1: First Impressions
Less than a minute after Celestia and Twilight had departed the Royal Equios Chateau where they were staying, they arrived at their destination and were somewhat roughly ejected outside of the portal.
Their abrupt exit left Twilight struggling to maintain her balance as the transit tunnel resolved into what she could only call a rather unremarkable but otherwise healthy-looking forest; one she judged as belonging to a temperate climate from the greater number of deciduous trees.
It was a cool but sunny morning; the plants and trees were flowering with the advent of Spring. She heard the nervous chittering and chirping of various animals startled by their sudden appearance; sounds she knew Fluttershy would immediately seek out if she were there.
As the portal disappeared behind them with a ripple of the air, leaving only an invisible magical nexus it would take a magically aware pony to sense in its wake, Twilight looked around and saw nothing she could immediately call out of the ordinary, recognizing they had materialized in the middle of a small clearing with but a rough path leading away into the woods.
One of the things she’d had the most trouble getting used to on Earth was the fact that the further east you went, the sooner the sun rose, but she used it to deduce that the direction they had traveled was roughly east. “This is where you wanted to go?” Twilight asked as her mentor cast a shroud spell and instructed her to do the same, the former’s tone dubious as she detected no humans in the vicinity. Human auras were generally quite weak, she had found, but still present despite their lack of magic; she’d gotten better at detecting them over time.
“Yes,” Celestia confirmed. “It is in fact a place I have visited several times before. Now remember my instructions and stay close, my student,” she reminded her, and Twilight obeyed, knowing that whenever the princess felt compelled to repeat herself, the situation was suitably serious. “Our destination lies down this road. It is unlikely we will encounter any humans during our time here, but that cannot be guaranteed. So maintain your shroud at all times.”
“Unlikely?” Twilight repeated, suddenly aware of an odd and growing tingling on the tip of her horn as they reached an old human road with no vehicle traffic. There was nothing she could sense immediately out of place except for the fact that the road appeared not to be maintained; grasses were growing from long cracks in its paved surface. And yet….
Wait. Why are we unlikely to encounter humans? And for all my visits to the human world, how often have I seen a long-abandoned road?
Her unease was not helped as they continued down the path, seeing and hearing nothing, encountering little but some old rusting husks of human mechanized ground carriages—cars and trucks, they were called, she had learned long before—off the side of the road. From the looks of them, they had been involved in crashes and then simply been pushed out of the way; left derelict in the dirt.
Like they weren’t just driving, but fleeing… she had the odd and discomforting thought as Celestia remained silent, though she noticed her mentor bow her head briefly as they passed one of the more-damaged trucks. But fleeing what? she wondered as the odd and unpleasant tingling around her horn got worse, traveling down from the tip to closer to its base. It felt like a slow prickling sensation, and though it wasn’t painful, it was disconcerting, making her increasingly uncomfortable.
With that, she stopped her advance. “Is something wrong, my student?” Celestia asked, turning back to her.
“There’s something not right here,” Twilight stated with certainty, unconsciously pressing close against her mentor for protection as she felt her hackles raise. The temperature was fine for a furred pony, and yet… “I don’t know why, but I feel… cold.” She shivered even as she wasn’t sure why.
“Indeed,” Celestia said gravely, but did not elaborate. “Trust your senses, my student, both physical and magical. What can they tell you?”
Twilight swallowed as she checked both, pointing her horn to and fro before reaching an uncomfortable conclusion. “That there’s an alien energy present. It’s not magic, but not anything I’ve ever felt before, either. I don’t know what it is; I just know it’s not normal. Or natural. And I don’t think it’s healthy, either.” She shivered again.
“I see,” Celestia replied neutrally. “And this ‘alien energy’—can you tell where it is coming from?”
Twilight’s horn glowed again beneath her shroud. She took steps in several different directions, aiming her magic at both the air and the ground, only to shake her head. “No,” she finally admitted in some frustration. “It seems to be coming from everywhere! It’s in the ground. The water. The plants… and the very air around us!” she proclaimed nervously, her eyes darting.
“And Princess? Whatever it is, I don’t think it’s benign. Or safe for ponies or humans to be in. I’m not sure what it’s doing to us, but I don’t like it.” The prickling on her horn only grew as she spoke, leaving her wondering yet again why her mentor had wanted to come to this place, which she increasingly suspected had somehow been magically cursed. But humans don’t have magic! And what curse could do… THIS?
“You are correct on all counts, my perceptive student. Save one.” The Princess broke into her thoughts. “It is in fact a fully natural phenomenon you sense. But the means and concentration of it are categorically not,” she explained cryptically.
“Now come, Twilight. Our visit to this place has just begun. And worry not. What you sense is not strong enough to hurt you. At least, not now. And not without a great deal more exposure,” she added somewhat grimly to Twilight’s increased consternation as she led her onward. “But we must still be cautious. There are places where this is not the case, but if and when we encounter them, be assured I will protect you.”
“It’s natural!?” Twilight repeated dubiously, knowing no magic or alchemy that produce such a strange and potentially dangerous phenomenon. “But how? Where did it come from?” she found herself almost desperate to know despite her fears.
“That is one of the questions we must answer,” was all Celestia would say as she led Twilight up the road, the sound of their hoofclops echoing with eerie clarity and volume in Twilight’s mind as they continued to encounter no humans or human vehicles, despite their everpresence in every other place she had visited thus far on Earth.
At least, not until they came upon a very large yard of them, with hundreds if not thousands of old vehicles parked in a grassy field in long rows.
“What the…?” was all Twilight could say at first as the scale of the place became clear. “What’s this?”
“Intriguing,” was all Celestia would say in response. “What do you make of it, my student?”
Twilight could only stare balefully across the double-wire barriers before speaking. “It’s a vehicle junkyard. But it’s completely out of place,” was all she could immediately observe, not sure at first why she felt so disconcerted by it. “And wait—it’s not just ground transportation either. Those are flying vehicles in the back!” She pointed with a hoof, having learned to recognize helicopters quickly—especially after taking a rather harrowing but strangely exhilarating ride in one during her stay. “But what are they doing here? For that matter, what are any of these doing here, out in the middle of nowhere?”
“A good question,” her mentor agreed. “Perhaps we should take a closer look?”
“Are we allowed?” Twilight asked, but Celestia could only smile coyly in response, a look Twilight knew well meant she wouldn’t get an answer. She probed for electronic devices or active electromagnetic emissions in the area that might suggest surveillance, but came up empty aside from distant radio and television signals. “Well, I guess it’s safe… but you said to ask your permission before going into strange areas?”
“And you have it, my student.” Celestia smiled as she nodded. “Proceed.”
“Okay…” Twilight said, teleporting to the other side of the fence. She was quickly followed by Celestia, who cleared the low barrier with a single beat of her large wings, folding them at her sides when she landed. She trailed Twilight but made no effort to restrict her exploration, watching patiently as her student tried to make sense of the place.
After several minutes, however, she seemed no closer. “I don’t get it. We saw some damaged vehicles abandoned at the side of the road earlier,” Twilight gestured with a hoof behind them, “but these aren’t damaged at all! Well, aside from some rust. And most of these aren’t even personal vehicles! Those red ones look like emergency services—old fire engines, I think—and those green trucks with the dilapidated canopy coverings… those are military!” she recognized. “So why are they all grouped together in one place? And why were they just left out here to rot even though they all seem intact?” she probed at one of the fire engines with her aura as she spoke, and then recoiled, taking a step back with her eyes wide.
“What is it, my student?” Celestia prompted.
It was a moment more before Twilight could speak. “That alien energy I sensed… it’s coming more strongly from these!” she motioned to the fire trucks and military vehicles. “I don’t think they’re the source of it, though. No, they’re just… tainted with it.” She couldn’t think of a better description than that.
“I see. And from that, what can you conclude?” Celestia asked, letting a hint of pride lace her words as she watched her student continue to analyze the decrepit vehicles.
Twilight took a moment to gather her thoughts before speaking. “That whatever this energy is; that whatever the taint was… it’s dangerous. That these vehicles were somehow contaminated with it, rendering them no longer usable. Or at least, no longer safe to use,” she reasoned, her eyes darting back and forth between them as she had a sudden and very strong urge to retreat back to the portal. “And that in turn means… that something happened here. Something very bad to have caused this contamination over such a wide area, affecting ground and air vehicles alike.”
Celestia nodded sagely at that. “Then it would seem beholden on us to find out what that something is, my student. So let us move on from this place, as I believe we have exhausted the clues here. Let us therefore follow the roadway leading here and see where it might take us.”
For the first time that morning, Twilight hesitated before obeying. “Yes, Princess,” she finally acceded, though she found she had to force her legs into motion before doing so.
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Celestia in Full Mentor mode! Most benevolent showing of Trolestia I've seen recently.
9761927
Not sure I'd call this Trollestia as she's not trying to be cute here... for the most part. There was one genuine moment of mischief towards the end of the story that Twilight didn't catch. As in, something she implied but didn't state.
But yes, this was showcasing Celly in mentor mode--which was when she was at her strongest during the show. I don't actually like what they did with her in the final two seasons, so this is at least in part an effort to correct that a bit by using Celly as I envision her--powerful and wise.
Missing a space between those two words.
9768775
Thanks. There's been a weird issue with imports where spaces between words sometimes disappear where italics and boldface tags are involved. Oddly, when I checked the fimfiction editor, there was an invisible boldface tag where the space was supposed to be for some reason.
Intriguing. I recognize what disaster they are experiencing. And is still unfolding.
Chapter 1:
So Celestia just decided to visit Chernobyl just like that. Also did she really had to force Twilight go there as well?
9778636
No, she planned this, waiting for a good weather weekday there that coincided with when they were in Equios. As for why Celly’s doing this—I wouldn’t say she forced Twilight to go—you’ll find out at the end.
Wait...Pripyat...isn't that close to Chernobyl? Huh; hopefully these princesses have a 'hazmat suit' spell, since they failed to bring any actual suits.
Also, isn't there a 30km-radius 'exclusion zone' around the power plant? A zone that's illegal to cross, or something?
9780320
Bingo. Well, given Celly’s been here before and she wouldn’t take Twilight into a place she couldn’t protect her, so you can be sure she’s got something handy.
There are guided tours you can take there now. Few people live there, but the radiation levels aren’t generally bad enough anymore to poison you except over a longer period. A few hours or even a night there isn’t going to hurt you, as long as you avoid certain areas.
This is an interesting story already and Celestia's teaching method is also interesting.
10035628
Welcome to the story and thanks! Celestia's motives in bringing Twilight here get revealed at the end.
It's interesting how much this "alien energy" freaks Twilight out. Then again, given that everything here has been long since abandoned, and that she can't identify WHAT that alien energy is, only that it rendered all these machines nonfunctional or not safe for use, that's a very rational reaction.
11382473
Hey! Good to see you commenting on my stories again!
I always enjoyed hearing your feedback in the days of TLaTU. Sorry for not responding to this more quickly but I’ve been a very busy boi with all my writing this month. Apologies as well for giving one reply per comment, but I do so my replies can be seen on the same chapter the comment was originally left.
It’s a fear of the unknown, which is something everyone has, but it also tends to apply doubly to herbivores. In Twi’s case (this takes place in the “Phoenixverse” of TLaTU, for the record, so you can bet Phoenix would be apoplectic when he hears where Celly took Twilight), she’s also forced to face the fact that not everything is a bed of roses when it comes to humanity. Not even close.