//------------------------------//
// Outpost 2021 
// Story: Ramblings of An Angry God 
// by alexmagnet 
//------------------------------//


Outpost 2021 (tentative title)


Twilight's eyes hardened into thin slits, rimmed with red, as she scrutinized every inch of smooth steel, and examined, in detail, every iridescent bulb scattered across the metal beast in front of her. A tiny, tired smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She brushed her hoof against one of the bulbs, feeling a faint heat emanating from it. Her hoof slid across the steel, felt its chill; her smile grew the tiniest bit.
Excellent.
Her eyelids fluttered weakly. She took a few stuttering steps back, accidentally kicking away a stray bolt. She blinked involuntarily at the sound of the bolt skittering across the floor. She shook her head in an attempt to rouse herself.
I've still got work to do. I can't sleep yet.
The daunting amalgamation of steel and hard plastic rose like a mountain before her. Her breath escaped slowly as she exhaled. A handful of lights flickered for a brief moment before extinguishing themselves. She sighed. Her hoof found its way to to a lone switch near the middle of the machine. She flicked it on. The lights flickered again; they fell into darkness a moment later. The length of her horn began to glow with a faint purple light.
A panel on the front of the machine opened itself, revealing a mass of tangled wires and live terminals. From behind her, a couple of small screws—surrounded by the same violet light as her horn—floated into the open panel. Three green wires lit with the same magic a moment later. Twilight's brow furrowed; her tongue protruded slightly from her mouth, held in place by her teeth. The screws holding the wires in place loosened themselves, releasing their copper hostages. She moved a few of the wires out of the way, replacing them with new ones.
Once the new wires had been manipulated into place, the tiny screws moved into position above them and then tightened themselves down. The dim violet glow faded away. She tapped her hoof against the new screws, making sure they didn't wiggle. Satisfied that they were secure, she moved her back to the switch.
Please work.
With closed eyes—and a prayer on her lips—she flipped the switch. One eye opened slowly. She glanced down at the flashing bulbs. They flashed on and off at a nice, steady pace. Her other eye shot open. She backed away slowly; the grin from before found its way back, curling her lips into a thin smile.
She recoiled—turning her head away and bringing a hoof up to shield her eyes—as the hot terminals sputtered and crackled, spitting sparks all over the ground. The lights, on just moments before, flickered briefly, then went out—again. Her hoof lowered to the ground slowly as she breathed a heavy sigh.
Again?
She scowled. Her horn lit up again as she approached the machine. She licked her lips and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Her eyes narrowed, homing in on the offending wires.
Fine—I can play hardball too.


***




“Come on, Rainbow. We're supposed ta be meetin' Twi at the library right now. You can practice yer silly “tricks” later.”
“Oh, come on, Applejack. I'm like, this close to getting my super-ultra-double-corkscrew-loop down pat. Gimme like—five more minutes, tops. I'll have this sucker done by then.”
Applejack took her hat off and ran her hoof through her mane, tossing it out. She placed the hat firmly on her head and then gazed upwards to where Rainbow Dash was rocketing through the sky. The wind whipped past her, flapping her mane and tail around like a beached fish. Applejack's emerald eyes followed Dash as she soared gracefully through the air, light as a feather. Her wings beat with a steady rhythm, pushing her higher and higher. She couldn't help but allow a faint smile to form.
She's certainly determined. Nopony can deny that.
Rainbow Dash—hooves outstretched—raced higher and higher, almost touching the clouds. Despite the rushing wind biting at her face and causing her eyes to water, she wore a massive grin that only seemed to grow with each passing second. With one final beat of her strong wings she burst through the clouds. She closed her eyes reflexively as the sun, now unabated, shined its light on her. As the rhythmic beat of her wings began to slow, she basked in the sun's rays, taking in their warmth. 
For a moment she seemed to hang in the air, completely free of all restraints, then she flipped completely upside down and began hurtling towards the ground. The wind she felt before was nothing compared to the wind she felt now. It shook her entire body; her mane and tail whipped about wildly. Nevertheless, she wore a wild grin, her eyes held wide open.
Applejack was still staring up at Rainbow as she sped towards the ground. She watched her burst back through the clouds, her azure body seemingly melting into the sky around her. In fact, Applejack mused, she probably wouldn't have even seen her were it not for her colorful mane and tail. She grinned as she watched Dash's graceful descent.
Dash's vision filled with green and brown as she hurtled downwards. As she got closer and closer she started to twirl her body. Spinning slowly at first—but quickly building up speed—she corkscrewed her way down. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to feel the approaching earth, rather than see it.
Applejack cringed as Rainbow got nearer to solid ground, or at least she would have, had she not already seen her attempt this trick multiple times. Still though, she couldn't help it when her grin cracked into a full-blown smile as—moments before she hit the ground—Dash pulled up and went spinning through the air.
Still corkscrewing, she beat her wings in an attempt to pitch herself backwards. The first loop was executed nearly flawlessly. She was able to pull herself into a tight loop while still maintaining a high speed. However, due to the corkscrewing, she spun off-course and by the time she was attempting the second loop she had veered far from her original path.
Applejack's smile turned into a grimace as she watched Rainbow spin out-of-control into a bush as she finished her second loop. There was a sickening thud as she crashed headfirst, and upside-down, into the shrub. Applejack clicked her tongue before trotting over to the crash site. Rainbow lay moaning in a heap, half covered by the brush.
“Ugh, my head,” she groaned.
Applejack chuckled. “Hey now, at least y'all were closer this time. You got through the first loop okay, didn'tcha?”