that you'd appear again after three-hundred years and during my term. It's such an honor." "It was nothing, really. The city's full of reflective surfaces, so it wasn't that hard. And the city's grown a lot since then. I'm impressed it's gone this far and civil disobedience hasn't been that big a problem." "Of course not. We have a population of honest, happy, law-abiding citizens." Dash then butted in, saying, "I'm sure you're all having a great talk, but there are more important things to get to. Can you help us on this mission we're on, Brass Hoof? We're looking for a dwarf star and the essence of the Universe." Rarity then stopped her. "Rainbow! Don't be rude. The mission can wait." "What the heck are you talking about?! We've only got two days left. Come on, Brass, you gotta help us out. Isn't that why you invited us here? You wouldn't invite us here for small talk, right?" Brass Hoof stepped away from his desk and walked towards the ponies. He leaned against the table and said, "I do prefer if you called me by my proper title, miss." Dash was flustered by his response and replied, "Fine. Will you help us, Prime Minister?" The warthog answered, "Of course, of course. I've ordered preparations for you all to have places to stay in Utopia. They're very nice houses and well-equipped and in prime location with easy access to the city's amenities. I'm sure you'll be happy to work on your mission from there." "That's sounds great!" Twilight remarked, "It'll be nice to be living somewhere not covered in sand." Brass Hoof laughed heartily. "Haha! That's the spirit! Now, Captain Magma will escort you to your new homes. Enjoy Utopia." The captain began to escort the ponies out of the office when Dash flew back and said, "Wait, can't you tell us anything that might help us? You run the city. You've got to know something." Sword joined Dash and turned around to say, "Indeed. You must know something. Have there been any problems or incidents in the city? Anything where a historical or magical objects may be involved?" "Well, there is a little bit of a disease spreading around the Western outskirts of the city, near the rift. Parts of ponies' bodies are being turned into crystals. But we've quarantined the area. It's not anything you should worry about." Fluttershy the joined, "I'm sure maybe we could help them, if you don't mind." Brass Hoof looked sternly each of the ponies and said, "It's not anything you should worry about." "Okay, then," they all replied. Captain Magma led them all back down the tower and through the city towards their new houses. As they walked through one of the main streets, Dash protested against their current course of action. "I really don't think this is a good idea. We don't have time to spend looking through the city. If we're going to find the next ingredient, we gotta look for trouble. Like that disease going around. We should check that out." "Stop worrying, Dashie," Pinkie said, "Everything's going to be fine. This is the perfect place. There's nothing wrong with living here." "You're joking, right? We can't live here! There's only two days left!" "Ms. Pinkie Pie is right," Magma said, "There's nothing to worry about. Any troubles that you had in the surface are gone now. Here in Utopia you can live a life of peace and prosperity, and you will enjoy it." "I believe Rainbow Dash may be right," Sword said, "I do not think we can spare the time to relax." "Shalt thou cease attempting to cause mischeif!" Starswirl snapped at them, "'Tis a peaceful city that can promise us peaceful lives. Art thou so ungrateful to this blessing from the gods that thou shalt disturb it?" Starswirl's words shocked everypony, including himself. He had despised this city less than half an hour ago and now he just praised it as a blessing. Starswirl looked around to see if somepony had answers to the questions that had begun throbbing in his head. Upon seeing nopony with any sign of certainty, he said, "Something is amiss... Something is rotten in the state of this city." Magma then stepped in. "Nothing to worry about. Mr. Starswirl is just coming to accept the truth: Utopia is a perfect place and he wants to live here. And the rest of you want to live here too." The ponies gave their agreements and Magma proceeded to continue escorting them to their homes. Dash was reluctant to submit, though, and continued to argue, "Okay, I'm sure it's possible for Starswirl to eventually accept Utopia but this is all way too fast. It's like Brass Hoof tells him to see this place is great and Starswirl does just that. Something's not right here. Starswirl'd never give in so quickly like that." Her protests however were to no avail. The ponies ignored her and continued following Magma. Dash flew over and landed in front of the ponies. "What's gotten into you?! You're obeying orders without question! It's like you don't minds of your own anymore!" "I... I believe you're right," Sword said. He rubbed his head as if he had a headache. "I've had a strange feeling as if I am not in control of myself... I know not how, but I seem to always want to obey them." "I sense it too," the Doctor joined, also experiencing a headache, "Wha-what have you done captain? What has the Prime Minister done?" "Silence, Doctor, Rainbow Sword!" Magma said. She bared her fangs and glared straight at Dash. "Step aside, Rainbow Dash." "No! You and your stupid prime minister gotta stop whatever you're doing and let my friends go!" "Get out of the way. If you continue resisting, I'll have to arrest you." The passers-by began to gather around and watched the rainbow-maned stranger argue against a captain of the Urban Guard. The crowd watched on from a distance and formed a circle around the ten ponies and the captain. They listened to the strangers' words. They began to think that maybe they were indeed being controlled. But Magma turned to them and ordered, "Ignore her! And ignore us! Go about your business!" They immediately obeyed. Magma looked back at Dash, who still stood defiantly in front of her. "This is your last warning. Get out of the way." Dash answered, "No." The dragoness briefly looked back at the other ponies and said, "Stay out of this." Suddenly she whipped her long agile tail forward and wrapped it around Dash's neck. She pulled down and brought Dash to the ground. She stepped forward and pressed her claw down on Dash's head. She released her neck from the tail and tied it around her hooves. She then pointed her snout up and spat out a flare of red fire to call in officers to arrest the rebelling pegasus. But just then, somepony bucked Magma's head and knocked her unconscious, making her fall off of Dash and onto the quartz pavement. It was Sword. After bucking Magma, Sword breathed heavily and grit his teeth. He shook his head, gasped at what he did and backed away, but then he stopped and shook his head again. He approached Dash and said, "I know not what is happening, but it feels as if there are two wills inside me. My own and that of another." The other ponies then circled around Dash and tried to convince her to stop resisting. The Doctor told her all the while struggling and at moments shaking his head, "Rainbow Dash, stop worrying yourself over nothing. We can a life here and you're trying to prevent it. Just give- GAH! Ah! blehehehe- Rainbow! It's mass hypnosis. Brass Hoof is using some technology that's making everypony within the hypnotic field obey him and his supporters- BAH! Argh! Come on, let's go settle in to our new home." "Doctor, snap out of it!" Dash punched the Doctor across the face and brought him back to his senses. The Doctor rubbed his cheek and said, "Ow, that stings. That's quite the foreleg you have there. But anyway, yeah, it's hypnosis. I can't believe I didn't notice it before. It must be very powerful and have a very powerful energy source. Powerful enough even to subdue me. My guess would be it's fueled by their new source and I'd say that this source is a piece of a white dwarf star." "Why isn't it hypnotizing me?" The Doctor winced as he continued to fight the hypnosis. He hit his head with his hoof several times as he spoke. "You're more devoted to this mission than anypony else, Rainbow. Your loyalty to the ponies and their future in Equestria keeps you going... Grrgh! ... This hypnosis destroys our loyalty to anything from the surface but yours is unbreakable." "What should I do?" The Doctor looked up and pointed to the top of the palace's central tower. "That light at the top of the palace. That's the star. It's got to be. The light is distinctive of white dwarf stars. It's the source of energy for all their technology, including the hypnotic field. You have to go and remove it from the tower. Without the star, they can't power the field and everypony will be freed." At that moment, they heard the roaring of police dragons overhead and the galloping of ground officers. "Go! There's no time to lose!" "Got it!" Dash jumped off the ground and flew as fast as she could to the top of the tower. The Urban Guard pursued her and she dodged to and fro, back and forth as the officers sent fire, ropes, stun beams, heat-sensing hoof-cuffs and other projectiles her way. She evaded everything, but soon a trio of elite pegasi flew directly behind her and were drawing closer. Dash tried every maneuver she could all over the city to lose the pegasi, but they remained close behind her. She swerved through the city streets, through windows and buildings, and through the open air. Her rainbow trail made a myriad of lines and shapes across the city. Finally, she decided it was no use and changed course to a straight flight towards the white dwarf star. Ahead of her, a group of dragons had moved into a formation to block her way and the blue fire bearing dragons were building a sphere of ice around the top of the tower to protect the star piece. Dash accelerated. She went fast and faster and a mach cone formed around her. Her body hurt and her eyes watered from the strain of the speed she was going. Then, she broke the sound barrier. In a deafening bang and a great explosion of light and color, she blasted off in a sonic rainboom. She dashed away from the pegasi, past the dragons and instantly reached the tower. The star piece was in a space at the top of the tower below the conical peak accessible only by staircase. The piece was surrounded by pointed arches in the diamond walls that let its light shine out. It floated at the center above an opening on the floor. Dash was about to lay her hooves on the piece, but then a rope lassoed around her forehoof and redirected her to crash onto the floor. At the other end of the rope was Prime Minister Brass Hoof. "Rainbow Dash, I must insist that you not do this!" "If you don't want me to then just let us go! Don't keep us in here!" "I can't do that. I can't let anyone out of these caves and reveal our existence to the surface. It'll ruin us!" "We promise not to tell anypony, if you'll just let us go." The Urban Guard began closing in on the tower and was ready to arrest Dash, but Brass Hoof ordered them to stand down. They obeyed and left Dash and Brass alone. "I'm sorry. I'm not taking any chances," he continued. "Then I'm gonna take the star. We need it to save the world." "If you take our power source, you'll destroy the order and harmony that generations of prime ministers worked hard to build!" "If I don't take it, something terrible will happen to the world on the surface!" "That doesn't need to be your problem, Rainbow Dash. If you stay here, you can forget all the troubles up there and live in paradise. We're untouchable down here." "You're crazy! You can't make a paradise by hypnotizing everypony! What kind of paradise has no freedom?!" "What kind of paradise has full freedom? If I let my citizens do whatever they want, they'll turn to violence and crime and tear this society apart. Just look at the surface! Up there, they had freedom and they abused it. They fight and kill and cheat and so on. In that way, they've lost the beauty of their freedom. They ruined it. Now it's a place of chaos! I don't want anything like that down here. If I have control over this society then at least some of the virtues of freedom survive. Please, Rainbow Dash, you must understand. I'm doing this for the good of my citizens. For peace, happiness and security." "If you'd take away their freedom just so that you can have a little security, then you don't deserve either. What you deserve is to lose both." Brass Hoof released her from the lasso and said, "You're wrong. The sacrifice is worth it. You've got to understand freedom and perfection aren't compatible. An artist needs control of his paint to make a masterpiece. If he just lets his paint splash however it likes, all he'll get is a mess. You have freedom Rainbow Dash, and look at the mess it's gotten you into. The mistakes you've made. The mistake you're making right now. Because you're right next to the power source of all Utopia, and it's here that the hypnotic field is strongest. Not even you can resist it. So, I'll ask you again: please stop." Dash stood and looked intently at Brass. She turned her head and looked out the tower into the city, towards where her friends were. She turned and looked into the blinding light of the star. She looked back at Brass and said, "I see..." The Prime Minister walked to her side and put his hoof on her shoulder. "Forget your past loyalties. Forget your silly mission. The surface isn't your problem. Whatever bad things are happening up there, they're not our problem. They can't affect us, so why do anything about it. Here, you have peace and harmony. Who'd give that up for a world of chaos and destruction? You are Rainbow Dash the Loyal, that is, you are loyal to me. You have no allegiance to the surface, to Ponytopia or to the Pony King. Your allegiance is to Utopia." "Yes... you're right..." "Of course I am. Now I want you to fly back down and join your friends." "I have no allegiance to Concordius or Ponytopia." "That's right. Now go down and-" "My allegiance is to my friends and Ponyville!" "What?" Just then, Sword threw his sword towards Dash. He had mustered what little willpower he could and fought the hypnosis until he was free. He flew up to the tower to support Dash. Dash caught the sword and chucked it with all her strength at the star piece. The sword knocked the piece out of its place and sent it falling out of the tower. Immediately, the lights of the city all went out and everything was dark. The only lights now were the luminescent stones across the cave ceiling and the falling star piece. Brass frantically galloped to the other side of the tower in an attempt to catch the star before it fell, but he was too late. Dash then bolted and flew after it. Brass watched as she made a sonic rainboom, blasted herself at the piece and caught it. As she turned and set her course for where she left her friends, he stamped on the floor with his brass hoof and cried out, "DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW AWKWARD THIS WILL BE FOR ME NOW?!" Dash and Sword returned to their friends and landed on the street outside their luxury crystal homes. The Doctor sat on the steps in front of the door of one house and got up to greet the two. The others then exited from two other houses, all shaking and rubbing their heads. Around them, the citizens of Utopia were doing the same. A commotion began as they all saw the city in darkness, and it was not long before panic followed. Dash tossed the piece between her two hooves like a hot potato. "Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot!" Sword gathered the ponies together and said, "We've taken the piece of the star. We must flee immediately!" "But where do we go?" Twilight asked. The Doctor answered, "To where no resident of Utopia wants to go: the quarantined zone." "But ain't it diseased?" Applejack said. "Oh, it's no disease. Or at least not a harmful one. We'll be fine. But first we need to put that dwarf star piece away safely because it is very hot and very high on radiation." "Oh, there's a spell for that!" Twilight said, "I just learned it before we left Ponyville." She levitated the piece away from Dash, cast a spell on it and enveloped it in a layer of lead. The light was gone and Dash could hold it in her hoof. Now that they all could see it without the light, they saw that it was only the size of a tennis ball. "Hm, the material must be greatly expanded for it to be that big and still be a reasonable weight. Must be a side effect of falling through the rift. Oh, well. Now that that's taken care of, allons-y!" The ponies galloped off through the streets and headed to the West according to their compass. They passed crowds of ponies, rhinos, gazelle, zebras, warthogs, camels and dragons demanding answers to why the electricity had stopped. They evaded the Urban Guard wherever they appeared to control the crowds. After following one of the main roads towards the outskirts of the city, they found the quarantined zone closed off by a high metal wall. Sword drew his weapon and pointed it at the wall. He unleashed a bolt of lightning and melted a hole through. The ponies jumped through the hole and entered the quarantine. They were greeted by a crowd of surprised ponies whose various body parts were turned into crystals. It was a happy meeting as they had effectively freed the infected ponies by taking down the dwarf star piece and breaking open the wall. The Doctor spent a good hour explaining everything to everypony and assuring them that everything was fine. The quarantined zone had long been deprived of power, making the ponies accustomed to the dark. While the rest of Utopia was in uproar, they remained calm. When the Doctor finished with them, some of ponies returned to their daily business, some escaped the quarantine zone and some went to work setting up outdoor lights. The ten then discussed their next course of action. "So what now?" Applejack asked. "West of here is a rift in space and time. It's kind of a hole or a tear in the fabric of the Universe and stuff can pass in and out of it. That's where Utopia got all its technology. Junk from all over the Universe falls into the Time Vortex and some land in these caves. There's also a lot of timey-wimey stuff and radiation that reaches up to here. When Utopia expanded some ponies built neighborhoods far too close to the rift and that radiation alters their DNA. It changes their flesh into crystals. Despite what the Utopian government thinks, it's not harmful. And it won't affect us if we get a move on. I have a hunch that our next move would be to find the rift." "Shouldn't we keep going North?" Fluttershy said. "I don't think so. I think we've gone North enough. The last ingredient is the essence of all matter in the Universe. I'm not sure what that means, but if the instructions have led us here, then it must have something to do with the rift." "Well, we have nothing else to go on," Dash said, "Might as well go for the rift." The ten ponies continued past the outermost neighborhoods of Utopia and left the city behind them. They headed to the dark, untamed caves West of Utopia. As the ponies passed the last house, just before the entrance to the caves, Derpy briefly went over to admire the garden. The half-crystallized homeowner exited his house and saw Derpy sniffing flowers. "I see you have an appreciation for flowers. I'm glad to see somepony who admires my work. What's your name?" "I'm Derpy!" "Derpy? That's... an interesting name." "Do you know who lives in the caves over there?" "Oh, um, the Western caves? Uh, nopony lives there... Well, nopony except the Oracle."