//------------------------------// // Part 2.5 - Gravity, thou art a Heartless Bitch // Story: Error 404 - Pony Not Found // by Suke //------------------------------// Part 2.5: Gravity, thou art a Heartless Bitch Even in a world chock full of magic, all ponies must abide by the rules of physics. Sure magic can defy them, but even that has rules to follow, and besides… our two heroines are Earth Ponies. They don’t even have wings, which is another downer, considering a specific factor of physics: Gravity. You may have heard this before, but Gravity is kind of a bitch. Berry Punch and Cliff Jumper burst into existence in a dark and now twisted future. One did not have to look far to see Discord’s effect on the world. However, there was no time to take in the sights. As soon as the pair finished materialising, Gravity saw that somepony wasn’t on the ground and yanked them down. Berry Punch was left alone on the edge of a chasm as Cliff Jumper plummeted. “Oh buck!” Cliff yelped. Berry dived to catch a hoof, but missed. She watched helplessly as Cliff fell. Thankfully, countless roots stuck out the chasm’s wall, and the lucky mare managed to grab a couple. Berry sighed with relief, “Phew. Hang on, Cliff! I’ll get you out of this!” Cliff Jumper, being an adventurer with a talent for climbing, was fine on her own now that she had things to grip. As such, she was already carefully making her way back up. “Don’t worry yourself, Berry!” she called back. “I’ll sort myself out!” Berry, busy searching for a long, strong vine, wasn’t listening. “Seriously, Berry! This is my kinda thing! You need to keep an eye out for the little Changeling!” As if on cue, a strange little sound reached Cliff’s ears. Not unlike a filly screaming. Very much like a filly screaming. The climbing mare halted her upward effort and looked around for the poor girl. Upon spotting her, Cliff yelled as loud as she could, “BERRY!” “What!?” Berry snapped back, popping her head over the side. Cliff pointed at the Changeling. “Save her!” “But what about you?” The stubborn ‘saviour’ questioned, seemingly oblivious to how Cliff was a third of the way up now. “I’ll be fine! She won’t!” Berry was taking too long to make the easy choice, so Cliff just huffed and jumped off. “CLIFF!” It was clear to the soldier that her special somepony was on course to intercept the falling Flutterling, but she couldn’t understand why. Cliff had no means of stopping their fall after catching her. Only Berry, with her Harkness, could save them now. With that in mind, she took a few steps back before running up and swan diving. Cliff had already reached Flutterling, the filly now unconscious. Now, she was doing everything in her power to cause air resistance. From all points of view, they were cutting it close. Berry got to work on the Harkness coordinates, still catching up. The unforgiving ground grew closer and closer. Cliff’s primary concern was the Changeling. She positioned herself below the little creature and pushed away. Berry got a hold of Flutterling, and kept going, reaching a hoof out to Cliff. The mare was mere inches away. She put on a smile and shook her head. Tears from Cliff sprinkled Berry above. Something was said, but the wind in their ears was too loud for speech of any volume to be heard. Nevertheless, Berry read Cliff’s lips, “Just go!” The ground, ever present, open its arms to the ponies. Berry kept reaching out with one fore hoof, while the other moved to the Harkness. Cliff recognised the screen display from the first time. Only one more thing needed pushing before traversing time. The hoof didn’t touch any buttons though. Instead, it loosened the strap, allowing the device to slip down. The strap was caught just before it came off completely, and the monitor was within reach of Cliff. A light tap from her and all three of them vanished, leaving the previously welcoming ground all alone. Forever Alone. No wonder it was so unforgiving. For the second time, it is the day of the legendary Sonic Rainboom that led to the Element Bearers earning their cutie marks. As it turns out, it also the day that most of those very fillies die. A happy and dark thought all at once. Our intrepid travellers of time and space, plus one, crashed through forest foliage. Berry shielded their charge. With a final thump, the three of them ended up in a heap in a small clearing. Slowly and painfully, Cliff crawled out of said heap and tried to stand. She ached all over from the beating the branches had just given her, but at least she was alive. Looking up, Cloudsdale could be seen in all its glory. Further along, Cliff could make out a gathering of foals, a certain filly with a rainbow mane sticking out like a sore thumb. The race had yet to start, so the Earth Pony rushed into the bushes to try and get under the starting line. It was difficult to keep an eye on the clouds with all the trees, but Cliff managed well enough. That is, until a mare stopped her. “Cliff Jumper, what do you think you’re doing?” Berry demanded from behind. Cliff spun on the spot to face her. “Trying to save Fluttershy. What else?” Blankly, Berry responded, “You can’t.” “And why not?” “Because we can’t alter the time loop. If you save her, the future does just fine, so there’s no Flutterling, which means we don’t come here to save her. If she lives, we cause a paradox that tears the fabric of time.” Cliff roared in frustration. “Then how did this precious time loop of yours start, huh? Tell me that! If it weren’t for us, there’d be no Glitchie Pi OR Flutterling, but we’re here because of them!” Berry facehooved. “No, we’re here because of my future self killing Applejack. If it weren’t for that, I never would have realised we needed to get involved.” “THAT DOESN’T CHANGE ANYTHING!” “Nopony knows how a loop starts, ok? There are infinite timelines, and you only need one to created a time loop. The odds of being the initiator are so minimal, you’re more likely to be born with a defect allowing you to manipulate all of reality without consequence on yourself!” “That was… oddly specific…” “It doesn’t matter!” “You’re right. What does matter is that even in the full knowledge that I risk destroying all of time and space as we know it, I will be DAMNED if I don’t try to save her life. If I didn’t, what kind of mare would I be?” The determination radiating from Cliff stunned Berry. An answer did come to mind. She’d be heartless is what she’d be. Like Gravity; like herself. The defeated mare opened her mouth to tell Cliff to go and do what’s right, but she was interrupted before she could begin. A strangely quiet scream came from the sky. Hearing screams was becoming common place for these two, but it didn’t stop them from reacting as if this was the first they’d heard. They knew who this scream belonged to and immediately galloped the way Cliff had already been heading. It was falling too fast, and unfortunately, it stopped with a horrible, crunching thud a few metres ahead of the mares. Breaking out into the clearing, the first thing Cliff saw Fluttershy’s crippled form. It reminded her of the Fluttershy who had been betrayed by her closest animal friend. Berry’s attention, on the other hand, was caught by suspicious rustling on the other side of the clearing. She was off like a shot, darting after the sound. This left Cliff to rush to Fluttershy’s side. The poor girl was still alive. Cliff couldn’t bring herself to put the filly out of her misery, so instead she went to work making her as not uncomfortable as possible. “I’m so sorry, Fluttershy.” Tears trickled down both their faces. “I… I wish I could… do something… ANYTHING… to save you… but even if I was allowed… I can’t…” Fluttershy tried to speak, her eyes so fearful. “Don’t talk. It’ll just hurt more. I promise you though… You’ll meet friends in the afterlife… I know it… new and old…” While Fluttershy’s breath slowed to nothing, Cliff looked away. To watch life leave another’s eyes was too much torture to bare. Consequentially, this action caused Cliff to notice peculiar bruising around the base of the wings. It looked as if something had restrained them; a rope perhaps. With Fluttershy finally passing on, Berry returned, her annoyed expression allowing Cliff to guess that whatever she’d been after had got away. Before anything else could be said, more rustling came from where they’d first arrived, implying Flutterling was about to appear. Without a second thought, Berry grabbed Cliff and the pair of them vanished once again.