• Published 8th Dec 2016
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Cataclysm - Meep the Changeling



When a dark god seeks to end the world, how much of it can be saved?

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26 - The End.

Rarity - 23rd of Megan, 17 EoH

Canterlot Palace Ruins - Equestria

To say that the Prench knights had finished the battle quickly would have been a gross understatement. As well as simply inaccurate.

The person who had called herself Faust had apparently spent the entire day teleporting around to find people willing to help fight. The Prench had been but one arm of a two pronged attack, which had them attacking from the center outwards, while a regiment of Neighponese soldiers had encircled the entire Ponyville area and worked their way inwards.

Apparently, other willing groups had been sent to other locations as well. The only other largeish deployment of professional soldiers had been to Canterlot, and from what I heard, had been an all Thestral force from Marelund. I’d heard that smaller groups of individual warriors had been sent all over Equestria in small teams to hunt down any stray demons, but I hadn’t really followed up on that. I had something more important to do.

I had a missed phone call to make up for.

Ayna had been kind enough to open a portal to Canterlot for Indy and I. Well, kind enough in my eyes. Indy had wanted to head back to his hull and begin repairs. But well, I thought it would be nice to show Twilight my new friend, and maybe have her restart his reactor, assuming she wasn’t too pooped from the battle.

That way he could help rebuild. There’d be a lot of rebuilding to do, especially since more than just Ponyville had been flattened. Canterlot was almost entirely gone too.

I remembered a time I’d overheard Lyra, Vinyl, and Octavia talking about a roleplaying game they enjoyed at the Hayburger. While I wasn’t interested in those kinds of games, I had admired the artwork in the rulebooks which depicted Equestria after a terrible event had destroyed every last vestige of the ‘old world’.

The idea of seeing the greatest city in all Equestria reduced to a hooffull of blackened and/or burning towers, a cracked walls, collapsed roofs, and piles of rubble… It seemed so, impossible. Outlandish. Fantastical!

I doubted that game would be selling very well for the next few decades. Because seeing the city in reality as it had been depicted… Your heart hurt. How many died here, while the towers fell? Worse still, how many had not? How many were trapped under the rubble?

Thank goodness mages were already rescuing people. If I recovered any amount of magic before the job was done, I’d have to go and help. Put my exceptional telekinetic skills to use.

“Is this what this place would have looked like before the battle?” Indy asked hopefully, a projection which resembled the old Canterlot popping up on my screen as we walked towards the palace.

I looked at the image, and shook my head. “No. You have the shapes basically correct, but no building here was made from glass, or metal. They were all at marble, or at least covered by a veneer of marble. And the roof tops were all plated in gold.”

Indy paused mid step. “W-why? That has to be an enormous expense for a pre-fabrication civ- Oh! Yes, of course, wizards can conjure materials as needed,” he decided.

“Mmm, well, some materials. That’s very hard to do. And few things will stay around permanently if conjured. They just sort of... Dissolve,” I informed, glad for a conversation to take my mind off the horrific scene we were walking through.

Thank goodness the palace was close by.

“Then all of this was done with cash, mining, and... “ Indy shook the mech’s head and then hissed in sympathetic pain. “Somewhere out there, an insurance company president weeps, and a bartender rejoices.”

I nodded. “Yeah… I didn’t even think about that. Companies are going to collapse over this,” I said quietly, realizing that the worst of this disaster was probably yet to come.

“Yep, that’s war for you. Usually more expensive after it’s over then when it’s going on,” Indy sighed.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” I asked hopefully. “You have access to a shipyard, right? Could we build buildings there, fly them here, and… Anchor them to the ground, or something?”

“Yes. We can. Well, not how you said, but there is a way we can help by commissioning a constructor ship and flying it out here. But it’s not as simple as me just fixing everything. We’ll have to talk to your sovereigns about setting up mining operations, or supply lines.

“Then there’s legal and political things to discuss, like what safety regulations are required for structures I create, what each settlement is legally required to have… How to organize neighborhoods in terms of what people believe so communities are not mixed, thus resulting in civil strife… Rebuilding is complicated. It could take years to get started,” Indy grumbled.

“I didn’t think it would be. I’m glad we can do something about this,” I said as we walked through the last of the ruined street and stepped into the palace through the hole where half of the double doors had been.

I’d always wondered why the doors were so massive before. Did the architects think all four of Equestria’s Alicorns would need to walk inside while standing atop each other’s backs? Regardless, the main hall was more than tall enough for Indy to walk the mech incide.

“Are you certain your friends are here?” Indy asked uncertainly.

I nodded. “Yes. This is where they would have gone if not to Ponyville, which wasn't there all week. Logically, they would use the place to regroup as it’s the most defended str-”

“Oh! Yes, someone's just mentioned the name Twilight. That’s one of your friends, isn’t it?” Indy asked excitedly.

I smiled, nodding quickly. “Yes it is! Can you hear anything else?”

“No. Sound is too distorted to pick up more than a few snatches of conversation… But I think they are over there,” Indy informed pointing with one arm towards a door at the top of the left staircase. “Which means I can’t go… Not physically, at least. Those stairs probably wouldn’t take this mech’s weight even when brand new. You’ll need to hop out. Don’t worry, I’ll link up with your systems so you can introduce me.”

I blinked tilting my head in confusion while the mech’s hatch popped open.

“But… They won't be able to see you. Or hear you? Wait, do I have external speakers?” I asked, stroking my chin as I pondered having a sound system or not.

“Yes, and also a holo-projector. Which you should have found already… It’s part of your eye’s HUD system. Haven't you explored yourself yet?” Indy asked, kneeling down and releasing the crash harnice so I could step out.

“No. I’ve been fairly busy the last few days,” I chuckled as I hopped down, hooves clicking on the cracked marble floor.

I felt a slight tingle in my scalp and Indy’s Avatar appeared a few meters in front of me, flickering, tinted blue, and scaled down to a very small size.

“Well, that’s fine. It’s not a very good projector. I jerry rigged it from a holoscope,” he said, voice coming from my ear. “This is mostly good for pointing out things, showing small images to others quickly and… Other non-important stuff we can talk about later. Let’s go let your friends know you're okay.”

“That’s the plan,” I informed before trotting up the stairs as quickly as my tired body would let me.

Recharging that mech took a lot out of me. Even my mechanical leg felt tired. How do cybernetic parts feel tired? It had a nuclear battery, for Celestia’s sake! Or was it simply because all of the parts felt natural? Natural to the point where my body just sort of assumed that they were tired because I was tired?

Questions for later.

I reached the top of the stairs where my own ears were able to pick up the conversation going on in the small side room.

“- but what is there to even do?” Pinkie mumbled sadly.

“Well, normally I’d say we rebuild,” AJ sighed. “But it’s all gone. Like, compleatly. There’s probably not even stuff left to pick out of the ruins where the camp was, and I have no idea how bad the rest of the town is.

“I don’t reckon folks will want to go back. At least not right way. Too many bad memories. Heck, maybe folks don't want to go back at all, and I can’t blame them if they don’t want to. But they’ll want to stick together. Princess Celestia said Luna evacuated everypony to the Emerald’s hive. We should go there. See about getting everyone willing to rebuild, or build a new town together. Put it in Whitetail woods, or some other nice place close by.”

“U-um, that’s an idea,” Fluttershy said softly. “But I um, I think that Pinkie meant what do WE do?”

Everypony was silent for a few long moments, giving me just enough time to reach the adjacent door.

“Y-yeah,” Dash said quietly. “I don’t know what we’ll do without Ra-”

My friends thought I was dead, and were in the middle of a horrible situation, with no homes left to go back to. If there was any time for humor, this was it.

Using my mechanical leg’s full strength I threw the door open. It crashed into the wall. AJ’s eyes flew wide with terror. Dash jumped, hovering out of reflex while looking for a way to fly out of the small waiting room. Pinkie gasped in shock. Fluttershy fainted.

“Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated!” I announced as dramatically as I could.

“Rarity!” Pinkie exclaimed in pure joy, practically teleporting to my barrel, wrapping me in a hug so tight I think it actually bent the steel wrapped around my shoulder and ribs.

“For the last time, no, they were not!” Indy grumbled indignantly over my internal radio. “You died FIVE TIMES! I put in a lot of work before you were able to just walk it off.”

That was true. But I didn’t like thinking about it...

“What the hay happened to you!?” Rainbow exclaimed, dropping out of the air, her eyes locked onto my mechanical foreleg.

I returned Pinkie’s hug as best I could before answering. “W-well from what I was told, there was a mid air collision over a sea full of sharks. I was mauled, and my friend Indy saved my life.”

“With robot parts?” PInkie asked curiously.

I nodded. “Yes, with robot parts.”

“They look good on you,” Pinkie decided with a satisfied nod, refusing to let go.

“That explains why Pinkie said they found part of your spine, and ribs… And stuff,” Applejack said, a relieved smile pushing through her morose look for a moment while she joined Pinkie in her hug.

“I’m going to try routing myself through your speech centers so I can talk to them… Is that alright?” Iny asked me hopefully. “It may tickle a little.”

“Go ahead,” I replied.

Indy cleared his throat, speaking over whatever external speakers I had. “Excuse me, Pink mare? Hello, I’m Indy. Can you stop squeezing Rarity so hard? If you break the plasteel casing around her ribs I’ll have to get it replaced immediately. That’s what’s keeping her lungs dirt and dust free right now.”

PInkie blinked, and turned to look at my left flank. Long with AJ. And Dash.

I facehooved. “Is that really the only place you could put a speaker?” I groaned.

“Yes… If you want better systems now that the crisis is over we can do that,” Indy offered before clearing his throat again, this time activating his hologram. “Hello, girls! I’m Indy. I’m not like, inside your friend or anything. I’m just using her radio link to introduce myself.”

Pinkie’s eyes widened slightly. “R-Rarity? You have a radio in there?”

I nodded. “Yes… Though admittedly I’m not at all used to such things.”

“Sky is going to be so mad you didn’t call to let us know you were all right when you have a radio in your head,” Pinkie said, frowning sharply after facehoofing.

Dash blinked. “That’s actually a good point! If you were with a.. Um, is that projection a Dragon? Yeah, that’s a dragon. If you were with a dragon who had the technology to fix you like this, you totally could have called and let them know you were okay! Why didn’t you?”

“I- I just didn’t think about calling…” I admitted my ears drooping sadly. “I’m sorry! I- It’s… There’s no excuse.”

“Yes there is,” Indy said firmly. “Rarity was unconscious, dying, or delirious for three straight days, and has only been fully stable for the last twenty five hours. Prior to that, her brain was mostly non-functional, I mean, her head WAS chewed on by a shark. I had to replace a lot of things in there.

“Most of her neural activity is now working inside a complex network of… Uh, without making my friend super uncomfortable, in short, she’s got a damn good medical excuse for not thinking of calling home.

“The fault’s really mine. I should have thought to ask her if she wanted to call home. But I was under the impression that your civilization was too primitive to have access to radios. So uh, sorry. I blame your love of medieval looking architecture and use of magic for communication, meaning the planet lacks a radio bubble.”

I frowned. That didn’t sound right. I’d been perfectly conscious the entire time.

“Don’t say anything,” Indy said to me internally. “I’m taking the blame so your friends won't be mad at you… Uh, you're a consciousness transfer though. It may be possible to migrate you back into your gray matter now. I’m not certain. We can go over your medical needs later.”

My tail raised in alarm. Well, THAT was something I didn’t need to know!

I needed to not think about this. Now!

“I’m just glad you're um, mostly safe,” Dash said, giving me a quick hug before letting go and immediately frowning. “Pinkie! Um, you’re kinda bending that panel!”

“Oh! Oops,” Pinkie said, quickly letting go. “Sorry.”

“It's fine, you didn’t break the seal,” Indy said soothingly. “But you did dent a material stronger than titanium. Well, admittedly a recycled material made without the proper tools… How strong is your species?”

“My sister can throw rocks hard enough to make little explosions!” Pinkie said eagerly. “There’ll be lots of rocks to move, I’ll ask her if she’s okay showing somepony- Um, I mean somedragon what she can do!”

“Little explosions?” Dash exclaimed, wings flaring open. “I was knocked off my hooves! A hundred meters away!”

I frowned, looking around the room. Only now realizing that I hadn’t seen Twilight. I imagined there would be princess stuff to do right after a battle, but surely she could spare a few minutes to check on her friends.

“Girls? Is Twilight with Celestia, or something?” I asked curiously.

Everypony went silent. The dark mood returning to the room in full force.

“T- Twi was tricked by Dawn,” Dash said sadly, looking down at the floor.

No… No she wasn’t dead! She couldn’t be!

“She touched a teleport trap, or something. We have no idea where she is,” AJ finished, sitting back down on the floor, her face taking on a dark look. “I-it’s okay. I made sure Dawn won’t hurt anypony else. Ever again.”

I looked into her eyes, and I knew exactly what she meant. The steely look in them explained exactly what had happened with crystalline clarity. But they also told me something else as well.

AJ was… Different. Whatever had happened to her over the last week had changed her. I wasn’t sure how yet, or if the change would be permanent. But I could see it. The simple farm girl who loved tradition wasn’t, well, she wasn’t that anymore.

Or at the very least, she was deeply hurt. Either way, she’d been through something hard enough to break down her stubborn nature and allow her a chance to grow as a person. I hoped she took it.

I stepped over to her and gave the orange mare a tight hug. “I- I’m sorry. Is there anything we can do to help look for Twilight?” I asked hopefully.

Pinkie shook her head. “No… Cadence and Celestia are working on that. All we can do is wait,” she sighed morosely.

“That just feels so… Empty,” I murmured, letting go of AJ and sitting down.

I didn’t know how to feel. On one hoof, our friend was gone. On the other, she was probably alive.

“Although, if anypony can be teleported to some strange place and be perfectly fine, it’s Twilight. I’m certain that if the Princesses can't find her, she’ll make her way back home soon enough,” I said half to myself and half to everypony else.

Twilight would be alright. I was certain of it.

Princess Celestia - 23rd of Megan, 17 EoH

Canterlot Palace Ruins - Equestria

It hurt to look out of the palace windows. I’d worked so hard to keep this kind of destruction from my kingdom for so long… A select few incidents notwithstanding, nopony alive had seen one of their cities laid to ruin in the last four generations.

Even so, I couldn’t say that I’d failed to protect them. Even the most skilled people can only do so much. Perhaps it was inevitable for tragedy to strike as it did today.

I would just have to try harder from now on.

I would have to do a lot of things in the near future. I’d have to make absolutely certain that the Dream Creature Luna brought back in exchange for its help was non-hostile (and it seemed to be. At the moment, at least.). I had two major settlements to rebuild, and most definitely lots of smaller settlements to build. I had to deal with the Emerald Hive’s offer to harbor Ponyville’s citizens for as long as necessary, even indefinitely.

I had to deal with the public, and ensuring that everypony could move on from this crisis, guiding them with my words and a brave, strong face, despite my own grief at the loss of my student, my friend...

I would also have to ensure that Faust remained an ally. Which had to come first right now. Because I was NOT going to make a second deity mad at me today. Despite Azur Lily’s exceptional healing skills, my ribs still ached like mad.

I hated how being too old for something wasn’t a real excuse to not do it.

The ‘alicorn’ mare sat down on one of the few unruined couches we had been able to find within the palace, facing Luna, Cadence, and I. I’d told Luna she should go and get some sleep, but she’d insisted on remaining awake long enough to at least make sure that the war was over and the rebuilding could begin.

“Alright… So, what happens now? With Life, I mean,” I asked Faust with an uncertain look on my face.

She tilted her head, slightly confused for a moment. “Oh! Now that there’s no entity overseeing that aspect of the universe's operation?” She asked.

I nodded.

“I’ll be making some adjustments personally,” Faust promised with a sincere and motherly smile “It will take me a few years worth of your time to do. You must understand that from my perspective, you are… Mayflies. You vanish almost as quickly as you appear. Rest assured that I will ensure at the very least that no child is born diseased or malformed. That’s the absolute least I will do.

“I plan on doing more, but managing organic life isn’t my job. I’m not sure what I can do without causing your situation to become worse. I can fix the obvious problems… But someone will need to take the position of Life now that it’s available. I can’t do it forever, I have other work details I need to do too.”

Luna nodded. “Alright, if I’m understanding who you are correctly, that means you will be making a new deity to manage us, correct?”

Faust shook her head firmly. “No. Well, yes, I AM the designer of the systems from which you emerged. But I won't be making a new god to oversee you. Clearly, I’m bad at that. My plan is simply to observe you for a length of time, test numerous organics and ‘promote’ one of you.”

“Promote?” I asked curiously. “You can do that?”

“Yes. easily. I have the Mantle of Life right here,” Faust said, lifting a hoof which suddenly held a small shimmering pink orb of light before the orb vanished. “I can give that to any sapient creature, and they’d become a new ‘divine’ as you call us. Though I hypothesise they would retain more freedom of thought and choice than we do.

“Which is for the best, I think. Our… Ways are not the same as your own. It would be best for your overseer to have been one of you. To know what it's like. In short, I want to hire an expert. Don’t worry, I’ll be paying VERY close attention from now on. I’ll spot any further malfunctions and squash them.”

“Does that mean life will be problem free bliss from now on?” Cadence asked with an odd frown. “Because that seems… Boring.”

“Yes. Which is why it won't be problem free. If there’s one thing I learned, it’s that mortals enjoy challenge. Fair challenge mind you. You also value your freedom highly, and you should. I won't take that away. But, where there’s freedom, well, people will sometimes choose to be bad instead of good.

“I promise that day to day life WILL be better from now on,” Faust swore, giving the three of us a serious nod. “Though there’s a far more pressing matter at hoof. We need a new Death… Now.”

“Any particular reason?” Luna asked for me, raising an eyebrow. “She’s fine. I saw her before I came here.”

Faust shook her head. “That fragment made from my daughter's remains isn’t her. I noticed her while I was there. I’m certain she’s a nice person, and perhaps she even remembers some things that Dusk experienced, but the aura’s all different. It’s not her. Nor is she Death.”

Wow… Okay, it was a very very good thing that Faust decided to let a mortal have the ‘job’ of Life. I had to say something.

“Faust, your opinion on this subject. That’s a perfect example of the differences in how we think. Any pony would embrace Dusk, or the ‘fragment’ as their child,” I informed, doing my best to keep a diplomatic tone.

Cadence nodded. “That’s absolutely right!” She agreed, less able to keep her anger under the surface.

“Exactly!” Faust agreed with a smile, much to my shock. “We have completely different sets of values, logic, norms… It was one thing to simply create an overseer when I thought you were simply animals. But that won't work. So I will take a period of time, a thousand years or so, and use it to select a proper replacement. I’ll grant agelessness to the candidates so they can provide me with an interview of a proper length. You won't have to worry about a thing.

“As for Death, we need a new one. See, mortal souls are important. I don't know why, but they are expressly detailed as important to manage. Without a Death, souls can safely accumulate for a short time before the buffer fills and any new souls which need to be collected... Well, they simply vanish into the ether, or overwrite stored ones, leading to corrupted information… It’s a mess.

“Turns out the buffer is smaller than I’d thought. It’s full… Has been for some time most likely. Since Death didn’t malfunction like Life did, I don’t have any problems with creating a replacement. But, I could appoint a mortal, if you’d prefer your afterlife be selected by one of your own kind.”

“Um, is that something important? How do afterlives even work? I didn’t believe we got one,” I informed with an embarrassed cough.

“Ah. Yes, well… You do. Whatever you did in life, in death you experience an eternity of. Your afterlife is a mirror of your own personal world. Honestly, I think one of your kind would go mad with all the little ethical details they’d need to consider before determining what a fair environment would be,” Faust admitted with a shrug. “But well… The choice is yours.”

“I honestly can’t think of any candidates for that,” Cadence admitted with a nervous smile.

Nor could I. “It would appear as if it’s best for you to make a new entity for this job,” I agreed.

“Wait!” Luna exclaimed. “What if we do both? She makes a new Death, and we on occasion appoint ponies to help teach it, and also to help it make judgments, and with its other duties? Like the old legends of the Reapers who would bring souls to Death.”

Faust nodded. “That could work. Sure, we’ll try that for a while,” she decided standing up as if to leave. “I need to go and get that division running now… But before I do, I have an apology for all mortal kind, and I want your help letting your kind know of it.”

Faust dipped her horn, a pony high stack of folded papers appearing from nothing just in front of her.

“These are instructions on how to make a shrine to me,” Faust explained. “That may sound egotistical, but it’s not. This is me giving you a way to directly speak to me while I am on my home plane. I want you to make copies and distribute them. I’ll help when I am free.

“I want every last mortal to know how to be able to speak to me. Because I’m going to grant everyone a single persona a small boon. Nothing major, nothing dangerous, just a small thing which they want. Be it slightly different color fur, or to be a little faster, things like that. It’s my way of making up the harm my son did to the mortals who currently live.”

My eyes widened in honest surprise. “T-that’s very kind of you. But are you certain that won't cause further problems?”

Faust smiled dangerously. “If it does, I’ll just take back the gift. Remember, I said I’ll be watching. I create entire cosmic systems of objects, ensuring every last particle is exactly where it should be. I’ll know if this is being abused. Keeping track of macro objects is cake.”

“Alright… But if the majority of these boons cause problems… Will you stop?” I asked hopefully.

After all, I doubted I could make her stop if I had to.

“Of course,” Faust said with a hurt look. “I’m trying to help you after all. Goodbye for now. I’ll be in touch!”

The goddess vanished in the simple ‘just gone now’ means I’d become slightly accustomed too.

Right. Time for my own layer of protection around this plan. “Okay, before we pass these out, we run a few select trial groups. Make sure she won't grant literally ANY request. We then monitor the usage of shrines via some arcane means to make sure that somepony who asks for say, an invisibility spell isn’t using it to be a thief,” I groaned.

“Discord will love the chaos this creates,” Luna mumbled under her breath.

“I don't think that’s her intention, I think she assumes ponies will ask for things like ‘cure my cancer’ exclusively, or otherwise correct an unfairness within their life… But we all know that’s not how everypony will behave,” I said, sitting down with a sigh.

“Besides, Discord is still petrified. From what Megan said, we won't have access to the Elements for nearly a year. Which means we’ve effectively traded one deity for another, and guilt is much harder to appease than boredom,” Cadence grumbled, shaking her head slowly. “Celestia, you’re the best diplomat here. You need to work on convincing her to drop this idea… Or at least come up with some form of proving you’d need the favor before she passes it out.”

I nodded. That was absolutely correct.

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” Luna agreed, holding back a yawn. “I’d say we don’t actually hand these out… But I don’t want to make her mad. So long as we watch for the bad apples, we can let the bunch prosper. But that’s a short term solution, not a long term one.

“Whether we convince her to stop, limit her gifts, or can find a way to integrate this into part of our civilization is an issue we’ll have to work on later. RIght now there’s the more immediate concerns. Like what to do about the displaced populations of Canterlot and Ponyville.”

I nodded again. “Yes, that’s more pressing. But we can’t forget about ensuring Faust doesn't unintentional make things worse. Let’s put a pin in that and come back to it after we’ve established where our people will be living in the short term, and how we plan on feeding Canterlot until we can reestablish Ponyville.

“After all, the city got most of its produce from there. I imagine that larger cities can provide food for a time, but that will strain local economies after a year or two… Assuming we ever can. Goodness knows what that portal could have done to the local area… A hole directly into Tartarus most certainly could have done major environmental damage… I’ll have to send a team of mages to ensure the land is safe for habitation.”

Which meant that Ponyville’s Citizens might be stuck at the Emerald’s Hive for the foreseeable future. I’d have to pencil in a visit to talk to them, and see how they felt about it.

“I can only imagine how the nobility and Canterlot’s citizens will feel if we tell them they will have to live in the Empire for the foreseeable future,” Cadence giggled, hiding her smile behind a hoof. “I think we should move them first… Especially with the victory ‘celebration’ I’m certain my ponies want to throw occurring, well, the weekend after we deliver the news.

“I could have some geomancers create crystal buildings nearby Canterlot. Give them some complexes to live in during the rebuilding. Well, those who do not have estates outside the city which they can return to, at least.”

I nodded for a third time. “Do it. Luna, you’re effectively a citizen of the Hive, our ponies will be comfortable there, right?”

Luna snickered, almost falling over in a combination of mirth and exhaustion. “More so than in Ponyville, so long as they aren't claustrophobic,” she insisted as she climbed back up onto her seat properly. “I mean, it’s not a small place. Not even in the hallways, but the lack of sky could be an issue for some Pegasi. But in terms of food, comforts, safety, and a fulfilling job, all of those things can be provided easily.”

Luna paused for a moment, giving me just enough time to begin to say “Good,” before she continued.

“In fact…” Luna continued her face pulling into an odd frown. “Just before this happened, the Captain ordered a fresh deck excavated and made habitable. Almost like he knew that several thousand people would be coming… Hmmm…”

I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Interesting… If one of their mages had managed to divine the near future and saw this, wouldn’t they have warned us? Questions for later. Besides, it may simply have been coincidence.

“Circumstances aside, if the land truly is uninhabitable for whatever reason, I’ll have to work out some form of ‘citizen living abroad’ program. Which means I’ll need to lay the framework for that program immediately, so we can expedite its creation if we do need it,” I said aloud, mostly to clarify the thoughts to myself.

“Speaking of living abroad,” Cadence began slowly. “It’s not priority, but the mirror world citizens which led Faust to the Crystal Empire… I can put them up in my palace as guests for a while, but is there any possibility of them being able to go home, or should I urge them to integrate into Equestria somewhere?”

I tapped my chin in thought. All things considered that was a very minor problem, but it was also one we could solve in a matter of moments. “Well… Luna, would entering the Dream realm have damaged Starswirl’s Mi-”

“It’s screwed,” Luna interrupted, her tone leaving no wiggle room in her assessment.

“Could it be repaired?” I asked hopefully.

“It was atomized during the initial attack by the Nightmare Creatures when the castle was briefly attacked before Dreams hid it for us,” Luna elaborated. “I uh, I’ll give you a full report in the morning.”

I frowned sadly. Any of our foster father's relics were irreplaceable treasures, as well as personal reminders and keepsakes. But in war, loss is unavoidable.

“And since Twilight still had the moonstone on her when she vanished-” Cadence began.

“She dropped it during her disappearance,” I corrected. “I have it but… Whatever magic was used to transport her destabilized the stone’s magic. It may be repairable, but I’d rather not tinker with it. It could be possible to use it to trace Twilight’s location via the interference.”

“Ah,” Cadence said with a quick nod. “In that case, I’ll get them to immigrate, find jobs they like, settle down…”

Which is when another thought occurred to me.

“We will also need to overhaul our military,” I said aloud.

Luna blinked, her wings flaring slightly. “C-come again?” She asked hesitantly.

“We survived this crisis because we were lucky, and our opponent was a fool blinded by their desire to inflict suffering,” I said flatly. “We can all agree on this, correct?”

Luna nodded sharply. “From what I have been told, yes. This should have gone far more poorly for us. Especially considering the strength and number of daemons in ponyville during the attack on Canterlot.”

“Having fought Dawn in person, you have no idea how correct that is, Luna,” Cadence said with a dark laugh. “He had more than enough power to win, but no idea how to use it. He turned Flash into a puddle with a touch, but didn’t even use the same power on us to just win.

“Celestia’s right. He should have won this, but he didn’t because he was an idiot. But I also think I understand your point about our military, Celestia. You’re worried about future disasters which a small group of heros can’t solve, aren't you?”

I dipped my head in embarrassment. “Yes… I fully admit I relied on the idea of one good shield far too much. But in my defense, it worked this long, did it not? I fully intend to have the Elements working once more… But they can’t be our primary defense.

“This isn’t like the last time we lost use of the Elements. I don’t have any prophetic notion of finding loyal subjects to be the new bearers before the next disaster strikes. Even if w-we find a…New pony for Magic, or should Twilight somehow return to us, if we were to be attacked on two fronts, or if the elements are beyond repair, or can now be easily damaged having broken once before… There's far too much risk. I see that now.”

I turned to Luna and offered her an apologetic smile. “Sister… I know it’s about six thousand years overdue, but are you still interested in forming an Elite Order of Knights?”

Luna paused. I’d expected her to be excited, ecstatic even. Instead… I don’t know what emotion this was.

“I’m willing to talk about it. I agree that our military needs an overhaul. But for that military to do it’s job correctly, we’ll need to make some changes to our government’s structure. I… I’ve been meaning to talk to you about a few things ever since I made my return… It’s important. We can talk about this when I’ve rested, but right now, I’m too tired to make sound decisions,” Luna said after a moment’s thought. “At the very least, we need to train more hardened soldiers. I recommend we send an emissary to Hound to ask if we may learn their training methods.

“We have the numbers, manufacturing capabilities, and the arcane power to properly arm our pretty much ceremonial military and turn it into a proper army once more, but without proper training, only the Frontier Guard would be of any real use in-”

The loudest possible pop exploded behind me like a thunderstone, sending a shower of purple sparks across the ruined room in a fern-shaped wave! I dove for the floor, ears ringing, rolling for the cover of a nearby coffee table and sliding under its arcanely hardened surface for cover.

Moments passed. Nothing else exploded. No spellbolts. No demonic laughter. Good. Just something which had been broken finally exploding...


“Clear!” Luna called professionally.

I crawled out from under the table, my left hoof smacking against something metallic. And warm.

Sitting in a small patch of freshly blackened rubble was a small, oddly shaped metallic boxy device, a small folded sheet of bright white paper, and a lock of sapphire blue, violet, and rose hair bound together with a white plastic zip tie.

A lock of Twilight’s hair. There was no mistaking it. The ratio of blue to violet to rose was exactly the same as in Twilight’s mane!

“That’s Twi-” Luna gasped, noticing the items moments after I did.

“It is!” I exclaimed, standing upright with enough force to throw the table across the room.

I grabbed the metallic box with my magic, lifting it up to eye level. What was it? Some form of container? Perhaps a arcane vessel for transporting oneself between worlds safely? Maybe if I activated it it would open and somehow reconstitute Twilight here.

I frowned realizing something rather creepy. While the majority of the generally rectangular box was metal, some of it was made from what appeared to be bone. Not carved bone ether, more like this ‘box’ was organic in nature, including the metal.

Well… That was… Creepy.

OH GODS THE ‘BONE’ IS COVERED IN A VERY THIN LAYER OF LIVING TISSUE!

I dropped the box out of pure reflex, immediately fumbling for it with my telekinetic grip. The force I exerted on the box somehow activated the device, causing a holographic screen to flicker into existence on one side, as if the device were a clipboard a mage had over engineered to Tartarus and back.

The ‘clipboard’ had some text on it, though the language was not one I’d ever seen before. More importantly, it had a picture of Twilight on it. Her face was contorted in a mixture of anger and fear, her eyes glowing with arcane power, a blue ward half formed around herself, trying to negate a spell before it affected her.

Exactly how she’d looked when she’d vanished…

I felt my heart punch me. It was my fault she’d been banished. I should have been able to stop it.


“I sincerely hope that Twilight is responsible for sending us these,” Cadence said uneasily, looking at the image on the clipboard with a nervous twitch of her wings.

“If she were, I think she’d send a more… Normal picture,” Luna disagreed with a shake of her head. “Is that a note? I imagine it’s kind of critical to understanding any of this… Why is nopony already reading it!?”

"Regardless of what the note says, the picture is of Twilight, and this is a lock of her mane. Those objects came BACK. Dawn lied, there is a way back here from there," I said as a truly happy smile parting my lips.

I would see my student again, no matter what it took!

“Luna’s right, what does the note say? It is from her?" Cadence asked curiously, picking the folded paper up with her magic.

"It very well could be..." I agreed only for my smile to turn into a frown as Cadence read the note, her eyes dilating, lips pulling into a worried frown.

"Ummm… I- I can't tell if this is a threat, a warning, or a statement,” Cadence informed, looking at both of us with a worried but bashful frown.

"How do you mean?" I asked insistently, my tail lashing with worry.

"Well..." Cadence cleared her throat and begun to read. "Good gempulmin. We have all the pony! We (could) lose pony named teleportation. They can not of their free will! The space isn’t safe, we have no right to solve their desired goals. However, we want to keep the alien power. I have to find a pony. Act as soon as possible, its presence blocked the progress of science. What is the image of a sample of tissue from the past pony, of course, we all do. Thank you, Red."

"T-that's some really broken Equish right there," Luna said, her eyes looking at the note with a serious gaze, even as her mouth struggled to not twist into a laughing smile.

"This is no laughing matter, sister!" I scolded. "We must assume the messenger is hostile. For the sake of being safe... We won't make any aggressive moves. But we will be careful. And we will study these items, and the means by which they arrived. We. Will. Get. Twilight. Back.

"No matter what."

Unknown Multiverse

Unknown Date

A world away, one person asked another a simple question. "Hey, Red? Did you send the aliens the note yet?"

"Yeah, just sent it. Hopefully they stop sending their people here accidently now," Red answered happily. “It HAS to be an accident. I had to break the crap out of a transporter for it to even send something to them.”

"Ah hell…” Their coworker groaned. “Look, Green wanted to double check your translation. It's not like they have been here long enough for us to completely understand-"

"Hey!" Red interrupted indignantly. "I read all of the wizards notes. I've worked it out. This baby translates their squiggles flawlessly."

"Well... What did you tell them?" The other person asked uneasily. "Maybe you worded it poorly."

"I did no such thing!" Red protested. "My note reads as follows: Good evening, gentlemen. We have (presumably) all of the pony-folk you’ve lost via teleporter accidents in our possession. Unfortunately, they can not leave our facility of their own free will, because this is a secure area. Nor are we authorised to release someone within our facility of our own volition.

“However, we are authorized to allow individuals on the outside to pickup and drop off individuals. We have authorized you to come and retrieve your pony-folk. Please do so promptly, their presence is a roadblock for scientific progress. We have attached this image and tissue sample from the most recent pony-folk to arrive so you can be assured that we do in fact have all of them. Thank you, Red.

"See? Perfectly understandable. Shows we have them, we don’t want them, they're fine, and they can pick them up as soon as possible."

“That’s well worded,” came the relieved reply. “Oh! Did you a give them the coordinates of the safe zone? We don't want them arriving inside the system.”

“Yep! Put them on a separate note printed on bright red paper so they couldn’t possibly not notice it,” Red replied happily. “Wrote them out in binary too, just so there’s no problems converting the data into whatever mathematical base they use. See? I thought of everything. It’s fine!”

"Hummm... Alright, well. I still feel a bit uneasy about this. What if part of the package didn’t successfully transmit? What if they are hostile because our assumption about them sending people accidently here is false?"

"You're uneasy about everything outside of operational parameters. Learn to improvise! Surprises can be fun! What's the worst that can happen? We have to wait till they are removed, and then reset the whole system back to a point before they showed up and threw all our data out of whack? Oh wait, we already have to do that," Red chuckled, whistling happily as he returned to his work.

The scientist's colleague quietly left. Leaving Red alone with his thoughts.

“DAMNIT!” He suddenly store to himself. “I could have written ‘all your equine are belong to us’. Stupid missed chances…”

The End

For Now...

Author's Note:

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Comments ( 49 )

Another successful firing of Chekov's Gun, and that wraps things up. :pinkiesmile:

And I know what's gonna happen next, and YOOOOOUUUUUUU don't! :trollestia:

CLAPCLAP good show can't wait for the next one.

“Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated!” I announced as dramatically as I could.

Let's be honest, it's Rarity we're taking about here. 'As dramatically as she can' involves cloudless thunder, sudden gusts of wind and unexplainable shafts of golden light. At the very least. :raritystarry:

So, yeah... Dumb scientists are dumb. "Hey, my translation is perfect, no need to check with the actual natives!!". By all the gods above and below, have they never heard of tempting destiny? Or at the very least Murphy!?! :raritydespair:

Basically, they're screwed. Royally.
It would be cute if that's where Twily's mommy and daddy are, though. The fandillyness would be too high! :twilightblush:

8060639 Well we all hope for a sequel that brings Twilight back and resolves the issue of Ponyville. Also we have left the distress call that attracted Indy hanging unless I missed that somewhere

8060906 There is also the assumption the recipients would understand binary and then the coordinate system if they find the system. ALSO no coordinate system is worth a dang without a frame of reference. Where is the zero point ?

8060991 Uh... As far as I'm aware, Indy was attracted by the distress call sent out by Phoenix when a part of the ship reactivated during some maintenance. For the life of me I can't remember if that happened in this fic or at the end of the last one, but I do know that Phee (or at the very least, the ship itself) sent out a distress call. And in chapter 7 when discussing the Emerald Hive, Rarity mentions the USS Phoenix to Indy, who promptly regaled Rarity with the history of that particular ship and what it had been used for.

I'm surprised Rarity didn't get chewed out more, though she was at least suffering from trauma and shock once she was awake, so there is that.
I feel like AJ will get Sweet Apple Acers back up, along with any other food production, but my guess is that most ponies will stay with the emeralds for a while, after all after nearly dying how many times in the past week, I'm sure many of them feel safe in an underground city/bunker.
Ya Faust, let's grant invisibility to thief ponies, great idea. Nieve Faust strikes again!
So Twilight got sent to some highly advanced civilization, where her parents are, because that's what Dawn said just before he got reked, I'm sure intense fan fillying will be happening soon.

8060991

ALSO no coordinate system is worth a dang without a frame of reference. Where is the zero point?

This is a very good point, also for a race who doesn't have multi-verse travel is also going to have no frame of reference even if he had included a zero point. Red also said he attached it on bright red paper, yet none of the princesses mentioned it, I don't think it made it.

“Yes. easily. I have the Mantle of Life right here,” Faust said, lifting a hoof which suddenly held a small shimmering pink orb of light before the orb vanished. “I can give that to any sapient creature, and they’d become a new ‘divine’ as you call us. Though I hypothesise they would retain more freedom of thought and choice than we do.

Give it to Lily, to transcend.
I'm not sorry.

We must assume the messenger is hostile.

Please do not do that.

rekt dawn, twilights gone,
Applejack saved the day!
Canterlot got killed a bit
And the ARK AGE starts right now!
To the tune of that schoolyard Batman song

8061114

I feel like AJ will get Sweet Apple Acers back up, along with any other food production,

Actually...remember that Sweet Apple Acres was the imps' barracks. I would be very surprised if the land was not salted, which will keep any crops from growing until it is either fixed or enough time passes (at least a decade) for the land to recover. I don't think Ponyville's farms will be capable of recovering without extensive magical rejuvenation.

8061097 the distress call was sent out when they were digging out deck14.
8060906 could be they never heard of Murphy or had thier own version thereof give it time though
8061868 not sure theyh would've bothered since Dawn intended to wipe out all life. Of course the impa presence alone might of damaged the land. Regardless it will be 5 to 10 years to regrow the orchards enough to produce Apple's from saplings.
8061114 we don't know it's advanced beyond the fact they sent something back to Canterlot. The idea teleportation has existed for a long time in literature. "Translation" machines or programs have existed for over 20yrs. Almost 60 if you consider the code breaker programs from WWII as translation programs

8062175 No....these are creatures that thrive on suffering. They'd have salted the land just to fuck the land over, whether there were any survivors to try to till the soil or not.

I have made a dumb! I was trying to compare the new thumbnail to Meep's map and it had not occurred to me that it's the FRIGEN ISLAND.:facehoof: I made a dumb, did a dumb, am a dumb.
(I thought I was being so smart too)

8061586 Seeing as how I would have to hit alt+0178 it certainly could not have been an accident.

8060906

Let's be honest, it's Rarity we're taking about here. 'As dramatically as she can' involves cloudless thunder, sudden gusts of wind and unexplainable shafts of golden light. At the very least. :raritystarry:

As well as use of a full Shakespearian Acting stage voice.

So, yeah... Dumb scientists are dumb.

Yes, Red is a bit dumb... If viewed strictly on the surface. If viewed more closely he intentionally tries to cause things to go a little wrong sometimes, just to alleviate the boredom. Never intentionally in a way which would hurt someone, but he can be... Absent minded.

8060991

Well we all hope for a sequel that brings Twilight back and resolves the issue of Ponyville. Also we have left the distress call that attracted Indy hanging unless I missed that somewhere

Hey, guess what I just penned the first chapter of? :D
Also the distress call is explained. The USS Pheonix sent it out as an automated distress signal in an early chapter when Everfree borded the ship because security systems detected the signature of demonic magic.

There is also the assumption the recipients would understand binary and then the coordinate system if they find the system

To be fair, they beleave that the Equestrians are teleporting from within their own universe. They have no concept of multivercal Travel. Assuming that your coordinate system which uses your galaxy's quasars and triangulation can be understood once decoded into basic mathematics isn't too much of a stretch. After all, NASA did just that IRL. Many times. With probes and radio bursts.
8061393 Unfortunately, Celestia doesn't shave. Which means she has no razors to use.

... No, I'm not sorry.
8061097 It happens early in this fic. I only do things like that which directly effect the next story when I'm planning a direct sequil, not merly a story set in the same universe.
8061114

I'm surprised Rarity didn't get chewed out more,

She will be. Remember, her friends believed she was dead. they are happy she's not. give them a few minutes... They ahd like 3 minutes togeather.

So Twilight got sent to some highly advanced civilization, where her parents are, because that's what Dawn said just before he got reked, I'm sure intense fan fillying will be happening soon.

Silly Dawn had no idea whats on the other end of that Linking Book. He only knew that the book was a one way trap...

This is a very good point, also for a race who doesn't have multi-verse travel is also going to have no frame of reference even if he had included a zero point.

It would have been useless to a Travler too. Because it's just a galactic specific coordinate system based on quasars and triangulation... The Scientists made the assumption "They are coming from within our galaxy, because no teleporter is powerful enough to cross between galaxies thus sayth physics, and there's only the one universe." A rather safe assumption for a species with no knowledge of other dimensions. (They assume Star and Clover are native to their own universe, and to be fair, those two are unsure if they are on their home plane or not.)

Red also said he attached it on bright red paper, yet none of the princesses mentioned it, I don't think it made it.

No that did not make it. Nor did the other note which he didn't mention, as it was personal, which was a request for seeds of a particular plant used for tea.
8061868 Can confirm, the land will need extencive decon, and contianment of the Tartarian plants and microbes which also came through... Remember that realm is a living organisum. It starts to grow through any opening...
8062975 /me looks at the thumbnail.
/me looks at a map of The Island.
Holy shit... This is the best thing I have ever accidently done in my life! This was not intentional, at all. I'm not joking! I just wanted something that looked like tipped metal so I used the lasso tool to make a blob shape. But this is realy cool, and totaly apt! Thank you random luck!

8063062 assumptions the sure point of screwing something up. Not every race will use the same coordinate system or the same point for 0. Probably a lot of races started with their home planet as 0. Go far enough back and not everyone used Greenwich as 0 latitude.

8063107 None the less, you have to make assumptions. At least, if you ever want to DO anything. If I didn't assume it was safe to get out of my chair, I'd never get a glass of water for fear of the roof caving in or something. YOu can't ever know everything :P

8063111 of course you can't know everything. Also you have to take risks just going to bed or gwting up can be a risk

8063124 Exactly. So say you can't actually speak to the aliens you've learned the language from. Say you can only listen and watch. At that point you HAVE to use machine translation and assume your message will be at the very least understood to be a message.

8063192 they could've seen if their captive understood the message but what the heck. This way adds a little more drama. Also scientists generally shouldn't assume things work without multiple trials. Anyways looking forward to the next story

The person who had called herself Faust had apparently spent the entire day teleporting around to find people willing to help fight. The Prench had been but one arm of a two pronged attack, which had them attacking from the center outwards, while a regiment of Neighponese soldiers had encircled the entire Ponyville area and worked their way inwards.

That's a sound strategy, though only really possible when the group you drop in the middle are powerful enough to not just be overrun and slaughtered.

Righteous does sound like he'll be very useful for the rebuilding, assuming that putting together the constructor ship in something that can be done particularly quickly. I do really like the idea of what Equestria allied to him might accomplish, sudden access to interstellar level tech is a huge step in bootstrapping your way up the technology chain.

“Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated!” I announced as dramatically as I could.

Very Mark Twain. I approve.

“Yes there is,” Indy said firmly. “Rarity was unconscious, dying, or delirious for three straight days, and has only been fully stable for the last twenty five hours. Prior to that, her brain was mostly non-functional, I mean, her head WAS chewed on by a shark. I had to replace a lot of things in there.

“Most of her neural activity is now working inside a complex network of… Uh, without making my friend super uncomfortable, in short, she’s got a damn good medical excuse for not thinking of calling home.

No kidding.

Don't worry about Twilight, girls, she's had portal adventures before. I'm sure she'll be fine.

Active engagement with Faust, this will make things and society exciting.

Faust shook her head firmly. “No. Well, yes, I AM the designer of the systems from which you emerged. But I won't be making a new god to oversee you. Clearly, I’m bad at that. My plan is simply to observe you for a length of time, test numerous organics and ‘promote’ one of you.”

Decent plan.

“In fact…” Luna continued her face pulling into an odd frown. “Just before this happened, the Captain ordered a fresh deck excavated and made habitable. Almost like he knew that several thousand people would be coming… Hmmm…”

Hmmmm indeed.

Poor Flash. Dead to push his wife's berserk button with his soul either gone forever or stuffed into a full and corrupted buffer, and more or less unmourned at least in this chapter from these perspectives. The only thing missing is the freezer to scoop him into. And to think he was just the climax of the crisis away from being able to have Faust cure his genetic disease as his personal favor.

Hmmmm. Either this note is a really bad a translation, or it's from a society that is really quite alien to Equestrian thinking.

Oh, so a little bit alien, but mostly a really bad translation. And multiple dimensionally lost pony-folk? Interesting.

8063726

sudden access to interstellar level tech is a huge step in bootstrapping your way up the technology chain.

You talk as if Equestria isn't already allied with the Emerald Hive, which is built out of an under reconstructing Colonization Class Starship that is being turned into a city. Sure, they aren't as forth coming with their tech as you just suggested, but that is for good reason. Rapid (in this case hyper) acceleration of technological level spells for a whole mess of problems. Among which the most prevalent will be intentional or accidental misuse by to people not being aware of the full scope of it's capabilities.

The much better solution is to at most, help the underdeveloped species along at their own pace, or slightly more. Which is what they are doing. I mean, how do you think Equestria got the Metric System, SI units, and the Periodic Table of Elements? You help them along in increments, so they gradually become aware of what they're developing as a society, and knowing how to safely use it. Dig would most certainly know this, which is why he will offer to help rebuild, not to flat out give them spaceships. That's just aid.

And multiple dimensionally lost pony-folk? Interesting.

I am trying to resist the urge to facepalm... It's very difficult... :facehoof:

I mean, come on! He just said he trapped her biological parents in there and she just learned who they were. It's pretty damn clear.

8069227 Sure, but whatever shape the Emerald Hive is in, they don't have a currently functioning orbital shipyard nor a sane AI with knowledge stretching back to the human civilization it dates from to run it.

I am trying to resist the urge to facepalm... It's very difficult... :facehoof:

I mean, come on! He just said he trapped her biological parents in there and she just learned who they were. It's pretty damn clear.

Well, yeah, no kidding. Why do you think I think it's interesting other than who we're likely to find there in the next story?

8069318

they don't have a currently functioning orbital shipyard nor a sane AI with knowledge stretching back to the human civilization it dates from to run it.

Oh the things you don't know, they could fill, well, a book. All will be known, eventually... Meep and I don't tell you all everything.

8069318 Woah! a DJ reply :D Hi ^^

Pops not fully up to speed on my plans for the sequel. In this case you're right. There are more Equestrians in the place Twi is now than Star and Clover.

Geez, that note had me worried she'd ended up with the Orz or something. :rainbowlaugh:

Now, for the last chapter, let's see how this goes. :pinkiesmile:

“My sister can throw rocks hard enough to make little explosions!” Pinkie said eagerly. “There’ll be lots of rocks to move, I’ll ask her if she’s okay showing somepony- Um, I mean somedragon what she can do!”

Wow that is pretty strong! You Go Maud! *cheers* And oh Pinkie, you are so funny....

“Yes. easily. I have the Mantle of Life right here,” Faust said, lifting a hoof which suddenly held a small shimmering pink orb of light before the orb vanished. “I can give that to any sapient creature, and they’d become a new ‘divine’ as you call us. Though I hypothesise they would retain more freedom of thought and choice than we do.

Oooooooh pretty awesome! If I was more awake I would make a guess on who it will be, but eh..... yeah not awake enough to figure on who. x.x

“I want every last mortal to know how to be able to speak to me. Because I’m going to grant everyone a single persona a small boon. Nothing major, nothing dangerous, just a small thing which they want. Be it slightly different color fur, or to be a little faster, things like that. It’s my way of making up the harm my son did to the mortals who currently live.”

Oooooh awesome pressie of forgiveness! No idea what I would pick though.... (well other than to come to Equestria... but that might be a bit 'too' big of a request....)

OH GODS THE ‘BONE’ IS COVERED IN A VERY THIN LAYER OF LIVING TISSUE!

Okay, cue the creepy box. Wow exciting! *keeps reading*

What's the worst that can happen?

Famous last words. A lot of worse things could happen. Doesn't look good. *shakes head*

Woooo another awesome story Meep! :D Can hardly wait to start your next one, but alas homework. :ajsleepy:
Congrats on the Feature for your new story though, *brohoofs*

8072952

Wow that is pretty strong! You Go Maud! *cheers* And oh Pinkie, you are so funny....

Actualy, that's LESS strong than she's shown to be in cannon.

Based on the aproximate distance of the throw, and the apparent size of the musroom cloud, combined with the overpressure wave, Maud Pie can throw a rock hard enough for the kinetic energy released on impact to result in an explosion equivilent to a 1/2 kiloton nuclear blast... That's half a Hiroshima.
My AU's version can throw a rock hard enough to have a grenade-like concussive thump. Because she dosn't appear to even be TRYING in canon to do that... If she gets mad and can simulate a 1 Megaton explosion with a rock...

8073155
Hmmm good point, forgot about their rock throwing 'contest' :rainbowlaugh: and wow, see this is why I love knowing someone so good at the maths/sciences of things. You are always blowing my mind. Half of Hiroshima? Just imagine if she was actually trying! :rainbowderp: But yeah, I would say she is one pony NOT to get mad at you, or else you can kiss your flank goodbye!

8073169 As well as a good chunk of the city you're in...

8073284
:rainbowlaugh: Yeah that too. Better make sure it is a city you don't like, so you can take part of it out with you. :pinkiecrazy:

Before I read this, what is the Gore and Dark tag for ?
And how bad does it get ?

8092940 Dark because it's a war story and there's a good deal of dark themes in any war story. Gore for one scene which is a bit grizzly but has to exist because the plot would be much weaker if it wasn't shown. I don't do shock-horror or pointless gore, but I DO describe injuries which occur in detail if they are important. In this case, a character falls from an airship into shark infested waters. They survive, but them surviving and crawling up a beach is shown.

I put the tag there primarily because of the site rules and how they define gore. I personally would rate this story PG-13 in terms of a movie. I can say for certain that if the D-Day landing from Saving Private Ryan is a 10, then this story is a 5.

8098174 You'll learn pritty quickly in the sequil :P Also, hello! Long time no see :D

8099930 I disagree. When they are angry they come out of cover to charge you, which makes them easy targets for your Carnifax. One shot, one kill, no fuss.

8106765 Don't apologise :) I fully understand. I try to tag things accurately by the site rules, and well, that means that if you show any real injury, you technically need the gore tag, and as a war story, it's got some dark themes. But this is still my usual silly adventure, and the sequel is more fun to make up for any shortcomings here :)

And now for a birthday message to everyone's favorite changebug.
First off, Meeps, happy birthday!
Secondly, you know I love your writing...but sometimes it seems a couple characters may have fallen through the cracks.
I'm posting the requested comment on Cataclysm for that reason. At the beginning of the story, Twi, Dash, Trixie, and Scoots from Alpha arrived, and while Sparks fought Dawn when he was possessing Applejack, we never heard from the other three again aND never saw Sparks again after that fight. Unless the Dream Realm crosses dimensions, these four would have been invaluable there since they would not have had Dreams or Nightmares looking for them specifically. Not to mention all four are veteran of years of battle.
In similar note, where was Repose during all of this? He had agreed to become Twilight's Court Enchanter during Exile, but he didn't show up once here.

8169999

I'm posting the requested comment on Cataclysm for that reason. At the beginning of the story, Twi, Dash, Trixie, and Scoots from Alpha arrived, and while Sparks fought Dawn when he was possessing Applejack, we never heard from the other three again ...

*inhales to object raising a hoof* I got nothing. Yep, dropped the ball here. I suposed I'll have to show what they did via mentions in future stories. Did I have something planned for them? *checkes her notes* I WROTE WHAT THEY DID IN THE PLOT OUTLINE AND JUST DIDNT WRITE IT INTO THE STORY! I AM SO DUMB! ><

In similar note, where was Repose during all of this?

At least this one is simple... Ill timed vacation to Prance to visit his sister and catch up.

8190150 Yeah. I should make the next story be a jumping on point. To be fair, this (and its sequil) are the closing bit of a background ark.

8297396
Hey that song! ha! also yeah I looked through the comments and was pretty surprised that no one mentioned it. I just had to say something about it myself after I saw that!

9458946
Still looks wrong. Curse English as a broken language.

9458927

This is B-canon and coems from the Comics.

Comes

I still think expanding on the idea would make for a good story.

This was just an idea I had for a short little story about ancient Equestria I never got around to talking about.

Do tell

Really enjoyed this one. Clearly better than anything you wrote before this point. Also, less of the pieces of story i don't enjoy.

A few minor things i noticed, just because that's the way my mind works:


Sticking a cherry bonsai tree into a small pear tree? I'd think one tree should be enough? Dream magic being weird or mistake?


“I was worried that all of their alterations had been reversed, but fortunately, Luna is fine, an Triek is still within Tartarus. It looks as if only Discord was in range of the… Anomaly. The situation could be far worse than it is. But it is still urgent we get them repaired as quickly as possible.

Should be and Tirek.


Lotus winced, ears falling flattered then mine.

I think that should be flatter than.

Clearly a different Red. This guy didn't read even like an alternate universe alter-ego version of Doom Pony. :rainbowlaugh:

One bonus typo:

“Yes. We can. Well, not how you said, but there is a way we can help by comishing a constructor ship and flying it out here.

commissioning

“Then all of this was done with cash, mining, and... “ Indy shook the mech’s head and then hissed in sympathetic pain. “Somewhere out there, an insurance company president weeps, and a bartender rejoices.”

Good, insurance companies deserve the torch.

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