• Published 7th Nov 2011
  • 6,008 Views, 611 Comments

My Little Chrono Triggers Are Magic - Pav Feira



Rainbow Dash and her friends travel through time to save their world from apocalyptic destruction.

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Across the Ruins...

???

Barngor Dome

Twilight Sparkle inhaled and exhaled quickly, bracing herself. “Okay... ready.”

Rainbow Dash bit down on the rotary tool in her mouth. The small buzzsaw on the end whirred to life, spinning thousands of times per minute. Carefully, she leaned close to Twilight Sparkle’s face, preparing to cut into the enchanted horn sheath.

Wait!” She flinched and pulled back. “Wait, wait. That’s just... really loud. And close. Whew.”

The friends were still in the small room where the Gate had dropped them. In front of them loomed the mysterious door. Its blue incandescent lights were providing the only illumination in the room, casting an eerie chill over the ponies. Opposite this door was a narrow staircase leading downward to another, simpler door leading outside. The ponies were standing upon a small metal platform that dropped off at its edges, surrounded by a moat of rubbish, metal scraps, wires, and dust. Between the blue lighting, the lack of cleaning or furnishings, and the cold stale air, the room left them feeling very unsettled.

But the ponies needed to regroup, so for now the room would have to suffice. Pinkie Pie, bored, was wandering the room looking for a way to entertain herself. Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, still trapped in their restraints from Sugardia’s dungeon, were attempting to liberate themselves using one of the unicorn’s tools.

Ahhh ow ow ow!” Twilight Sparkle screamed. “You’re cutting my horn! I’ll never be able to use my magic again! I’m a disfigured freak! Yahhh!

Rainbow Dash growled in frustration. The tool was several centimeters away from the unicorn’s head. “I’m not even touching you. Quit being such a baby and just hold still. This would’ve been over already...” After sufficiently calming down her friend, Rainbow Dash reactivated the rotary tool and carefully sliced the sheath along its length. “Aaand there. Give that a shot.”

Focusing, Twilight Sparkle attempted to activate her magic. The sheath began to twitch and slide slightly, as more and more of her power escaped through the slice. Eventually, she managed to completely slide the sheath off, tossing it off the side of the platform. She inhaled deeply, with a superbly pleased look on her face. “Ahhh... It feels so good to have my magic back. I bet you can’t imagine, not being a unicorn and all, but I feel so powerless without it!”

Rainbow Dash arched an eyebrow. “Yeah... I may not be a unicorn, but...” She nudged her head backwards, indicating the belt that was still restraining her wings.

“Hmm? Oh sure,” Twilight Sparkle said, absentmindedly. With her magic, the rotary tool came to life and whizzed around Rainbow Dash’s belt, making a flurry of deep cuts in the metal. It moved with such speed that the pegasus didn’t even have time to react until it was over.

Gyaaah! Careful with that thing! You could’ve sliced me in half!”

“You’re fine, you’re fine...” she absentmindedly replied. Nudging the belt lightly, it fractured and fell to pieces on the floor.

Rainbow Dash spread her wings to their full span, and stretched deeply. “Ugh... I am so cramped up.” She tentatively flapped her wings a few times before hopping into the air and hovering. A similar look of contentment overtook her face, as she attained her ideal amount of contact with the ground — none.

“Hey Pinkie, any luck with that door?” Twilight Sparkle walked up to her friend. “You’ve been looking at it for quite a while now.”

Sadly, she shook her head. “I’ve tried everything! I tried pushing it, pulling it, digging under it, telling it a password, challenging it to a hoof-wrestling challenge, singing it a song, offering to bake it some muffins, licking it...” She sat down and pouted, “Who would put a door here, if it can’t be opened?”

Twilight Sparkle shook her head. “Dunno. But I guess it can’t be helped.” She pointed to the stairs. “It looks like those stairs might lead outside. Since this place is a dead-end, we might as well take a look outside, and see if we can figure out when we are.”

“And where.”

She shook her head. “Based on my theories, Gates should always send us to the same location. So, this should still be Sugardia. We just need to see how much has changed in this new era.”

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Post-Apocalypse

Wastelands

The ponies stepped out of their domed building, and were immediately buffeted with freezing, dusty winds. Squinting, they braced themselves against the bluster. As it died down, they opened their eyes, and went slack-jawed.

“It’s...”

The forest was gone. The castle was gone. The kingdom of Sugardia was gone. The normally lush green hills had been replaced with sickly, scorched brown earth. The sun was completely blotted out of the sky by heavy storm clouds, neglected by their pegasus caretakers. A howling, restless wind blew across the decrepit countryside, carrying dust and bits of debris. In front of their building, a ruined concrete roadway led from north to south, weaving its way between deep impact craters, before it faded into nothingness. A bolt of lightning seared the sky, illuminating the sickly purple waters of the nearby ocean. As the low rumble of thunder shook the ground, the three friends finished their thoughts.

“...freezing,” finished Rainbow Dash, ruffling her wings’ feathers and shivering.

“...destroyed!” Twilight Sparkle gasped in dismay.

“...lonely...” said Pinkie Pie as light faded from her eyes.

Squinting, Rainbow Dash pointed in the distance. “What’s that big, round thingy over there?” The ponies followed the direction of her hoof.

“Is that some kind of building?” Twilight Sparkle asked rhetorically. She turned behind her. “Looks pretty similar in design to the dome we just came out of. A lot bigger though.”

Pinkie Pie leaned in, a look of worry on her face. “Do you think there’s anypony in there?”

She winced. “I hope so, Pinkie. I sure hope so.”

“Only one way to find out!” Rainbow Dash began flying over the road toward the large dome in the distance, followed closely by her friends on hoof.

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Post-Apocalypse

Trott Dome

The dome’s exterior door sealed behind them after they entered. This provided some shelter from the elements, but not much. While there were no fierce winds or electrical storms inside, the air was just as frigid as it was outside. It even had a foul taste to it. Unbeknownst to the ponies, this air had been recycled for centuries on failing climate-control systems; the best thing that could be said about the air was that it was breathable. As they had judged from the exterior, this dome was substantially larger than the first dome that they had arrived in. However, this just allowed more space for the “decor” of brushed steel and unidentifiable debris. It was difficult to make out any details in the dusky room, but a telltale blue aura from the back of the room betrayed the presence of another sealed door.

A filthy pile of linens rustled next to Twilight Sparkle, causing her to spook. “What do you want?” spoke a voice from underneath the pile. Thanks to the lighting and filth, it took her a few seconds to realize that a scrawny unicorn colt was poking his head out of the fabric. His face was gaunt and weary, showing clear signs of malnourishment.

Beyond them, the friends noticed a few other piles of filth come to life. Several ponies were lounging about, wrapped tightly in bits and pieces of cloth. One or two were motivated enough to give their attention to the strange visitors, but most were too consumed by their apathy. They laid in place, full of melancholy, waiting for destiny to claim them.

“Well?” The unicorn lifted his head lethargically, and shivered. He didn’t make direct eye contact with his half-opened, lifeless eyes.

Twilight Sparkle was secretly glad that he wasn’t making eye contact, as she wasn’t certain that she would be able to return it. She opened her mouth to ask a question, but in this eerie silent room, she couldn’t find her voice.

Luckily, Rainbow Dash filled the void for her. “Is... is this Equus?”

“Never heard of Equus Dome. This is Trott Dome.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t really know how to make heads or tails of that reply. “Well... we’re still in the Kingdom of Sugardia, right?”

“Dunno where Kingdom Dome is, neither.” The unicorn sighed. The sigh was not loud or forced, nor one intended to rudely show impatience. Rather, it was as if a small hole had been poked into his lungs, and air was trickling slowly across his vocal chords. His sigh betrayed his lack of energy to care about anything: the visitors, their questions, his own life. “Just use our Enertron and go.”

“Enertron?”

He gave a barely-perceptible nod to the right. Just before the blue light of the sealed door stood a large mechanical enclosure. The box was covered with a series of rubber tubes, pumping an unknown liquid. A control panel on the side of the device housed an array of glowing buttons and indicator lights, displaying some form of status.

An aging pegasus slowly rose to her hooves and attended to the station. “C’mon, in you go.” A gate made of three thin metal bars rose in the front of the Enertron, permitting entrance. Hesitantly, Rainbow Dash walked inside the device. The mare motioned to the other two friends. “Everypony. No sense spending more than one charge.” Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie reluctantly followed Rainbow Dash into the Enertron. The enclosure was only about one pony deep, so they had to squeeze uncomfortably next to each other, side by side. There wasn’t enough room to move about, or even to turn around. The barred gate curtly shut behind them, as the old mare adjusted some controls on the panel.

Before any of the ponies could ask what was supposed to happen, they passed out. At least, Rainbow Dash was pretty sure she lost consciousness for a second or two — like nodding off in class. The mare outside triggered the metal gate to raise, apparently indicating they were done already. Yet, as Rainbow Dash slowly walked backwards out of the Enertron, she felt a surge of recovery. Her mind felt sharp and focused. Even her muscles were energized and well-rested.

“Wow!” exclaimed Twilight Sparkle. “Talk about a power nap! I feel completely rested.”

“Well, that is what the Enertron is for, after all,” said the Enertron operator, eyeing Twilight Sparkle suspiciously. “How d’you think you’ve stayed alive as long as you have?”

A loud gurgling sound reverberating and echoed across the dome. “Ugh... but I’m still totally starving,” Rainbow Dash lamented, holding her stomach. “Guess this Inner Sean machine doesn’t fill you up... Any chance we could have something to eat?”

The colt at the entrance made a croaking sound in the back of his throat. It had probably been intended to be a laugh, but he had never properly learned how. “Eat? As in food? Would you listen to this one... The last thing I stuck in my gullet was a ball of lint, back a few... feh, who knows how long ago it was. Left me dreadfully sick, though.”

The Enertron operator continued to look them up and down. “Like I just said. The Enertron keeps us alive. Hungry, but alive. But of course you knew that... yeah?”

An older stallion in the back of the room let out a deep, sickly cough before speaking. “They say that Carrij Dome still has food. To the northeast, past the #16 Ruins.”

“That’s an old pony’s tale,” snapped the colt by the entrance. “Stop riling everypony up over food that doesn’t exist.”

Rainbow Dash started to speak. “But... if there’s food there...”

The colt rested his head on his hooves, closing his eyes again. “If you want to fight your way past terrifying mutants, that’s your business. We’re staying here.”

“But...!”

“We let you use our Enertron. Now, you should go. Where you go is your own business. Just go.”

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Post-Apocalypse

Wastelands

The three friends reluctantly left Trott Dome, stepping back out into the forsaken world.

“Well,” scoffed Twilight Sparkle, “not exactly the cheeriest bunch of ponies that I’ve met. Not that I can blame them, I suppose...”

“They really pissed me off!” fumed Rainbow Dash. “They know someplace where they can find food and save themselves, but they’d rather just lay there until they die? I hate that kind of attitude!”

Twilight Sparkle tried to calm her friend down. “Yes, but at least they let us use their device... the Enertron? That was a big help.” She then turned to her other friend. “How you holding up, Pinkie? You’ve been awfully quiet since we arrived here.”

The earth pony’s gaze slowly rose from the ground. “I just... It’s like Rainbow said, y’know? Everypony’s given up. There’s no sunlight here, or happiness, or hope.” She bit her lip pensively. “I just wish there was something we could do, to help everypony.”

The friends reflected quietly on this, as the storm overhead raged on. After a moment, Rainbow Dash leapt into the air. “So let’s go, then.”

“Go?” asked Twilight Sparkle, raising an eyebrow. “You mean...?”

“They said there’s food in that other dome, right? And the ponies in this dome are hungry... so...”

A smile returned to Pinkie Pie’s face. “If we find some food for them, they’ll be so happy. Oh, that’s such a great idea, Dashie. If there’s any way that we can help everypony, then we gotta! We just gotta!” She turned pleadingly to Twilight Sparkle. “C’mon Twilight, please?”

“W-well sure, okay,” she stammered, mildly flustered by such a direct plea. “It’s not like I’m against that idea. It’s just that, well, didn’t those ponies warn us about the ruins leading to Carrij Dome?”

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Post-Apocalypse

#16 Ruins

“Jeez laweez!” yelped Pinkie Pie, back-flipping just in time as a pair of tendrils flew underneath her. “What in the world is that thing?!”

“That would be a mutant, exactly as advertised.” Gritting her teeth, Twilight Sparkle drew her dart gun and strafed around the creature, firing rapidly.

The mutant could be described as equestrian-shaped, roughly. But the differences between its physique and that of a pony were numerous. It was as if a young filly had been playing with modeling clay and crafted a crude pony figure. The young filly had then proceeded to distort every dimension of their art project: stretching the legs, compacting the torso, rounding and enlarging the head, extending the mane along the back and around to the underbelly, and adding two snakelike tentacles to the base of the neck. The young filly then grew her abomination to thrice the size of a normal pony, and put it into a bloodthirsty rage. Hypothetically, at this point the parents should have revoked their young filly’s modeling clay privileges.

Unfortunately, the three ponies weren’t being attacked by a metaphorical arts and crafts projects. The enraged mutant was all too real, and as Twilight Sparkle was noticing, not very susceptible to darts. Scowling, she placed the dart gun back into her saddlebags, rummaging for another tool. “Just great, another ineffectual weapon... Uh oh.” She rummaged faster as she realized that she had drawn the creature’s attention. It slowly lumbered toward her, emitting an unholy screech from its throat.

Pinkie Pie leapt to her friend’s rescue, drawing the creature’s attention. Much to her friend’s dismay, Pinkie Pie did this by Provoking the creature. She performed all manner of face-making, tongue-waggling, and fanny-shaking at the creature, all while taunting it verbally. “Nyeeeh! Pbbbt! Hey, Stretch! Betcha can’t hit me!”

The mutant appeared to disagree with this boast. Shrieking, it flailed its neck-tentacles at Pinkie Pie. With a giggle, she bounced into the air, hopping over each lash of the attack. Landing once more, she crouched down low and tensed her muscles before leaping straight into the air, flying over the creature’s head. The mutant attempted to follow after the pony with its whip attacks, but in its taunting-enduced rage, it accidentally struck itself with its own tentacle. The attack gashed the monster’s face, causing it to bellow in pain.

Pinkie Pie landed next to Twilight Sparkle. The latter pony smiled appreciatively at her friend. “Thanks for the save, Pinkie. Course, now it’s just even more pissed off...”

“Oh... yeah,” she replied with a sheepish grin. “I hope I bought you enough time to find something in your bag?”

“Nah, change of plan. You ready, Dash?!” she hollered.

Ready!” came a faint reply from a hundred meters away. A small pegasus in the distance took to the air and started flying back toward the battle at full-speed.

Focusing, Twilight Sparkle reached out with her magic and grabbed the creature telekinetically. The mutant, feeling the constraint of the unicorn’s magic, attempted to struggle and flail in the hopes of breaking free. Straining her mind, she lifted the creature up into the air, then flung the creature horizontally with all her might. The mutant careened through the air toward Rainbow Dash, who slashed straight through the monster. The Telekinetic Slash attack was enough to finish the monster for good.

“Phew!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “That thing went down quick enough... Good thing he was easier than he looked, huh?”

“Eh,” replied Twilight Sparkle absentmindedly, who had pulled out her dart gun again. She inspected the inner mechanics of the gun, checking if there was any way she could squeeze some more firepower out of it. “It’ll only get tougher from here. We’ll need to look into upgrading our weapons, pretty soon...”

“Aww, but you gals are doing awesome,” reassured Pinkie Pie, as the trio resumed their journey through the #16 Ruins. “We could totally handle an Initial Equipment challenge, no sweat.”

The three friends couldn’t fully comprehend the ruins that they were walking though. The concrete road in front of Barngor Dome had resumed here. The road had the occasional pothole or gap of dirt, and it was haphazardly covered with pieces of twisted metal and fused machinery. That said, it was a relatively intact path for them to follow. It was clear to Twilight Sparkle that whatever once stood here had been destroyed in some type of explosion — one large enough to demolish the several square kilometers of these ruins, at minimum. Perhaps this explosion was responsible for more than these few ruins... She kept this theory to herself for now, so as not to needlessly upset her friends.

A few of the ruined objects were intact enough to be recognizable, if cryptic. They saw a few melted vehicles that appeared to be futuristic metal carriages. There was no visible harnesses attached to the carriages, so it was unclear how somepony was supposed to pull it. They also saw what appeared to be the top section of a building. The remnant itself was about ten floors tall, which was fairly absurd; in 1000 AD, the only structure with close to ten floors was Sugardia Castle. Even more mystifying, the remnant’s base ended with fractured girders and shattered walls. This building top had obviously been severed from the rest of the tower, making it unclear how tall the complete structure had been. Despite all the destruction and ruin, it was apparent that this era had been quite advanced before it was destroyed.

Still, this destruction and ruin was dampening the mood for the three friends. Twilight Sparkle attempted to stir up some conversation.

“Sooo... anypony have a story they can tell?” Silence. “I figure if we’ve got such a long way to go, we might as well keep ourselves entertained, rather than just trudging along without a word, y’know?” More silence.

“Oh!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “Wanna hear how I earned my cutie mark? It’s an awesome story!”

Twilight Sparkle smirked and teasingly rolled her eyes. “Ugh... Sure, I’ve only heard you tell me that story every day for the past decade. What’s one more time?”

Pinkie Pie’s eyes lit up. “Ooo! Sure, Rainbow! I wanna hear it! Tell me how you became the radical pony you are today,” she appreciatively giggled.

Grinning, Rainbow Dash turned to admire the rainbow-striped lightning bolt on her flank. “It was like, ten years ago. The Wonderbolts were putting on a demonstration in Equus, just like they did this week at the Celebration. Those guys are absolutely amazing. They’re the Kingdom of Sugardia’s elite squadron of soldiers! The fastest fliers! The fiercest fighters! The finest forces! Oh... heh. I’m sure you know all that, right Pinkie Pie? I mean, they basically work for you.”

“Oh, no no no,” replied Pinkie Pie, smiling embarrassed. “The Wonderbolts serve the ponies of Sugardia, not the Royal Family. I can’t order them around, or anything like that... But yeah! Those pegasi really know how to fly!”

“Absolutely! They’re the best of the best! And that’s why I had to see them,” continued Rainbow Dash. “See, I’ve been a bit of a speed demon, ever since I first learned how to flap my wings. So when I heard that the fastest ponies in the entire Kingdom were going to be putting on a show right in my hometown, I needed to see that show. I needed to see for myself just how fast they really were. Well, except...”

“...Except that, on the day of the big show, Ms. Van Winkle here slept in,” giggled Twilight Sparkle.

“It was awful,” moaned Rainbow Dash. “My mom thought she had gotten me up on time, but apparently I had sleepwalked downstairs to the breakfast table, ate, went back upstairs and went straight to bed again! By the time I woke up for real, the show was already getting started.”

“Oh no,” gasped Pinkie Pie. “So, what did you do next?”

“What else? I flew! I raced across Equus, flying to Diane’s Square as fast as my wings could carry me. And lemme tell ya: I was fast. Like, faster than I’ve ever flown, even today! I was so fast, I broke the sound barrier!”

“Whoa! Really?”

“You did not break the sound barrier,” Twilight Sparkle repeated rotely, “because that’s physically impossible.” This was an argument that Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle had gotten into innumerous times since the alleged event occurred.

Rainbow Dash played her usual part in the argument. “I told you how many seconds it took for me to fly from my home to the show! I was counting! You did the math, and said that if I was flying that fast, I must’ve broken the sound barrier.”

“Exactly. I also said that doing so would’ve produced a Sonic Rainboom that would’ve shaken the whole town. Since nopony felt that — and indeed, since nopony has ever flown fast enough to create a Sonic Rainboom — clearly it took you longer to fly to the show than the numbers you gave me.”

“Nuh uh! I’ve flown that path hundreds of times. I know how long it takes me nowadays, and I’m tellin’ ya, that day ten years ago, I was about twenty percent faster!”

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes. “Maybe, maybe, you were close to breaking the speed of sound. I’m just saying that you definitely didn’t break it.”

“Err, sorry,” apologized Pinkie Pie. “I didn’t mean for you two to get carried away on a tangent like that. Anyway! What happened next, Dashie?”

“Oh! Right, so, after I broke the sound barrier,” resumed Rainbow Dash, while Twilight Sparkle sighed, “I arrived at the Wonderbolts’ show, just in time to watch their main act. And they were incredible! The acrobatics... the swordplay... the speed... it was better than I could’ve imagined. But best of all,” she said with a decisive smirk, “I knew that I could beat ‘em. Maybe not right then, but I knew that if I focused and trained and gave it my all, I could be better than any of them. And I knew that if I joined them, and became their captain, then everypony would recognize that I, Rainbow Dash, am the best of the best!

“Right after I had that thought, I looked down and... guess what? This bad boy had already appeared!” She turned proudly, showing off her cutie mark to her friends. “A rainbow-striped lightning bolt! Cementing the fact that Rainbow Dash is destined to become the leader of the Wonderbolts! It doesn’t get much clearer than that.”

“Wow!” Pinkie Pie cheered excitedly. “What a cutie mark! And what a destiny!”

“Heh. Yeah, I s’pose,” said Rainbow Dash as she attempted to show some modesty. “It hasn’t been all easy going. I’ve been training for years: Junior Speedster Flight Camp, personal sword-fighting lessons, coming up with signature moves, you name it. Not to mention a few setbacks, like being wanted for foalnapping Princess Pinkamena... twice... heh heh. But! I’ve been training most of my life with that goal in mind. Nothing’s gonna stand in my way!”

“Yeah! You tell ‘em!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie. “I just know that you’ll make an excellent Captain of the Wonderbolts one day.” She shared a smile with Rainbow Dash for a moment before turning to the other pony. “What about you, Twilight? Tell us how you got your cutie mark!”

“Oh man,” snickered Rainbow Dash, “if I’da known you wanted to hear her story too, I would’ve let her go first. It’s way lame. She doesn’t even remember half the details anymore!”

Twilight Sparkle smirked and rolled her eyes. “I remember the important parts. If I don’t remember a detail here or there, it obviously wasn’t that important.” She turned to Pinkie Pie. “I also earned my cutie mark about a decade ago. I was working with my dad for the first time, helping him with one of his inventions. I fell in love with all of it: gathering information from books, applying your imagination, then building something brand new with your own hooves and horn! It’s all so very exhilarating! Well, on the day that we completed that invention, my cutie mark appeared.” She looked down on her cutie mark. It was a pink six-pointed star, surrounded by five smaller white stars. “It’s there to always remind me of the inventor’s ‘spark’. With knowledge and creativity, there’s no obstacle that can’t be overcome!”

“Cool!” cheered Pinkie Pie. “But slow down a sec! I wanna hear more about that invention. What did you make?”

“Oh, I don’t remember anymore. It was so long ago, and I’ve worked on so many different projects.”

“Pfft, laaame,” heckled Rainbow Dash. “If the invention was so great that you earned your cutie mark making it, you figure it’d be important enough to remember. But no. You never even told me what it was!”

“Awww, that does stink. Ooo, I know! Couldn’t you ask your mom and dad?” asked Pinkie Pie. “I’m sure they’d remember how it happened!”

“Oh. Yeah, maybe...” she quietly replied. “Anyway, that’s my story. Did you want to go next?”

“Oh.” It was Pinkie Pie’s turn to be quiet. “Y-yeah, I guess it’s my turn...”

Twilight Sparkle went pale, and frantically waved her hooves. “No no, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot! You don’t have to go, if you don’t want to...”

She smiled weakly. “It’s okay. You and Dashie both told me your stories, so it’s only fair.” She sighed, “My story’s pretty boring too. I got it when I was given my necklace.”

Blinking, Rainbow Dash realized she was referring the necklace that had flown off when they had first met and collided. More importantly, she remembered that she had failed to return it to its rightful owner. She quickly fished it out of her saddlebags, holding it aloft with an outstretched hoof. Once again, she noticed that the necklace’s blue sapphire gem bore an uncanny resemblance to the three balloons of Pinkie Pie’s cutie mark.

The pink pony nodded at Rainbow Dash’s offering. “Turns out, that necklace has been a family heirloom forever. Like, since before Sugardia was even founded. My father gave it to me long ago. He told me all about how the necklace had been passed down through our family for generations. How it was my destiny, as the future Queen of Sugardia, to be its caretaker. How, pretty soon, I’d be taking on more and more royal responsibilities, and how my life would be devoted to serving everypony.” Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle shared a look, as she continued, “Later that week, the Queen... my mother... passed away.”

“Oh no...” gasped Rainbow Dash.

Twilight Sparkle’s face contorted in pain. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why do you keep doing this to Pinkie?! “Pinkie, I’m... I’m so sorry. I had no idea...”

Pinkie Pie smiled faintly and shook her head. “It’s okay. I was really young at the time, so I didn’t get to know her that well... Anyway, when I got the necklace, it appeared as my cutie mark, too. That pretty much sealed the deal. Ever since then, Father keeps pestering me about duty and obligation. We... don’t get along that well...”

An awkward silence took over once again as the three ponies marched onward. Sensing that Pinkie Pie didn’t want to look at her keepsake right now, Rainbow Dash quietly slipped the necklace back into her own saddlebags. The seconds dragged into minutes.

Finally, Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat. “Hey, Rainbow. Would you mind scouting ahead for a bit? We need to figure out how far away this Carrij Dome is.”

“Huh? I dunno, we’ve been travelling for a while now. I figure we can’t be that much farther...”

“Please. Can you check for us?” Twilight Sparkle looked pleadingly at the pegasus.

Rainbow Dash was taken aback by her friend’s sudden insistence. “Uh... sure, sure,” she replied, confused. “Back in a flash!” She took to the air, leaving her two friends behind.

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Post-Apocalypse

Skies above the ruined world

Rainbow Dash gasped as the freezing winds tore away at her. As usual, the upper air current was much stronger than the winds of ground level. However, in this hellscape, Rainbow Dash had already been uncomfortably cold while on the ground. Here, several hundred feet in the air, the winds were violent and freezing. She had to struggle to fly on course without getting buffeted about. She quickly took to her scouting mission, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to stay up here for very long.

As she gained altitude, she circled south, catching a view of the two domes they had already visited. According to what Twilight Sparkle had said, Gates should map to the same geographic location. So that dome where we arrived, she thought to herself, that’s where Sugardia Forest is. That means... She tried to get her bearings in this new era, but to no avail. The coastlines were completely changed. She couldn’t even recognize which continent she was on. Was Twi wrong? Are we on a different continent? Or are the coasts completely different in this time period, somehow?

As she swooped around, she passed back over the ruins. Looking down below, she could see Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle, standing where she had left them. She was too high above to overhear them, but they were clearly in the middle of a engaging conversation. Huh, mused Rainbow Dash, what’re those two talking about? I hope Twi isn’t going overboard again...

To the southeast, Rainbow Dash could make out the rough outline of a new continent, with a towering mountain crowning the skyline. She flew out over the ocean in order to get a better look. As she flew closer, minute by minute, the jagged peak grew, consuming the other landmass. The mountain was comprised of sharp cliffs and snow-swept slopes, interspersed with small caves along its face. The summit was easily a few thousand meters high.

The staggering mountain wasn’t the only point of interest on the continent, however. Near the base of the mountain sat a large dome, about as large as Trott Dome. Hmm... any chance that’s Carrij Dome? How the heck are the other two going to walk here... As her eyes ran along the coastline to the north, she saw a small access hatch leading underground. Here, the wide ocean narrowed to a thin straight, and on the far bank stood a matching access hatch. Following this new coastline east to west, she realized that this coastline actually connected back to the #16 Ruins, where her friends were waiting. Oh, she realized, I think I’ve got it now. We leave the #16 Ruins and head east along the coast to that access hatch. Hopefully, that connects the other continent. From there, we walk to the large dome at the base of the mountain. Bleh, sounds like a pain.

Another biting blast of wind tore across the sky. Shivering violently, Rainbow Dash realized that her wings were starting to go numb from the cold. She’d been airborne far too long in this weather, and was going to need to land soon. She quickly circled back to the west to meet up with her friends again.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Post-Apocalypse

#16 Ruins

Rainbow Dash touched down roughly next to her friends. She puffs out her wings’ feathers, shivering. “Jeez, this weather is brutal. Anyway, I think I found Carrij Dome. It’ll be kinda a hassle to get there, but... Twi?”

Her friends were in the middle of their own conversation, and had failed to notice the pegasus’s arrival. “But then the next batch was too strong! I was able to pick up one of my textbooks, but it was stuck to my hoof for good! I ended up tearing the cover trying to remove it.”

“Haha, oh man! Who knew that inventing hoof adhesive would be so impossible?” laughed Pinkie Pie. She eagerly leaned in. “What about the next batch? Huh?”

Twilight Sparkle chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. “Ugh, haha, my last attempt at making Adhoofsive was even worse! It didn’t have any stick at all, plus it tasted just awful. Can’t use a bad-tasting Adhoofsive when you’re eating, right?”

“Hee hee, nope!” They both broke into a fit of giggling.

“Hellooo? Twi? Pinkie?” pestered Rainbow Dash, waving her hoof between her friends’ faces.

Twilight Sparkle’s face was glowing. “Rainbow Dash! Oh good, you’re back.” She welcomed her back with a friendly hug. “Thanks, Rainbow,” she whispered.

“Wha? For the scouting? Nah, no biggie.”

She smirked. “No, I mean... I followed to your advice from before. About being the real me, and liking the real her.

“My advice?”

“Oh, never mind,” she laughed and released Rainbow Dash. Turning to Pinkie Pie, she cheered, “C’mon, gals! We’ve still got a mission to accomplish. Let’s find that food!”