Same World, Different Realities

by Mocha Star

Rumors Abound

The ships readied their unicorns and projectile weapons, formed by their attack plan based on one of Twilight’s idea’s, and waited for the command to advance.

“Captain!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she stopped in the air beside him, wavering slightly. “What’s happening? What’re you doing?!”

“The Princess may have been taken, we have to get her back. I don’t have time for this, you’re a Wonderbolt so prepare the pegasi for their rolls.”

Rainbow flew in front of him. “But-”

“I haven’t time for this! That’s an order and I outrank you, make haste!”

“No! I won’t move. I know Twilight Sparkle and she teleported, she wasn’t taken. Didn’t you see the magic flash? It was purple and-”

“Fine, Miss Dash, I’ll play. The enemy can have purple magic as well, look at what they did with blue. They could color code their abilities, regardless-”

“No way, you totally don’t get it. Twilight’s doing something and I won’t let you hurt her or whatever she’s doing by going all raging dragon.”

He opened his mouth to retort but she left when he did. “Good riddance. I need a competent pegasus to take control of the skies! Find me one right now, and as for the attack we need an equal, if not greater defense. Have unicorns on ships four, six, and two… No not two, three place shields at these locations and prepare to have them mobile.

“There’s no telling what might be next in their arsenal and-”

The sonic rainboom rocked the ships and certainly got attention from every pony on both sides of the growing conflict.

Rainbow arced and spun turning her contrail into a symbol she hoped was universal above the ships and visible for hundreds of miles. She hollered happily as the speed given by the event bled off and she hovered in the middle of her creation. Ponies as far as the edge of the city that were able looked to the edge of their known world to see a heart encircled by an expanding rainbow and for the moment it seemed as though peace might be an option.

---

Twilight stood before several hovering images of unicorns, each a noble by any standard based solely on the clothes they wore and how they carried themselves compared to the more common ponies that had led her into the meeting room mere hours after her declaration of peace in Old Ponish to the leader of the land.

A mare was finishing her question of earth pony integration while Twilight bore the expression of calm professionalism. These blighted single minded slave driving- “Yes, your honor, we see all ponies as equals and even though they call me by my royal title of Princess of Friendship, and as an alicorn of the three tribes, I don’t see myself as being a better pony then them, per se.

“I do have authority and final say, as well as superior magic, flight, strength, and lifespan, but I don’t hold my title over them unless I have to, just as the other princesses of Equestria believe and act. They are free to do as they please and accept the consequence of their actions.”

“So,” one of the mares began, “you see yourselves as equals? I know we just established that, but here in the Land of Platinum, it’s not ever been the case, save for very few unihorns a generation that breed or cohabitate with mudders,” she sneered. “Perhaps there may be merit to your beliefs, but there is no sense changing what works so well in our society.”

“I concur. We are better in all ways than those that roll in their mess. There are established-”

“Thank you for your contribution, Lord Chancellor Zirconia Wave, however we’re not going to prattle on about classes while the first visitor stands before us, are we?”

There was a silence. “No, your highness,” they said in near unison.

“Your majesty, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Friendship in the land of Equestria, we accept your offer of peace and extend the same, publically now as this is being broadcast across the nation at the highest levels to be disseminated to their charges.

“Considering you and yours don’t act hostile in manner then we will open negotiations for trade of information and will grant you access to our libraries,” Twilight couldn’t hold her grin and ruffled her wings, half opening them in glee, “for you to peruse at your convenience.”

Twilight’s resolve broke. “Yes! Yesyesyes, I’d love to read about your history and achievements!” she landed and folded her wings, taking a professional stance again. “I apologize, I really enjoy reading. I, we extend our hooves in friendship and will openly offer our knowledge to you.

“We have a lot of history but few books. Most of our knowledge is currently inscribed in several enchanted tomes I like to read in my spare time that I willingly offer as trade. My ships are still at the defense, but we all are looking forward to relaxing and sharing some cultural exchange.”

“As do we, as your integration of earth ponies, as you call them, and pegasi, which are merely mythical in our texts, are very intriguing to us,” the Matron paused. “There is one issue, however. There are ponies spreading word that you and your crew are decimating the land as you transverse toward me in the capital city. We are having trouble stemming the rumors and wish you to know as I am currently running a relations campaign to inform my little horns that we are at peace, not war.”

Twilight sighed softly. “The sonic rainboom my friend did didn’t help, did it?”

“No, it seemed to fuel the rumors that we’re attempting quell. We don’t place any blame on her, however we ask that she not do it again,” the Matron said firmly enough.

“I’ve had a long talk with her and she won’t, trust me,” her tone deepened. All the unicorns watching her smirked and nodded.

“Your majesty, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Friendship in the land of Equestria, we thank you for your time and open our borders to you and yours. May Princess Platinum guide you.”

“And the same to you,” Twilight finally offered, lacking the word she needed and cursing herself for forgetting the one word that would turn the sentence into a complimentary farewell.

The screens turned off and Twilight turned back to the white doors engraved with cutie marks and ponies she could only imagine the importance of. The doors opened and three unicorns in simple dresses entered with a robe. “Thank you, but I really don’t feel like wearing clothes,” Twilight offered with a smile.

“You should not be without! How the others did not tell you of the nudity taboo,” a handmaiden trailed off.

“Great,” Twilight facehoofed and mumbled in Equestrian, “so I just exposed myself to taboo while under their scrutiny. Fantastic.” The maidens smiled blankly before Twilight reverted to their language. “Thank you for the dress, I’ll put it on after a little alteration,” she took the purple dress in her magic and slits for her wings appeared to the gasp of the maidens.

Twilight slipped it on and one of the other mares began draping copious amounts of jewelry across Twilight’s body and neck while the other two began applying a salve to twilight's legs. “This is to keep all dirt off, as your hooves shouldn’t even be touching our ground with your holiness.”

“Really, you don’t need to-”

“Your majesty, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Friendship in the land of Equestria, it is our duty and honor. Please,” the first mare nearly pleaded as she worked her hooves along Twilight’s legs with the other mare.

“Can you at least tell me your names?”

“We have no names worthy of your royal voice.”

Twilight frowned briefly. “Try me.”

The mares stopped their efforts. “I am Gem, she is Shard, she is <Glitter>.”

“Nice to meet you all, but what was the last name? I don’t know that word in your language.” The mares looked between each other and finally Glitter lit her horn and her namesake appeared, hovering in her magic. She pointed at it, then herself. “Oh, ‘Glitter’? That’s a nice name.”

The mares rolled the word in their mouths and smiled. “I like the way that sounds better. Your majesty, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Friendship in the land of Equestria, thank you for offering my a holy word from your lands.”

“...” Twilight was silent as the mares finished, lined up, and bowed to her. “No problem, can you take me to my ship now, please? And come with me, since you’re supposed to follow me.”

The mares turned and led Twilight while Shard fell to the back and lifted the back of Twilight’s dress slightly to keep it off the ground as they went into the main hall.

“Your majesty, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Friendship in the land of Equestria, we are yours.”

“Wait,” she stopped, “mine? As in, like, a gift?” The mares all stopped and several guards stood at attention, hers ahead and Platinum’s behind. Shard nodded. “That’s not how we do things. I appreciate your help, but you don’t belong to me. You can go home and live your lives while I don’t need your help.”

“Your majesty, Princess Twilight Sparkle-”

“Please,” she groaned, “call me Princess Twilight, or Twilight even. I hate long titles.”

Shard hesitated and looked back to her guards wearing silver armor. “Yes, Princess Twilight, however we live here and,” she stopped and looked at the other two mares who nodded once, “if we are not to serve you by your word, that we are not worthy, we will be cast out. It is as you wish.”

Twilight’s mouth hung open in a very unladylike way. She closed it and offered her best smile. “Then you will be my assistants, not your master or goddess. You’ll be given quarters on my ship and freedom to do as you please. If you need anything, merely ask and the crew will do their best. If you’re going to be a part of the crew you’re going to have to work, just as I and the others do.

“I may be a princess, but even I’m not above keeping a clean ship, so you will too.”

“Yes, Princess Twilight,” the three mares chimed in unison, uneasy looks across them.

“Good, then come along and meet your new family.”

---

“Your highness,” a mare saluted as Twilight landed, the three mares in her magic huddled together even as they touched the deck of the Galaxy, “and guests. Urgent news from command; they need to see you immediately in the war room.”

Twilight nodded to her. “Thank you, please show our new crew members to a room where they can get settled in, I’ll be along to check on them. Have medical look them over, too.” Twilight withheld a sigh at a meeting room having been converted to a so called ‘war room’, but it was the captain’s prerogative when she teleported away after first contact without telling him.

“Yes, ma’am, er, Princess Twilight,” she bowed her head quickly in respect and hurried to the three mares who were just starting to separate. “You don’t like to fly?” she asked them. They stared back at her silently, eyes hanging on her sides. “Oh, I’m a pegasus, see?” she flared her wings and all three mares gasped and ran around their first pegasus excitedly asking her questions and commenting on her wings and the terror of their first flight.

Twilight smiled. I think they just made their first friend, I’ve still got it. she complimented herself and mentally polished a hoof on her chest casually as she trotted happily toward the navigation room at the rear of the ship. She nodded to earth ponies as they passed her more casually, having spent more time with them on deck and after hearing about how the local unicorns treated earth ponies.

“What’s the emergency, officers?” she asked once she entered the room and closed the door behind her.

“Ma’am, we have reports that are unsettling.”

“Like what, Commander?”

“There seem to be many natives that think earth ponies are slaves for one, second we’ve heard reports from pegasi flying high recon that many nearby cities are in disarray. Rainbow Dash’s squad reported in an hour ago with sights of looting and unicorns,” he stuttered for the first time since she’d met him, “doing bad things to earth ponies.”

Twilight’s ears fell. “I just heard the same from the nobility and royalty during my meeting. Nothing about the details… what’s happening to the earth ponies?”

The door leading to the captain’s mess opened and the pony himself walked in. “They’re killing them at worst and whipping them at best. It’s horrible, your highness, and even though it isn’t our place we need to intervene.”

“Captain, I understand your concern, however I don’t see a way to stop an entire country that knows nothing about us from anarchy we’ve caused. Even if we leave the knowledge of our existence has irrevocably changed their society and many ponies in Equestria don’t take to change lightly.”

Both commanders were silent for a few seconds. “Then what would you have us do? Sit aside, watching as ponies are tortured?”

“No,” Twilight stated, “we’re going to spread our message of peace, starting with this city. I have permission to integrate our crews with the local populous and exchange culture.”

“I advise against that, Princess Twilight. There’s almost too… There’s… Look, it’s a terrible idea to include us in your suicide plan,” Twilight gasped as the Commander continued, “there aren’t any unicorns there that would accept those of us without horns and they’re obviously violent, mean, dominating, megalomaniacal jerks that don’t-”

Twilight’s wings flares sending a gust through the cabin and sending papers flying, everypony winced and the the scribe dropped his quill. Ears flattened, ponies winced, and the windows cracked at Twilight's shout. “Enough! We are not following your train of thought anymore. You are relieved of command for the time being, you are now the ambassador to Equestria and will fulfill your duty or be remanded to the brig until I see fit,” she commanded without room for discussion.

With a shaky nod, ambassador Sharp Blade fell into a deep bow. “Y-yes, Your Highness. I apologize for my transgression.”

Twilight grimaced through a forced smile and looked behind her, through the broken windows to all the crew on deck that were looking in fearful surprise in her direction. She lowered her wings. “Thank you, I expect the best from you in your new role. Captain, please find a suitable replacement for the Command position.

“Not Rainbow Dash!” she added quickly. “We need to handle this carefully and we a pony that can keep a level head under pressure. Sharp Blade, this was not an easy choice but your opinion of the natives has been poor, at best, since our arrival. I hope, for your career as a future captain, that you handle this to the best of your ability.”

Still with his muzzle pressed to the floor he agreed.

“Now, we’re going to disembark in E.U.P. formation seven. One earth pony, two unicorns, one pegasi. Rotate as needed based on the plan I made this morning and distributed to each ship and captain to be used in this event. Please refer to page forty nine in the binder I created for you this morning, Captain, on which binder to find additional first contact protocols.”

He nodded once, grimly. “I wish you’d discussed your plan to demote my Commander with me, but I’ll do my all.” Twilight stared at him broaching no more query on the topic. “Is there anything else to cover, then? No? Dismissed. Ambassador, please accompany me to my ready room.”

Twilight watched as both stallions left and looked at the scribe. “This entire conversation was recorded?”

“Yes, your highness.”

“I need a copy sent to Admiral Wave Link in Baltimare informing him of the temporary change in command aboard The Galaxy. I’ll be in my room if anypony needs me,” she vanished in a flash of light appearing back in her room. Rainbow Dash was lying on her belly on Twilight’s bed. “Rainbow Dash? What’re you doing in here?”

“I got bored after our last scouting mission and wanted to hang out. Then I took a nap, did some stretches, ate a big meal. Totally carbo-loaded, then came here and fell asleep until a minute ago and then you popped in like you own the place-”

“I do own the place! This’ my room, Rainbow Dash. My personal space where I can relax and-”

“Write and read? Twilight, stop being an egghead and relax for once on this trip,” Rainbow flapped her wings and hovered to Twilight’s side. “This room smells like you need a shower and you don’t. You’ve spent more time and paper in here than out on the deck since we started over the forest of forever.”

“It’s my duty, Rainbow Dash. I have to make sure everything is-”

Rainbow flew around Twilight and looked into Twilight’s eyes. “Relax… please. Most of the crew is getting worried about you. No, we’re all worried about you. When was the last time you slept, Twilight, cuz you look, just.”

“Fine, I’ll admit I’m a bit stressed again. But there’s a lot to make happen the right way.”

“What’s the right way, Twilight? Making yourself sick? We see the extra makeup you’ve been using to hide the circles under your eyes, it’s getting thicker every day since you asked for reinforcements that we shouldn’t have even needed.”

“They fired at us as soon as we crossed the barrier, Rainbow!”

“They stopped and I could’ve handed anything they would’ve thrown at us when the unicorn shields kept us safe until they stopped. The rumor is that they only attacked because so many ships showed up out of nowhere and that’s what they saw as a threat. Did you ever think of that?” Rainbow backed up and expanded her forelegs to express the importance of her speech.

Twilight hung her head. “No, I guess not.”

“Guess?! You’re awesome, not as awesome as somepony in this room, but you’re slipping, Twi. Take some you time and let the rest of us do our jobs,” Rainbow told her, “or your perfect plan’s gonna go all wrong and then you’re gonna go all crazy again and all our friends and Spike aren’t here to fix you, so then what?”

Twilight walked to her bed and laid down on her side. “I’m taking your advice, but don’t dare brag to anypony. I can’t be seen as weak right now.”

Rainbow flew over Twilight and yanked the blankets from under her sending the Alicorn rolling over herself. “Cover up, I’ll put up the do not disturb sign and you get sleep. I don’t wanna see you for at least five hours, understand?” She draped the blanket over her friend.

Twilight yawned and snuggled into her pillow leaving purpled mascara streaks. “Okie, Dash,” she mumbled and was nearly asleep before Rainbow rolled her eyes. “And thank you, you’re an awesome friend.”

Rainbow beamed at the praise and withheld a loud agreement and simply left the room closing the door quietly.

“Hey everypony! Keep it down ‘cuz Twilight’s getting some rest and doesn’t need any of you buggin’ her!” she screamed into the hall and quickly flew away, not hearing the thump as Twilight fell from her bed.

Twilight’s droopy eyes and sleepy mind processed the noise her friend made before she lay her head against the floor and used her magic to pull the blanket from the bed onto her, then fell asleep again.

---

Rainbow flew from bow to stern and knocked on the officer’s door. “Enter. Oh, Miss Rainbow Dash,” he said with a glance from one of several binders lay before him, “to what do I owe the honor?”

“Can it, you were about to fight, weren’t you? I can’t believe I had to save all your sorry flanks.”

“‘Save our sorry flanks?!’ You could have given them the reason to drop a bomb on us that we couldn’t defend against. They could have recharged that laser and destroyed this fleet! How in Luna’s saggy teats do you think that you did anything to save us?!”

Rainbow snorted a laugh. “Wow, I’m so telling Luna you said that about her.” Then she turned to leave. The captain fumed and used his forelegs to clear the binders from his desk in one sweep. Rainbow glanced back at him and winked as her tail closed the door. “So, I totally helped Twilight make peace. Who wants an autograph?”

---

“...foolish, we can’t speak their…”
“...war isn’t off the table…”
“...killed us and we’re supposed to just…”
“...spa? I need a polish everything, hehe.”
“...Armor’s flank in that armor? I’d be his princess any…”

Twilight rolled on the floor and sat up wearily, blearily, and groggily. She yawned loudly with her tongue stretching as well as her back arched and her wings trembled. With a smack of her lips she looked at the pillow in front of her on the floor and snippets of various conversations that had passed her door rambled in her mind.

Her first desire was to call to Spike and have him take a letter to a teacup and have a scroll penned. Then her mind caught up with her body and her eyes opened, she was alert, awake, and had to pee! She hopped up and opened her door as she went, closing it behind her and going down the hall and into the restroom.

“Hey,” she mumbled as she pushed past a stallion and went into a stall. “Uhhhhhhh, ohhhhh~ yeeaaah...“ she snickered, “Spike, take a letter to Photo Finish.” She flushed and stepped out and looked at the same stallion in the mirror. “What?”

“N-nothing, Your Highness,” he stammered and left with undried hooves leaving a trail of his path.

“Stallions,” she mumbled and washed her hooves, dried them, and returned to her room. “Okay, now that that’s all better,” she smiled, “where’s my journal?” she began to look around. She began tossing things. “Where’s my journal?!” she lifted everything in the room and toss it all around not finding it as she replaced everything. “What… where is it?” she thought of all the possibilities and ruled out the most inane ones ending on either somepony came in when she was asleep or when she was gone, talking with the natives. “Great. Just great. I did lock it, and…” she smiled and her horn lit, calling her book to the side of her head. “I put a locator spell on it,” she giggled.

“Better luck next time,” she giggled to herself and placed the book on her coffee table beside ordered stacks of papers. “I have to have a talk with-” her door burst open, Rainbow Dash hovering there urgently.

“Twilight, your diary’s gone! I’m sorry, I was curious and,” Twilight smiled and pointed a hoof at the book on the table, “I don’t know who took it and will totally bust’m,” Rainbow smiled awkwardly. “Busted… Okay, so after the first few hours you were asleep we sent some unicorns into the city and we found a bunch of radios and took’m back here.

“We can’t speak their language but unicorns can like, magic their brains into it-”

“What?! Ponies are putting their brains into radio’s and no pony is stopping them!” Twilight galloped past Rainbow tugging her friend with her while slamming and locking her room door. She burst onto the deck and saw a large gathering of ponies she rushed to. “What’s going on here?”

There were four unicorns around a box that looked like a radio, their magic linking them to the device. A mare nudge one of the connected unicorns who inhaled. “What? I’m listening to the news. It’s not good, there’s talk of riots in some cities while quarantine is being ordered in others. The nation is in anarchy and not one story mentions us sitting on our flanks, it’s all about us destroying cities and enslaving as we go.”

There were gasps around and Twilight pushed her way through to sit beside the speaking stallion. Her horn lit and she focused on the box. She gasped as her eyes closed and she appeared in a blue cube as large as Celestia’s throne room. “Please setup room,” a mare’s voice stated.

“What?”

“Beginning tutorial,” a screen appeared beside her and she flinched away as images flashed across it.

“Wow… Instant information transfer? Advanced magic based communication and data transfer system. I’ll call you Abacus, room setup? How’s this?” she thought and her personal room changed into the main room of The Golden Oaks Library. “I need access to the aethernet, please.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Twilight smirked. “Looks like it goes both ways. Maybe I can use this to convey a message of peace.”

A book blinked in the shelf and she called it over to her podium and she stood over it as it opened. A single screen showed her static. “Uh, can I get some news?” The static fizzled into an image of a mare dressed smartly speaking to her foreleg. “Volume?”

“-ion, there’s no word from the border cities so we can only pray Platinum has mercy on her foals. Churches have begun round the clock prayers and donations are always welcome. When we meet our new rulers we are prepared to bow in reverence, yet we will always hold Platinum’s sacrifices in our hearts.

“Let us pray: Oh Platinum, who led the Widigo Blight to far away lands-”

Twilight closed the book and sighed. “I can listen to their religious beliefs later. Right now I need to know how individuals are doing.” She opened the book and looked at the images from security cameras. She was thankful it was silent as she watched unicorns by the dozens looting freely without police intervention.

…

She felt a shove on her side but ignored it as she looked between nine books, audio seemingly overlapping into an incoherent jumble she watched and listened to them all. When another shove distracted her she snapped. “What?!”

Rainbow’s voice came in as a slight echo into her ears. “Twi, we’ve gotta problem and you need to see this, now.”

Twilight closed her books and mentally closed her eyes then opened her real eyes, blinking as she took the light of the world in. “Twilight, there’s explosions in the city but we can’t figure out who or why or-”

“It’s them. They’re destroying their own cities to prevent us from taking them. I saw it in the aethernet, it’s a network of data; like a library everypony across the nation can use.”

Rainbow looked to the box and the two remaining unicorns magically attached, then back to Twilight. “So, they’ve got these radio’s all over with a library in them?”

Twilight looked away from the rising smoke from the city to Rainbow. “Huh? Oh, yeah, kinda. You see-”

“Egghead alert! Don’t care, at all. I’m gonna check on my squad, I’m callin’ them the smokers,” she snickered, “they’re fine, by the way. Just some pretty bad burns and two won’t be flying until their feathers grow back.”

Rainbow shot away and out of sight while Twilight gulped and looked back to the city as the distant sounds alone sounded growing chaos. She turned and trotted across the deck and to the captain’s quarters, entering and closing the door behind her. “Captain.”

“Ah, Princess. I hope you slept well.”

“Yes, thank you. We need to get our troops back onboard and get up high, to communicate with the city’s leadership,” she opened the door and stuck her head out, “get me the mares I brought earlier, please,” she told a passing mare who saluted in reply as Twilight returned to the captain. “I have word that we’re at peace, but the news isn’t getting to the populus.”

“So… are we to have the three mares convey the message for us?”

Twilight laughed dryly as she shook her head. “No, we have to communicate with the entire population at once and we can only do that if we’re connected to the aethernet at the central hall spire.”

“Aethernet?”

Twilight placed a hoof to her temple as she stood. “It’s a unihorn device that links magic and mind to a complex web of enchanted self recharging gems centered in each city that broadcasts their information across the network. The main purpose is data retrieval by access the aethernet’s data web which is a series of crystals encoded with written spellcraft and enchanted into the aethernetwork. Access to all library information is provided to all unihorn kind free as a gift from the eighth sitting Royal Highness Platinum the Ninth.

“Fee’s are charged at a rate of two charges per hour for---”

“Princess Twilight?!”

Twilight blinked and shook her head, looking at the stallion inches from her and shaking her vigorously. “Wh-wh-whhaat?”

“Sweet Celestia, you were rambling rote information for nearly ten minutes like a zombie. Miss Dash, give me that water, Ambasador, towel her again.”

Twilight began to look around and noticed half a dozen worried looking ponies standing around her. Rainbow hoofed the water to the captain while a blanket was draped over her back and a spa masseuse began to knead Twilight’s shoulder.

“What happened? I, remember I was talking about communicating with the locals and then you were shaking me. I don’t-” the cabin door opened and the three mares entered, bowing as they did. “Welcome, I just went into the aethernet and am, confused,” Twilight addressed them in their language.

“Oh? Oh my, your... Princess Twilight, you should not have begun without a guide,” Glitter began as her head remained dipped.

“Arise,” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes. “I had a guide, I named her abacus.”

The mares snickered and nudged Gem. “Princess Twilight, the personal assistant is an assistant. The system was designed four hundred years ago and requires a unihorn to guide new users and teach them. You went into the aethernet without a true guide but a built in assistant spell, the spell was when the aethernet only had three cities to communicate with, not the dozens of points there are now.”

“Oh,” Twilight blushed, “well, are there any adverse effects I should watch for?”

“What did you do and how long were you attached?” Shard asked.

“I think it was a half hour in the libraries and watching the news,” Twilight admitted.

“Oh, dear,” the mares looked between each other, with amused concern. “Data transferred through the aethernet can be significantly more than you realize at the time. You will experience mental exhaustion, very vivid dreams as your mind sorts the information-”

“Spell surges with little warning as your magic rebalances from forced removal from the aether-”

“Sexual dysfunction, migraines, muscle cramps-”

“Tingly horn, hypersensitivity, extreme cyclothymia-”

“Speaking languages you may not know, not to mention rambling data as your mind processes it while you’re awake and asleep-”

Twilight flared her wings. “Enough, are you saying that I’m going to go insane?!”

The three mares cowered and shook their heads. “N-no, Princess Twilight, it should last a day at w-worst.”

“Oh,” Twilight relaxed, “that’s not very helpful, though.”

Rainbow tapped Twilight. “Hey, what’s up? They were just rambling a lot, are they praying or something?”

Twilight looked at her hovering friend. “No, but I might be. We shouldn’t have used the device, get the other unihorns out of there gently and have them taken to their bunks. It’s going to be a very long day for those of us who went in.”

“Uh, okay? Should I be worried about the way you’re talking?”

“No, Rainbow, just... be like Fluttershy and gently tell them to ‘log out.’”

Rainbow looked at the three mares and then to Twilight, then let her gaze fall to the mare giving Twilight’s shoulders a rub. “Whatever, I’m on it. Just call me ‘Care Mare,’” she flew to the door and opened it. “But don’t really, okay?” she said as she slammed the door behind her.

“Girls,” Twilight began, “I know how the system works now because while I was attached to the aethernetwork device. I accessed all data stores and read all relevant data of the past year with relation to politics and encyclopedia’s relating to magic, technology, and agricultural disciplines and have to admit they are rudimentary yet beautifully crafted based on the limited spells unihorns have access too.

“Most notably combining spells within gems with sealing runes and --”

Twilight yawned and noticed she was in bed. A hammock. Rainbow’s hammock in her cabin. She turned and with no dignity screamed as she fell from the hammock several feel to the floor with a loud thump. She whined as she sat up and rubbed her shoulder. The room was dark for a second before a guard opened the door and lantern light from the hall lit the room.

“Guard? Where am I? I mean, how’d I get here?”

“Princess Twilight,” he bowed, “your room was locked and we couldn’t bring you in so,” she frowned slightly, “Colonel Rainbow Dash pulled rank and had you set in her hammock while you rested from your fugue state. She left a moment ago for a late night snack from her vigil beside you.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “All that, huh?”

“As an overview, yes. There’s more she should discuss with you.”

“Ah, well I feel fine so I’m going to find her and get caught up.”

“Princess…”

“Yes?”

“There’s been a development with the locals,” the guard hesitated.

“And that is?”

The guard stood tall. “Ma’am, anarchy has taken over and there has been violence…”

“Oh no,” Twilight whispered as she walked past the guard, “thank you.”

“Princess,” she saluted as Twilight left her and the room behind.

Twilight moved to the deck and the wind carried with it a summer warmth to it that rustled her mane as it blew, she noticed the ships were higher, and fire from the city danced, reflected on her eyes as she stared. An explosion near the center of the city flashed but there was no sound that reached the ships.

Twilight’s eyes watered as she watched the city in chaos. “It’s all our fault, my fault...”

Comments

[Xanderfox]

Good grief, where are the Unicorian police forces!? The civilians are blowing every thing up! The place is going up like dried kindling! Really if they are melting down this bad this fast they had a lot of problems they where ignoring. All civilized on the surface but one spark and ka-boom!

[kildeez]

Wow. The whole society was like a house of cards, a stiff breeze and thousands of years of civilization just falls over. Jesus, it's almost poetic.

[Truthseeker]

This is what occurs when common sense is NOT intertwined with the populace. A great deal of these issues stem from the government, such as it is. The continued mentality that Earth Ponies are brain damaged is merely one in a long line of blatant lies that they had told the general population for generations. Apparently some realized that the government was lying but instead of trying to filter truth from the lies, they instead decided to tell the populace to do the polar opposite of what the government said, thus establishing the anarchy, murders, amd thefts we see going on. It is not Twilight's fault. It is the fault of the government. Had they been honest and truthful from the start, nobody would have reason to doubt them. Now, it is too late.