• Published 23rd Jun 2017
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The Olden World - Czar_Yoshi



Equestrian culture loves cutie marks. Filly Starlight Glimmer hates them and never wants one. So, she leaves Equestria.

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For Duty Or Necessity

Day eleven...

Meltdown hovered in Princess Celestia's aura, continually draining heat as she stared at the contraption before her.

"It's a rough prototype," Shinespark yawned. "But I wanted your input before any further testing..."

Meltdown drifted in a slow circle around the device. It didn't look remotely like power armor, but could possibly be imagined as a cooler. A lot of loose hoses had been fused or bolted together, most supported by immobile racks, the pony-shaped suit in the middle looked more like a bag than armor, and miscellaneous parts of her old suit could be seen suspended throughout the mess.

"I see you're a fan of rapid prototyping."

Shinespark shrugged. "I have to know how well this cooling system will work before I try building it into something mobile, and about a third of it is hacked together from your old things. Right now, the pipeline to generate mana from heat and disperse it into the ground is theoretically complete, but it's hard to test without you personally. That's why I asked you to come."

Meltdown continued to stare. "Very well. If a test is needed, let's proceed."

Celestia floated Meltdown closer, her aura beginning to fade. "I'm surprised by your trust once again. You will have to cool off so that Shinespark can guide you inside herself."

"Calculated risk." Meltdown shook her head, the fiery energy rising from her fading as well. "It doesn't look mechanized enough to crush me, and if it was, I could destroy it from the inside. Understood."

The room's temperature abruptly dropped as Celestia's aura shifted, still warm enough that Shinespark could remain on her hooves, yet cold enough for Meltdown to retain a little of her output. The duo worked quickly, Shinespark opening the pony bag in a clamshell design and helping Meltdown in. In a matter of minutes, the device was sealed save for Meltdown's head, an insulated collar capping the suit high on her neck.

"Alright..." Shinespark adjusted several switches that had been hastily fused to a control panel, and the construction began to thrum, several pumps in the back rumbling to life. "Monitoring energy transference at every stage. Try heating."

"Ten percent," Meltdown said from the bag, her mane limp.

Shinespark nodded, watching the meters. "So far so good on all counts. Higher."

"Twenty percent," Meltdown said, her face beginning to sweat as Celestia's aura disappeared from the room, letting the machine work on its own.

Shinespark paused, looking across her readings. "Give the component temperature time to stabilize..."

Meltdown waited. "Which part is unstable?"

"Just making sure none of my fittings come undone." Shinespark walked in a circle around the machine, checking the connections on the hoses. "It's a rough prototype, after all."

"Those won't be used in the final version," Meltdown agreed.

"...Looks good," Shinespark finally said, tapping the edge of a metal bearing very briefly with the edge of her hoof and pausing. "Hmm. Hot. How hot are you supposed to be internally?"

"I am heatproof," Meltdown replied. "The main consideration is not destroying the area around me. The science isn't relevant and would be complicated to explain."

"Fair enough..." Shinespark went back to the control panel. "Try heating."

Meltdown nodded. "Thirty percent."

Shinespark bit her lip and waited. "We have uneven temperatures across the auxiliary pumps. Do different parts of your body heat at different rates? I spent hours on the math to get the flows even..."

"Not universally." Meltdown turned her attention to the rack of pumps rumbling at the back. "My core is regularly the hottest, but my hooves serve as output points I can control if need be. My tail doesn't heat, and my face is cooler... but I would still greatly appreciate a helmet. I'm keeping my temperatures stable for you right now."

Shinespark frowned. "Two of the pumps are processing coolant significantly hotter than the other three. The smaller pump I borrowed from your suit is the coolest of the bunch..." She moved to a different section of the instrument panel. "Ah. They're moving slower. I hope they don't suffer from uneven construction quality. I only need them for testing, but if they fail first, it won't tell us about the core equipment..."

Meltdown shook her head. "Even at this temperature, I am significantly more comfortable than in your shower. If stress-testing this setup is not urgent, I would prefer to remain here for a while."

Shinespark bit her lip. "I'd give it a fifty percent chance of failure if we step it up another ten percent. The pump is likely made of multiple metals that expand when being heated at different rates."

"That was a consideration making my old suits, yes."

In the background, Princess Celestia stood up. "I take it you will no longer need me standing by for disaster recovery, then?"

Shinespark hesitated. "Meltdown, do you want to stay here alone?"

Meltdown thought for a moment, and then nodded. "I have much to think on while I can. You have my gratitude for this opportunity. In future revisions, please add a helmet."

"Right..." Shinespark stepped away. "I'll stay close in case anything happens. Maybe get some sleep..."

"Thank you," Meltdown repeated.

"It's what I do."

Shinespark stepped out of the testing room, stopped, and doubled over, nearly falling asleep where she stood... until a large, white presence behind her snapped her out of her reverie.

"Your ability to push yourself is commendable," Princess Celestia said. "Though do take care of yourself. I have my suspicions about your motives, and know that whatever you choose, I will not force you to leave prematurely with unfinished business."

"It's that obvious? That I've been considering things?" Shinespark wobbled and sat down. "I am, but this isn't just about that. I've been powerless for months in the north, and now that I can do something worthwhile again, I'm not letting a moment of this chance slip through my hooves."

Celestia nodded. "You work to allay your worries. Most ponies drown themselves in their work to bury theirs instead."

"This isn't a distraction from anything on my mind." Shinespark firmly shook her head. "It's an answer to it. Something I can do for someone who needs it. That's what I made my life about long ago, and I've needed to be able to do it again."

"Helping those in need."

Shinespark nodded. "Yes. Lab work doesn't hurt, either."

"But you have been considering things," Princess Celestia continued. "Is there anything I can do to ease your decision?"

Shinespark hesitated. "If we went back north... and used the writs we already have, could some of us use them to wait here without invalidating the deal?"

Celestia watched her. "Do you believe this would increase your chances of meeting with success?"

Shinespark stopped hard. "...There's a right and wrong answer to that. You were testing our convictions and loyalty to each other earlier."

"Oh, perhaps." Celestia shrugged. "But I've already seen what I needed from our previous meeting. I am mostly curious as to your thought process."

Shinespark met her eyes. "We aren't in good shape. Some of us have more strength to continue than others, and we don't want to force any of us to live with the others sacrificing their dreams for them. But if the ones who need it most could stay here and catch up, and the ones who can still continue left right now..."

"You are more concerned with not asking your friends to live with the sacrifices of others than with not asking them to make sacrifices of their own?" Princess Celestia raised an interested eyebrow. "And you would part ways with them for their own good?"

"...That's why it's a hard decision," Shinespark eventually said, stiff. "But maybe. As the captain, it should be my duty to lay aside my goal of rebuilding Ironridge for their sake, and I could do it. And I know all of them would postpone their new home for my sake if I asked. But my friends have been trying to reach a happy ending to our adventure for far too long for it to feel right if we quit on a sacrifice or a loss. I don't want any of us to have to give up on our dreams for the others. I know it could be seen as selfish, when I could solve all this by insisting we stay, but I would feel guilty if I got my own dream at my friends' expense, and I know they would feel likewise if I gave up on Ironridge for them."

Celestia slowly watched her. "If I hadn't seen you at our last meeting, I would suspect those to be words of cowardice or greed disguised as nobility. But you truly believe you can help them by asking them all to make sacrifices on your behalf, don't you?"

"...I know it goes against reason." Shinespark stood her ground. "But yes. At the same time, I'd still be asking sacrifices of all of them."

Celestia sighed. "I didn't give you an easy choice on purpose, my little pony. Time is finite, and there is only so much any one pony can do in the world. I suspected it would give me a good look at your priorities and characters... and knew you would try to break my ultimatum and obtain the best of both worlds. Yes, I will give no requirements about what your friends must do with their writs prior to the finish line, so long as at least six of you stand together at the border in the end. But you are still making sacrifices. Only your time with each other, instead of your goals for the future..." She shook her head. "I would urge you to remember that whatever you choose, you are not on a strict timer. You need not hurry yourselves in this. Friendship is powerful, and it takes considerable effort to preserve and fight for, effort that could be spent chasing other goals. Think hard on what you are willing to do for the sake of the future."

"You don't have to ask us to do this, you know," Shinespark whispered. "I know you're trying to see if we can do the impossible. We've done it many times before. Our journey could end here happily. And your barrier is already down..."

"Yes, I could," Celestia acknowledged. "There is a lot I could do for many of my ponies. And I am already offering you that happy ending. But changing the world order by opening trade with the north is no insignificant feat, and I am not offering it for free. In exchange for this, I ask that you be not a group of tired survivors at the end of your journey, but ponies who do not take the easy route when they still have a home to save, no matter how battered they may be."

"You want to see that we'd get up and fight for our home even when we have a good enough way out already," Shinespark said. "When we don't need to. You... would ask us to help keep Equestria safe if we open the border, wouldn't you? You're testing whether we'll get back on our hooves when someone needs us, even if we have better options when we only consider ourselves."

Princess Celestia nodded. "Oh, something like that. Though I don't believe I would call on you myself. I would merely trust that you are the kind of ponies who would rise to the occasion."

"And what if we said we would anyway?" Shinespark asked.

"A promise of future risk and service in exchange for favors now?" Celestia raised an eyebrow. "If you would do it in the future, why not return to the north now? The situation is the same. You would be leaving behind the chance of comfort and safety and taking the hard road for the sake of a land you could survive without."

Shinespark gritted her teeth. "Because we could be stronger in the future, after we've rested and recovered more? I've seen for myself how much better myself and my crew have been doing since we finally escaped from the pressure of failure and political attention and having our lives on the line, and asking us to face that again now is very different from asking it in months or years."

"And what if you might be called upon at any hour of any day?" Celestia asked.

"Then... we'd do it because we need to. To protect our home."

Celestia gave her a look. "And if your section of Equestria was not endangered? If a threat was too local, or chose to spare you to avoid incurring your wrath?"

Shinespark finally broke, slumping. "I'm just tired..."

"Then get some sleep, my little pony." Celestia lifted her chin with a feather. "You can't be doing yourself any favors by being so near your limit. And this is why I have already promised not to hasten your departure if you choose to go. I understand that you have been stretched thin, and have no intentions of casting you out fully on your own."

"...You're right." Shinespark sighed, squeezing her eyes shut. "I'll sleep here so I can be on call if anything happens to Meltdown. Good night, Princess. Thank you for... offering as much as you have."

Princess Celestia chuckled, getting up and walking away. "It is the middle of the day, in fact. But I will send for someone to fetch you bedding and a blanket. Unless you're enough of an engineer to sleep on a pile of parts and circuitry."

"Har har..." Shinespark was too worn-out to muster a response.

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