Act I: Bifröst (Normal Grammar)
“Bifrost, stand still a sec.”
I did the looking up at Snowcatcher and she did the casting of magic on me. “What was that?”
“A universal translation spell. Don’t worry, it’s temporary.”
“How long will it last?”
“About sixteen thousand words.”
Himinbjörg, Crystalvania: twenty years, eleven months, and twelve days ago
It was very cold in Crystalvania. It was always very cold in Crystalvania.
I stared out over the icy expanses, vaguely in the direction of ‘south’. The only indication that I was looking the right way was the barely exposed railroad tracks. Four hundred miles away in that direction I was told that there were other ponies. Ponies like my parents and me. Not ponies like those living in the town around us.
Once a month the train arrived from Equestria to replenish our supplies. The boreal forest was beautiful, but not capable of feeding a town – not even one as small as Himinbjörg. It was my job to keep an eye out for the train. It was very boring. And cold. It was boring and cold.
I wrapped another blanket around me. This was the third, and even my pegasus magic wasn’t helping to keep the chill out of the air. The wind was biting, cutting through all the fabric, right to the very marrow of my bones.
I kept my body behind the parapet, rising up only to check on the train every minute or so. After hours of waiting, I finally spotted the train chugging along the tracks. The first sign was always the cloud of steam from the train’s boiler.
Wrapping up in blankets hindered my mobility, but I managed to poke my legs out of the covers. Laden, I couldn’t manage even a trot, so I walked across the roof to where Mom kept her silent vigil to the north. No words needed to be said, she just nodded, releasing of me from my duty. I climbed down the stairs to the warmth of the fort.
There were no external openings to the fort. None of the doors or windows were functional at all. The windows were purely decorative crystal visible from the outside, with masonry behind them, while the doors were only painted on. Entry came via a network of tunnels in the fort’s basement, all of which were capable of being sealed in the event of an emergency. When the fort was built, it was designed to be impenetrable – nothing was to go in or out. Even the air was magically recirculated.
The tunnels were chillier than the fort, but were still much warmer than the outside air. I only needed to wear my winter gear to not feel like I was freezing my rump off. The train stopped inside a tunnel that was a relatively recent addition to the centuries-old fort. I trotted to the loading docks as the train finally finished braking.
Once the boxcars were aligned with the docks, I quickly lowered the planks once the pegasus courier inside the train opened the doors. A lavender mare with gorgeous pink hair flew out and landed on the dock next to me. It was always nice seeing Sweetsong every month when she delivered the supplies.
“Hey kiddo, where are your parents?” She tousled my mane.
“Mama is on guard duty, and Papa is sleeping, so I’m helping unload.”
“Good, I can see you’ve grown into a big, strong filly since I saw you last month.”
Then we unloaded boxes, Himinbjörg’s monthly supplies direct from Canterlot. There was food, medication, the previous month’s magazines, and extra blankets, because even with such a small population, there were never enough blankets in Himinbjörg. Winter was coming; winter was always coming, even in summer. It could snow at any point of the year, and had done so.
Mama said that in Equestria, teams of pegasi moved the clouds and brought the weather. In Himinbjörg, there were just three pegasi: Mama, Papa, and me. There was no weather team, and the weather was always doing what it wanted, when it wanted.
Unloading the train took several hours. Sweetsong and half a dozen other ponies did most of the work, but I helped wherever I could.
When we were done, there was a large pile of boxes on the platform. I was completely exhausted, and I flopped onto the tallest box to catch my breath.
“Oh hey, I almost forgot.” Sweetsong threw a box of cookies at me. “Thanks for the help, kiddo.”
“Thank you!” I caught the box as she stepped back onto the train. Then the train departed, heading back to Canterlot, that faraway place that had more ponies that were like her. Ponies that were like me. Part of me wanted to stow away on the train and go with her.
But we had a duty here, or so my parents had told me since before I was able to understand them. A duty that was ours.
I waved as the train chugged away.
Once the train pulled out of the tunnel, Smokey appeared to help move the boxes into the fort. He never showed himself to any of the outsiders; not to Sweetsong when she dropped off our supplies, and not to the crystal ponies of the town surrounding us. The only three ponies who knew he was here were Mama, Papa, and me.
The little ice dragon had no problem lifting even the heaviest boxes; boxes that would have had to wait for Papa to wake up otherwise. I grabbed of some of the smaller boxes and followed Smokey back into the fort.
We picked up and moved boxes, back and forth, until the station was finally empty. Then I sorted them all. With the rail depot being inside the fort, we were the distribution center for the town. Mama said it was supposed to be done by the post office, but Crystalvania didn’t have one. I was unsure what a post office or mail was.
Mayor Turquoise Shine was the first pony to approach the fort, as normal. She knew the train’s schedule as well as we did.
She had a very ironic name. Her coat never shined; like the other crystal ponies, there wasn’t a healthy sheen at all. There was just a dull, vaguely turquoise-colored coat. The crystal ponies were always cold to the touch. I did not like to touch them. It was unlike Mama and Papa, who were always warm.
She started taking inventory of the shipment, like usual. The supplies were here for the entire town. Smokey had already removed all of the fort’s supplies. Once the mayor was done with the inventorying, half a dozen crystal pony stallions arrived to move everything into town so it could be disbursed amongst the population.
My job was done, so I returned to the fort so I could practice my flying. Thankfully, the fort was very big and open on the inside, perfect for a filly to learn how to fly.
Himinbjörg, Crystalvania: sixteen years, eight months, and seven days ago
It was spring and that meant the temperature was only slightly below freezing. It was warmer indoors, perhaps the only good thing about school.
Juniper Jade stood up from her desk and addressed the class. “Today we’ll be learning about King Sombra.”
Most of my classmates gasped. Lingonberry and I just looked at one another. The earth pony was as lost as I was.
“Many moons ago, there was a mighty empire in the Frozen North. The Crystal Empire was the envy of much of Equus. The crystal ponies did a lot of trading with other nations, especially with the ponies of the nascent Equestria to our south. The Crystal Empire was one of the last outposts of the original pony homelands. The cold of the windigos didn’t bother the crystal ponies as much as it did the other pony tribes, and we adapt and expanded to any lands that were close enough to warm with the Crystal Heart. While the other tribes were squabbling over food, the Crystal Empire stood proud. Under Princess Amore’s leadership, the crystal ponies had food in their bellies and love in their hearts. Please turn to page three hundred and seventy-two of your history textbooks.”
I opened my book to the indicated page. A picture of a coal black unicorn glared back at me. I repressed a shudder. If a mere drawing of Sombra could be that intimidating, I could scarcely imagine what the real Sombra had been like.
Juniper Jade started her lecture. “More than a thousand years ago, King Sombra rose to power. An umbrum, he was a pony made of shadows, corrupted by the hatred in his heart. He did the crystalizing of Princess Amore and then he shattered her. Finally, he scattered her remains to all the corners of the world. It was his hope that nopony would ever reassemble her.”
“Did anypony ever successfully her back together?”
“No, Bright Opal. To this day nopony has ever found all of her parts. In the early days, before the Crystal Empire vanished, there were ponies who tried. After the Empire disappeared, crystal ponies lacked the desire to do much of anything. We aren’t like Lingonberry and Bifröst, we are tied to the Crystal Heart and without it, there is a piece of all of us that isn’t there.”
That explained so much. For once, history was actually interesting.
“Sombra was a tyrant, and he had weird mind control powers that turned all of the crystal ponies into his slaves. Princesses Celestia and Luna arrived from Equestria to strike him down, but he magically sealed the Crystal Empire away, and it’s been missing ever since.”
“How long has it been?” Lingonberry was as enthralled by the tale as I was.
“Too long. It’s been more than a thousand years, my little ponies. Some say that the Crystal Empire and Crystal Heart are naught but a myth. But I feel it right here.” Juniper tapped a hoof to her barrel. “I’m missing a piece. Do any of you feel it too? That feeling of not being whole?”
All the crystal ponies in the room nodded, while Lingonberry and I shook our heads.
“The two of you couldn’t hope to understand.” Juniper Jade walked toward us. “This is a very good thing. You’re ponies; you’re complete. That’s a feeling the rest of us will never know until the Crystal Heart returns. It’s my hope that I live to see it.” She patted our heads. “It’s also my hope that neither of you ever experiences this feeling of incompleteness. It’s well and truly awful. I would never wish this on anypony.”
“Where was the Crystal Empire located?” I couldn’t help asking, my curiosity was piqued.
“North.” Juniper pointed in the direction that my parents spent all day and night watching. “It’s beyond the tree line. Twenty-two hippikons from here. Crystalvania is distant from the Crystal Empire, for two very important reasons. First of all, nopony is going to be want to be standing there when the Crystal Empire returns. Secondly, the Crystal Empire is located on the tundra. It’s okay for the growing of blueberries and lingonberries, but trees can’t take root there due to the permafrost. Without the Crystal Heart, there’s no way of melting of all the snow and ice. Crystalvania is located as close to the Crystal Empire as possible, but within the boreal forest. We can grow crops here, right Lingonberry?”
My best friend nodded. “The growing season is different from the rest of Equestria. My parents traveled south many years ago. Equestria has a much longer growing season because it’s warmer and closer to the Equator. On the other hoof, for so much of the year it’s impossible to do much growing here because of the weather and the lack of the sunlight. But the near perpetual light of summer makes growing plants so much easier for a few short months. Crystalvania may not have much of a growing season, but we make up for it with the quality.”
“So this is where the crystal ponies who survived the disappearance gathered, and all extant crystal ponies are descended from them. Ponies who lived outside the range of Sombra’s spell. Ponies who were away from the Empire at the time for one reason or another. Ponies who returned home only to find nothing there. Crystalvania is a sovereign nation, a protectorate of Equestria. That means that Equestria is responsible for our defenses, hence Fort Hope to the north of town. Bifröst can elaborate.”
I can? “My parents are Royal Guards.” How do I make staring north everyday sound important? “They’re very vigilante for outside threats.” But only if they’re coming from the north. I decided not to explain that part. “They also speak funny, using Equestrian grammar. I spend lots of time with them, and sometimes my grammar slips as a result of that.” I hope that’s enough explaining.
It was. Juniper continued, “That’s why we’re able to continue controlling the Crystal Empire’s lands. Equestria’s protection… and the fact that nobody else wants this land for anything. Maybe some nomadic griffins could survive by hunting here, but that’s about it. There aren’t enough game animals to support an entire town of carnivores, it’s too far inland for the hippogriffs, and it’s almost impossible to grow things here without earth pony magic.”
Juniper Jade distribute some very battered textbooks. “We’ll be diverging from Equestrian history now to learn more about the Crystal Empire’s history. Please be careful with these books. They’re very old, and we have no way to easily replace them. These are the last textbooks that were issued in the Crystal Empire.”
The textbooks were very precious and we weren’t allowed to take them home for the night. We had to copying the information instead. That took up of the rest of the afternoon, but it was very informative.
“Mama? Why are we here in Fort Hope?”
“Well, sweetie, Fort Hope is an assignment for the worst of the worst of the Royal Guards. Those who charge with the blunt end of the spear, or those who shoot their instructors by accident during the archery practice.” Mama did the sighing. “Your father is better with spears these days, but I’m still not allowed near a bow and arrow.”
“Oh.”
“It’s an important duty, sweetheart. We’re providing a valuable service to all of Equestria by watching.”
“Watching for what?”
“We’re watching for an ancient empire that vanished many moons ago, and will return again someday.”
“Mrs. Jade said we’re here for the protection of the crystal ponies.”
“That too. When the empire returns, so will its old enemy, King Sombra. We’ll be ready for him.”
“But we’re just three ponies, Mama. And I don’t know how to use a spear or bow and arrow.”
“Ahem.” Smokey cleared his throat.
I corrected myself at his prodding. “We’re three ponies and a dragon. How are we supposed to protect an entire town?”
Mama kissed my forehead. “You won’t be doing any fighting, sweetie. You’re not a guard, and stars above, don’t do anything stupid like enlisting. Your father and I have vowed to see our assignment here through to the end, but we want better for you.”
But she didn’t answer my question.
Himinbjörg, Crystalvania: sixteen years, five months, and seventeen days ago
Summertime. Those rare few months I could fly outside, instead of inside the fort. It was invigorating in the sky – it felt like I belonged there. Even with my natural pegasus insulation, it was too cold to fly from late autumn until late spring, and the weather was way too unpredictable. Even in the summer, I was only allowed to fly within sight of the fort and town because there were no crystal pegasi. If I got lost, Mama and Papa were the only two ponies who could come to my rescue.
Himinbjörg was surrounded by forest in all directions. If I flew too far north of town, the trees stopped and the snow began. I didn’t fly north very often. There weren’t many landmarks in the snowy wasteland, so it was very easy to get lost.
Instead I explored to the south, the west, and the east. I became very good at marking trees so I could fly further from town and not get lost. I was probably the first pony to set eyes on some of the places I visited since the Crystal Empire vanished a millennium ago.
I was definitely the first pony to come across the giant rainbow in the sky, or else somepony would have mentioned it before now. There were no weather teams this far from Equestria, so the rainbow had to be natural. But the weather was very dry; there wasn’t enough moisture in the air for a rainbow to form. The rainbow was huge, and it was miles from where I’d spotted it. I continued to mark the trees so I wouldn’t get lost so far from home. It was slow going, but I had to see it up close.
I eventually reached it. It was even bigger than I’d expected. I flew up to it, marveling in its majesty. At the end of the rainbow were the ruins of a settlement. What was left of the town had the same general architecture as other surviving remnants of the Crystal Empire. I’ve found an archeological site.
When I flew over the rainbow I found myself surrounded by clouds, overlooking forested fjords. This isn’t making sense. We’re many, many miles from the ocean.
I looked back the way I came and it was all open sea. The rainbow wasn’t even behind me anymore, just clouds. I couldn’t see any of the trees I’d marked. I couldn’t see any trees at all. The boreal forest wasn’t there. I’m very, very lost. The only trees were the ones in front of me, along the fjords. Mama and Papa are going to tan my hide… if they ever see me again.
I started panicking. After examining the trees and fjords, I flew back to the clouds I’d landed in when arriving, in the hopes that they would be able to take me back home. The clouds didn’t move like the other clouds. They just stayed there, stationary. I poked around until I found an opening. I gulped and then jumped through the hole.
The relief washed over me as I once more saw my homeland’s endless forest spreading before me. I turned back and looked at the rainbow. This is very odd. It’s almost like it’s a bridge to somewhere else.
I turned my back on the rainbow and returned home, barely making it there before it was dark. I had definitely missed dinner, and I was very hungry after all the flying I had done – all the exercise had worked up an appetite. I looked in the refrigerator to see if there were any leftovers from whatever my parents had eaten for dinner.
As I was rummaging through the fridge, Papa came into the kitchen. “Looks like somepony got her cutie mark.”
I looked back at my flank, and sure enough, the rainbow bridge was emblazoned there. I really hope my special talent doesn’t have anything to do with that weird rainbow bridge thing. I’m not planning on going back. “I was so busy flying I didn’t even notice.”
“Did my little weather pony make a rainbow?” Papa asked.
I can’t tell him about where I went. “I saw a rainbow that was really big and pretty. But I didn’t make it, no.”
“Oh.” Papa didn’t know what else to say so the pause in the conversation turned awkward. “Still, this deserves a cuteceañera.”
Who would I even invite, aside from Lingonberry? I can’t just invite of one of my classmates, but not the rest. I shook my head. “I’m not wanting one, Papa. Can we just have ice cream? Please?”
He chuckled. “Sure thing, sweetheart.”
It wasn’t much of a cuteceañera, but I didn’t really care all that much. When they asked me what I wanted for presents, I just asked them to get me more blankets before winter came around again.
The fort was very old and had a multitude of secret panels. Smokey knew them all. He popped up in my room as I was getting ready for bed.
“I hate to intrude on you, but I have a few questions about the rainbow you saw. Was it big?” I nodded, and he continued. “Was it permanent?”
“Yes.”
“Did you find yourself somewhere else? Someplace strange?”
I looked at my hooves in shame. Smokey knew where I’d been and what I’d seen.
Taking my lack of a response for an answer, Smokey chuckled. “You found Bifröst. Fitting.”
I turned to look at Smokey. “How can I find Bifröst when I am Bifröst?”
“You’re named after the rainbow bridge that connects us with a world known as Midgard. Horrible place, I don’t recommend going there.” He looked at my flank again. “You’re lucky you came home. Don’t ever go there again.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice. I was very scared and I’ve never felt more alone.”
“Good. In that case I won’t contradict that load of horseapples you told your parents.”
“Thank you.” I let out the breath I didn’t even know I’d been holding.
“The two of us might be the only ones living outside of Canterlot Castle to know that’s it’s not just an old mare’s tale. Let’s keep it that way.”
“There are no objections from me.” I shuddered at the memory. “I’ve never been more scared in my life. I didn’t think I’d be coming home.”
“If you go there again, you might not. It’s dangerous.”
Himinbjörg, Crystalvania: ten years, six months, and eighteen days ago
My alarm clock woke me from a sound sleep and I reached a hoof out to turn it off. No matter how many times I hit the snooze button the blasted alarm kept buzzing.
I finally opened my eyes to see what was the matter. The first thing I noticed was that it was still dark. As my groggy mind started clearing up, the second thing I noticed was that it wasn’t my alarm clock going off, but rather the emergency sirens.
I jumped out of bed and raced down the hallway to my parents’ bedroom. Papa was on nightshift, so that meant Mama was sleeping. I met her halfway between our rooms and she scooped me up. “Come with me, sweetie. Things are going to be crazy but I’m going to keep you safe.”
“What is going on?”
“The Crystal Empire. It’s back.”
“This is cause for celebration! All my classmates will have their Crystal Heart back and be whole again!”
“King Sombra is also back.”
I trembled on Mama’s back as she ran into the labyrinthine tunnels under the castle. Smokey was already waiting when we got there. As were two other ponies I had never seen before: a white unicorn stallion and a pink alicorn. There aren’t being that many alicorns in Equestria.
It took my mind a few seconds to realize I was looking at Princess Cadence and her husband, Shining Armor. Once I figured out who they were I quickly dropped into a bow.
They didn’t even notice me. Mama saluted and then the three of them disappeared. One minute they were standing there, the next they weren’t.
“Teleportation,” Smokey helpfully provided. “Princess Cadence has been training for this. Your mother is in good hooves. Now, I need you to be a good filly and wait here. It’s my job to evacuate Himinbjörg.”
Like that, I was all alone in the fortress. A fortress with an evil king lurking somewhere outside. I was still shaking when Papa came down from the observation turrets. He sat on his haunches and I threw myself at him, cuddling him like my life depended on it. It just might.
Mama returned soon afterwards, winking in with Prince Shining Armor. Shining Armor turned one of the fort’s storage rooms into a command center, barking orders to my parents. Papa couldn’t stay huddled against me so I followed him around like a lost puppy.
Suddenly I was airborne, but not under my own wingpower. Before I could scream in terror I came face to face with the prince. “Hey there, kiddo.”
“Hi Mr. Prince Shining Armor, sir.”
He chuckled. “That’s a mouthful. How about you just call me ‘Shiny’? That’s what my little sister calls me. What should I call you?”
“My name is Bifröst. It is my pleasure to meet you, Shiny.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Miss Bifröst. Speaking of my sister, she and her friends are going to be here soon and we need to be prepared for them. Wanna help?”
“Sure! But what can I do? I’m just a filly.”
He hoofed me a crystal. “This is a scrying crystal. It’s keeping watch over her train right now. I need you to keep an eye on this and let me know when they’re getting close to here. Or if anything attacks their train. Especially dark shadows.”
I saluted. “You can count on me Mr. Shiny! Sir!”
He grinned at me, then went back to his work. He waved me over to the only other chair in the room, and I sat there, my eyes glued to the scrying crystal. I watched and waited patiently, while Shining Armor took care of everything else that was important. But this concerned his little sister, and it was very obvious that he cared a lot about her.
I remained sitting there when Smokey returned with the refugees from town. Eventually, Lingonberry hopped onto the chair next to me. I explained what I was doing, and she joined me in my vigil. If Shiny was bothered by the addition my friend, he never said anything about it.
“Shield’s up, sir!” Mama ran into the room to give Shiny the news.
“Evacuation status?”
“Approximately 85% of the town is accounted for, sir!”
I looked up. It had gotten crowded in the main room. Really crowded. The townsponies had practiced the evacuation many times; twice a year, every year as far back as I could remember. Those preparations were finally for something other than naught.
Papa galloped through the tunnel, foals huddled on his back, and other ponies clinging to him. “We’ve lost the northwest side of town. Sombra finally spotted us.”
A few ponies straggled in behind him, and then we sealed the tunnels. Nopony would be getting in or out from here on out until the coast was clear. The mayor was taking a rollcall, and making a list of the missing.
I continued scrying on the train as it continued chugging down the tracks. I hated to interrupt during a crisis, but I was under orders. “Prince Shiny, sir.” He looked up at me. “The train is very close now.”
“I need to get to the train station.”
“That isn’t necessary. We have a siding that goes right into the fortress.”
“Too risky. We’ve sealed the fortress for a reason. Nothing can get in, but that also means nothing can get out, either. Well… except for teleports. Smokey, I’m going to the depot. I know we don’t have everypony accounted for, but I need you to initiate the final phase of the operation, then give me a distraction.”
Smokey saluted, then he scrawled a letter, which he burned. Then Shiny did the teleporting of them both out of the fort.
No sooner had they left then Princesses Celestia and Luna teleported into the fort. The princess of the day commanded the attention of everypony. “Everypony, please gather around us.”
“In an orderly fashion, please.” Princess Luna didn’t have an indoor voice.
Once everypony had grouped around the princesses, we winked out, and I experienced teleporting for the first time. A second later I was standing in Canterlot Castle. It was my first time being outside of Crystalvania and I gawked at the sight.
The princesses continued winking back and forth, evacuating the fortress that had been my home for my entire life. It didn’t take them long to get everypony to safety. Lingonberry and I took seats in a corner, and we continued watching the scrying crystal. Shining Armor met up with his sister and her friends, then they all galloped off. Unfortunately, the scrying crystal was specific to the train, and all we could do was watch as the conductor turned the train around before King Sombra’s shadow cloud overtook him.
Nopony had yet invented trains in Sombra’s era, so when he enslaved the conductor, the train was abandoned. The last I saw of him, the conductor was marching through the snow toward the Crystal Empire. We stopped watching the crystal when it became obvious that the train wouldn’t be moving again anytime soon.
It was hours later that the room brightened. Nopony needed to tell me that Sombra had lost the fight. The crystal ponies were finally shining and translucent, like they were always meant to be.
Seeing the crystal ponies full of life was amazing. Suddenly they all had what they’d been missing. Deep in my heart I felt happy for them. It was like the light switch inside of them all had been flipped to ‘on’.
Without the Crystal Heart to light their souls, the crystal ponies had been incapable of feeling anything. Their hearts were as cold as the stone that comprised their hides. With the Crystal Heart restored, they were finally whole ponies in every sense of the word.
A guard raced into the room. “King Sombra has been defeated…” He trailed off as he looked around. “…as you all are apparently already aware. A train will be arranged to take all of you home tomorrow. For tonight, you’re guests of Canterlot Castle.”
It was a very nice place to be a guest of.
Himinbjörg, Crystalvania: ten years, six months, and seventeen days ago
Our return to Crystalvania was very early the next morning. Despite unloading the supply train every month, this was my first time riding on one.
The anticipation was contagious. All my classmates could talk about on the ride home was meeting their ancestors. Most of them even had family trees ready to go.
I, of course, didn’t have any long lost relatives in the Crystal Empire. I was excited because it was an entire new city close enough to home that I could visit. Princess Cadence was waiting for us, and she teleported us to the center of the Crystal Empire. We arrived next to the Crystal Heart that was so important to the crystal ponies.
I was still getting used to bright and cheerful crystal ponies, instead of the dull and gloomy ponies I had grown up with. But that wasn’t the biggest surprise. As I got close enough to overhear their conversations, I came to a startling revelation. They’re all talking in modern Equestrian. We have preserved the language for them – what’s happening?
It wasn’t making sense – they’d vanished for a thousand years. They shouldn’t be talking like my parents or Sweetsong talk, they should be talking like I talk.
I slipped away from the group when we passed by a school. I looked through the textbooks and found a copy of the same ancient textbook that we studied history from. I opened it to find that it was written in modern Equestrian, and even included all of Equestria’s history of the past thousand years. I blinked in surprise.
Evidently other ponies had also questioned what was going on, because it had been published in the newspaper. TheCrystalvania Chronicle had even changed their name to The Crystal Empire Chronicle to celebrate the empire’s return. The leading theory was that the spell that had preserved the empire and its citizens had also altered them to better fit in with today’s sociopolitical realities.
That was all well and good for them, but what about those of us who had kept the old way of speaking for generations?
Himinbjörg, Crystalvania: eight years, six months, and twenty days ago
I laid in the grass, letting the summer sun warm my hide. In Crystalvania, there were only a few days each year where the sun was shining and the weather was warm enough to go sunbathing, and I made it a point to use all of them accordingly.
I rolled over to let the sun warm my belly. The ponies that live in Baytona Beach can do this any day of the week. They have it very lucky. I was dozing off when the peace and quiet was broken.
“Bifröst!”
I cracked open an eye. “What is it, Mom?”
“Start packing. We’re moving to Ponyville.”
“When?”
“At the end of the month.”
I stood up and stretched my wings out. “Why?”
“Crystalvania just passed the referendum to officially join the Crystal Empire.”
“I’m a bit surprised that it took this long.”
Mom ran a hoof through her hair. “There were a number of other things to take into consideration first. It’s amazing how many things need to be resolved when an entire empire reappears after an absence of more than a millennium. Especially when it reemerged with its own hostile entity trying to reestablish control. Simply put, there were other fires to put out first.”
“Oh. That makes sense. I don’t have many things to pack. I’ll start packing later.” I pulled my sunglasses down over my eyes again.
“There’s a new school that just opened in Ponyville run by Princess Twilight Sparkle. They’ve sent applications to every town and jurisdiction in Equestria and beyond. You’ve been selected to take Crystalvania’s spot.”
I pulled the sunglasses off my face as dramatically as one can do so when one’s face has dabs of sunscreen all over. “But we’re not Crystalvanians.”
“True, but you reside here, and you go to school here. Everypony else was more interested in reintegrating with the Crystal Empire for obvious reasons, and because we’re about to be out of an assignment and need someplace to go, it was decided to award you the position as a way of thanking us for our many years of dedicated service. And since you’ll be going to the School of Friendship, your father and I have been reassigned into Princess Twilight’s royal guard duty.”
“You’ll be getting a real assignment?”
Mom nodded. “We were going to petition for an honorable discharge, but this offer was too good to refuse.”
“Wow. I’m very happy for you.” I hugged Mom, smearing sunscreen all over her armor in the process.
Mom giggled. “We’re going to have to readjust to military life. Your father and I aren’t used to having superior officers around. We’ve had one inspection in all the years we’ve been here.”
“That’s because they sent you here to forget about you. What about Smokey?”
“He’s already left.”
“Oh. Without saying goodbye?”
“Dragons aren’t exactly known for their sentimentality.”
That didn’t seem like the Smokey I knew.
“But I’ll let you in on a secret. I don’t think he could face you.”
That sounded more like the Smokey I knew.
Ponyville: eight years, one month, and twenty-one days ago
Ponyville was warm. Ponyville was always warmer than Crystalvania.
When we first moved to Ponyville, I went sunbathing at every opportunity. But as the days turned to weeks, and then turned to months, I started missing the cold. It wasn’t until after the Running of the Leaves that it finally started getting to a temperature I was comfortable with, as the season changed from autumn to winter. My parents didn’t mind it as much as I did, but they’d both been born in Equestria, and this was a return to normal for them.
The warmth was new to me. At first I loved it; it was like having a bunch of summer days all in a row. There was no biting cold, and the weather team was there to make sure that wind chill was nothing but a bad memory.
My sinuses clogged up and I found it hard to sleep at night because it was too warm for me. Warm days were so rare in Crystalvania that it had never bothered me before. The sleepless nights added up when there were no cold days at all, and they couldn’t have done so at a worse time, as I struggled to adapt to the School of Shipping Friends.
Right when the seasons turned, I expected that I’d finally get the relief I needed. But then I discovered that my roommate was fond of turning the heat up. Somehow, it made the room drier and my congestion even worser.
No amount of begging or pleading could convince Citrine Spark to lower the thermostat. Unlike in Fort Hope, I couldn’t just move back in with my parents. They had their own barracks in the castle. I was stuck.
Ponyville: eight years, zero months, and twelve days ago
Just as there was no way for me to stop Citrine from turning the thermostat all the way up, there was no way for her to stop me from opening the dorm room’s window. It became a battle of wills. It was a battle I won because the room’s heater was no match for Ponyville’s weather team. Winter came, and the little overworked heater had no hope of overcoming the elements. Ponyville never even came close to being as cold as Crystalvania, so the chilly weather didn’t bother me at all, but it really irked Citrine.
Then Princess Twilight let us out of school for Hearthswarming break and I trotted out of the school behind the rest of my classmates. Once outside I came to a horrible realization – I had nowhere to go.
I heard crying coming from next to me and saw that Cozy Glow was openly weeping. “I don’t have any place to go for the holiday. I’m an orphan. Starlight even told me I should look into being adopted, but I told her I wasn’t ready for new parents yet.”
“I also have no place to go. My parents are guards and I can’t exactly live in the barracks with them. Not even for a little while.”
“Golly, it seems Twilight didn’t think this through very well. We could get a room off campus together.”
“I have no job and not much money.”
“Don’t worry about it. I get a stipend from the treasury ‘cause I’m an orphan, and I don’t have anything to spend it on. Gosh, that’s what friends do for each other. And we’re friends, right?”
I nodded.
She clopped her hooves together. “Then it’s settled! We’ll get a room together.”
“I like it very cold in my room.”
“That’s okay. I can always put on a sweater or hoodie or something, or just pile a bunch of blankets on top of me. Golly, I can’t imagine making somepony else sweat just because I want to keep the room hot. What are you supposed to do, shave your coat off? That wouldn’t be very friendly of me.”
Hmn, Cozy is right. It wasn’t very friendly of Citrine Spark to slow roast me in my own juices, but it was just as unfriendly of me to retaliate by opening the window.
“Golly, you have such a pretty pink coat. It would be a shame to have to shave that off, don’t you think?”
I looked down. My coat was a normal shade of pink, but it was a lot brighter than Cozy’s pale pink coat. I had never thought that it was pretty before. My color was pretty similar to many other ponies in Equestria.
“I even know just the place to rent! It’s already furnished and everything!” Cozy fluttered her wings and I had to leap into the air to keep up.
Cozy Glow led me to the local gymnasium. The proprietor, Bouncy, was renting out the rooms above the gym. Because it was noisy during the day, the rent was pretty reasonable. Cozy paid for an entire year in advance.
When we were alone in the room, I asked, “Where did you get all that money?”
She shrugged. “When Princess Twilight heard I was an orphan she arranged a monthly stipend, and a rather hefty one-time payment, courtesy the royal treasury. I tried to tell her that just being allowed to stay at the school would be enough, but she and Starlight insisted I take the money. So now I’m sharing it with all my new friends!”
“That’s very generous of you.” I opened the window, letting the chilly winter air into the stuffy room.
“Golly, the cold isn’t even all that bad. I guess it helps to have natural pegasus insulation. You know what would make this even better? Hot cocoa!” She flew out the window and returned a few minutes later with two piping hot cups of hot chocolate from Sugarcube Corner.
It didn’t take long for the little room to get chilly, and I closed the window once I was satisfied with the temperature. Cozy curled up under the blankets and we talked. She asked lots of questions about the Crystal Empire, Crystalvania, King Sombra, and the Royal Guards, and I did my best to answer all of them. She was a very inquisitive pony.
There was only one bed, so I curled up on the floor.
“Gosh, you don’t have to sleep on the floor, Bifröst. The bed is big enough for both of us. Wanna snuggle together for warmth?”
I didn’t have any objections, so I slid into bed next to her, and wrapped one of my wings around the little filly.
She nuzzled me. “I may not be ready for new parents, but you’re like the big sister I always wanted but never had.”
I smiled as she fell asleep cuddled alongside me.
Ponyville: seven years, eleven months, and twenty-eight days ago
Cozy Glow and I had moved out of our respective dorm rooms and moved all of our belongings into our new rented room.
I didn’t have much to move. Crystalvania was well off the beaten path. There weren’t many places to buy things, and I wasn’t allowed to order from Canterlot because delivery was very expensive. I had also grown up in a fort, and it was against military protocol to decorate the rooms. It meant that I had very few belongings, and that I’d already gotten used to living in a sparsely decorated environment. It didn’t bother me at all. My only decoration was a photo of my parents and I when I was just a filly.
On the other hoof, Cozy had decorated her side of the room with skulls and old relics. It was giving off creepy vibes. But she didn’t complain about how cold I kept the temperature, so I didn’t complain about her décor.
Cozy was proud of how she’d arranged her things. “Golly, do you like it?”
I shrugged. “It’s not my opinion you should care about. If you like it, that’s all that matters.”
“They were out of kitten and rainbow posters.”
“Cozy, it’s okay to admit you’re going through a goth or emo stage. Everypony deals with grief differently. If skulls and flames are what makes you happy, you don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
She smiled. “Thanks friend.” She looked at my side of the room and frowned. “You should get something to liven up your space.”
I shrugged and stuck my tongue out at her. “But you said they’re out of kitten and rainbow posters.”
She giggled and I laughed along with her. She’s not a bad roommate. She’s a little weird, but everypony says that I’m strange too.
Ponyville: seven years, ten months, and twenty days ago
My classmates and I trotted through Sweet Apple Acres. Honesty 101 was a hooves-on kind of class, and Applejack often had us doing practical learning.
“Even in the off season, there’s never any shortage of work to be done around the farm.” Applejack bent to pick up a small branch. “See? This right here is what I mean. All that snow we had has broken a bunch of branches off my trees. Gotta get these all cleaned up, and we can use ‘em for firewood or kindling. Everypony grab some branches.”
“Golly, it seems like this is just an excuse to use us all as manual labor for your farm.”
“Listen up, little missy. I ain’t no teacher with some fancy-schmancy degree. I’m a farmer, and it’s up to Big Mac and me to keep everything running. Y’all can’t seriously expect my granny and my little sister to pick up the slack while I’m here at the school. Besides, I can’t teach y’all magic like Twilight, or philosophy like Pinkie Pie, or anything else educational. This here’s a friendship school, and I’m here to teach y’all honesty. An’ there ain’t nothin’ like a good, hard day of farm work to keep you honest.”
“I was just being honest, Professor Applejack.”
“Sometimes honesty ain’t always the best policy. I had t’ learn that th’ hard way, and it sounds like y’all need an extra lesson. Ya can start with the back forty.”
Cozy Glow groaned.
“As for the rest of all y’all, Granny Smith has some fresh apple cider waitin’ for us in the barn right ‘bout now. Just keep this on the down low, ‘cause if Rainbow Dash up and finds out about this, she’ll drink it all up before we get there. That varmint can fly faster than all y’all can gallop.”
We all sat around drinking cider as we watched Cozy Glow flying back and forth between the orchard and the woodpile.
“Now that you’ve all filled up on cider, get out there and help your friend. And let Cozy know we saved some cider for her and she can come take a break and help herself.”
I caught Cozy Glow as she dropped more twigs off at the woodpile. “Cozy! Professor Applejack said you should take a break now and have some cider.”
“That’s nice.” She turned tail and headed back to the orchard.
“Aren’t you going to get some?”
“Applejack can take that cider and shove it.”
“Where should she shove it? Cider is a liquid, and liquid isn’t very good at being shoved without spilling.”
Cozy Glow sighed. “Never mind.”
I cocked my head. “Equestrian expressions are very strange.”
We continued working for the rest of the school day. The rest of us went back for seconds or even thirds, but Cozy Glow never got any cider.
Ponyville: seven years, ten months, and fifteen days ago
It was the day of Twilight’s field trip to Cloudsdale. Surprisingly, it was Rainbow Dash who was the teacher instead. Cozy Glow explained that Twilight was very busy, but that the loyalty of her good friend, Rainbow Dash, would save the day.
It was a routine flight to the city; Rainbow Dash, Silverstream, Ocellus, Smolder, Gallus, and I flew under our own power, while Starlight Glimmer and the rest of the class took a hot air balloon. Once we were on solid clouds, Yona attached herself to my hind leg. She was shaking in fear and I rolled my eyes. There was nothing to worry about.
“Hey Yona, come check out this view!” Gallus challenged her to help her conquer her fear, playing the yak’s pride against her phobia. “Unless you’re too scared.”
“Yona not scared!” She finally let go of my leg, and I turned my attention to Cloudsdale. I had seen the pegasus city before…
No sooner had she let go of my leg then she fell through the clouds and plummeted toward the ground.
“Now Yona scared!”
Starlight tried to use her magic to catch Yona, but it fizzled out and she also dropped through the clouds, followed by all of the groundbound students.
“Come on! We gotta catch ‘em!” Rainbow Dash rallied the rest of us to action and we leapt through the clouds after her.
I caught Night View as the earth pony was nearing the ground. I could feel her cowering in my hooves as we fell. I pulled out of my dive and then landed on the ground. She kissed the earth below us, then she kissed me for rescuing her. Blech. I wish she had kissed me first, then the dirt.
It could have ended up being a disaster, but in the end everypony and everycreature was okay.
Ponyville: seven years, ten months, and thirteen days ago
Cozy Glow was younger than most of us, but she was also Headmare Twilight’s assistant. So it was no shock to the rest of us that she was the pony who stepped up and ousted Chancellor Neighsay when he tried to usurp Twilight as headmare of the school as magic was being drained from Equestria. It was only logical that we would look to her for leadership in the absence of anypony else.
When she promised that we would see that some of our classmates were trying to syphon all the magic from Equestria, I followed everypony else into the catacombs that were under the School of Shipping Friends.
She was right. Sandbar, Gallus, Silverstream, Smolder, Ocellus, and Yona were all surrounding magical artifacts, and Counselor Starlight Glimmer was trapped inside a magic bubble. Just as we approached, Ocellus confirmed that they were trying to destroy the school.
“Destroy the School of Friendship? Oh dear! Chancellor Neighsay was wrong about a lot of things, but I guess he was right about all of you.” Cozy’s words rallied everypony to stop them.
I was on the upper level, but the students who were right behind Cozy on the lower level marched on Sandbar and the creatures responsible. It was a short fight. Gallus got trapped in the magical bubble with Starlight, and the others got sucked into it trying to save him. Cozy monologued about how the Elements of Harmony were ‘only a guide’ when Citrine Spark proposed that we save them as Starlight and the others were being sucked into the magical void.
As much as I disliked her, Citrine had a point. It wouldn’t be very pony of us to just stand by and watch as they were sucked out of Equestria forever, especially since Starlight was stuck in there with them. But before that could happen, the Tree of Harmony lit up, saving them all from certain doom.
Sandbar and his friends told us to run while they disconnected the artifacts from where Cozy had put them. We evacuated as the magic exploded.
I felt my magic returning to me. With magic restored, the authorities quickly captured Cozy Glow.
That was a problem for me, since I was sharing a room with her. Twilight Sparkle approached, but there were other Royal Guards behind her, weapons at the ready.
“Bifröst.” It was Twilight who addressed me. “We need you to take us to your apartment.”
I nodded. I had nothing to hide. We marched across town to the gym, and I led the way up the stairs to the room I shared with Cozy Glow. Twilight stood next to me as the Royal Guards searched the room.
The guards confiscated all of Cozy Glow’s belongings. The room looked very plain without all of the skulls and flames that the filly had decorated with.
They found nothing of interest in my half of the room, but they still had questions for me. Twilight teleported us back to the School of Shipping Friends. There were only two Royal Guards in the room with us, and they were my parents, both of whom looked very uncomfortable. But at least their weapons weren’t drawn.
“Bifröst. As you know, your roommate committed treason. While there’s no indication that you might have been an accomplice, we need to investigate you.” I held back of tears as Twilight Sparkle explained why she had to do this. “What Cozy Glow did was serious.”
I nodded. “I understand, Princess Twilight. I grew up in a military family. I comprehend the concept of treason.” As hard as it was to do while feeling so ashamed, I looked her in the eyes. I needed her to see the truth in my eyes. “I’m innocent.”
“I think you are, too.” Twilight smiled. “But we have to be sure. I’m sorry to have to put you through this, but unfortunately Cozy Glow was uncooperative with us and has been sent to Tartarus for her crimes. Since she wouldn’t talk to us, she can spend eternity chatting with her good buddy, Tirek.”
I gasped. “She isn’t being reformed?”
Twilight shrugged. “She didn’t seem overly interested in reforming. If she couldn’t learn friendship, here, then there really isn’t much hope for her.”
“Oh.” Like Citrine had pointed out to Cozy as Gallus and the others were sinking into the void with all of Eqestria’s magic, that didn’t seem very pony of Twilight. But I was likely biased by having shared living space with her. “I’m still rectifying my emotions. Part of me can’t forget how friendly and helpful she always was. I know, now, that it was nothing but a charade. But I’ve been cuddling Cozy Glow every night for months because I like to keep it very cold in our room, and she told me that I was the big sister she never had. I’m feeling very used, yet I’m also wanting to believe that there’s also something inside her worth saving.”
Twilight patted my hoof. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that. And all of this.” She motioned around her office, and to my parents who were doing their best to look anywhere other than at me. She held up an artifact. “Does this look familiar to you?”
“It’s one of the magical items that Cozy used to drain the magic from Equestria.”
“Have you ever seen it before today?”
I nodded and my parents gasped. “It was on her side of the room. She said it was an heirloom, one of the only things she had left to remind her of her parents.” It wasn’t hard to guess where her line of questioning was going, so I headed it off. “The same is true of the other five artifacts. I have seen them all in our room at one point in time or another. I recognized two of them from class, and Cozy claimed that she was cataloguing them under your direction. As she was your student assistant, I had no reason to doubt her.”
Twilight opened her mouth, then quickly closed it. She paused, like she wasn’t sure what to say next. “You weren’t the only pony she fooled with her goody-fourshoes act. She took it upon herself to catalogue the artifacts for me, but I thanked her for doing so.” Twilight sighed. “I’ve been as blind to her actions as you were. What made you decide to be roommates with her?”
“Citrine Spark liked our dorm room too hot for me, and I liked it too cold for her. Cozy offered to share a room that I could keep as cold as I liked.”
Twilight nodded to my mother, and she left the room. “We’re going to corroborate that immediately, so there’s no prolonging this any longer than necessary. As princess, it’s my responsibility to ensure that all of my citizens are treated fairly and respectfully.”
Mom returned with Citrine Spark.
“Citrine, please take a seat. I have a few questions for you.”
“Sure thing, Headmare Twilight.”
“Citrine, you were roommates with Bifröst when the semester started, correct?” She nodded, and Twilight continued. “Why did you two stop sharing a dorm?”
“She likes it way too cold. Like, opening a window in the middle of winter cold. I was freezing my flank off.”
“You were roasting me! You had the thermostat set to max!”
“I like it warm.” She hesitated. “With everything that happened the past few days… I don’t know if I should admit this or not. But I guess it’s better you hear it from this pony’s mouth rather than some other pony’s mouth. I was complaining about how you opened the window and the heater did nothing to warm our room… and Cozy Glow overheard me. She offered to do something about it, because, and I quote, ‘that’s what friends do for one another, and we’re friends, right?’ When I got back from break, Bifröst wasn’t my roommate anymore.”
“She said something similar to me. She suggested that if she were my roommate, she could put on more clothing or blankets, but that my only option would be to shave my coat off to cool down, and that it wouldn’t be very friendly of her to make me do that.”
Twilight nodded. “So Cozy was taking the Gladmane approach. Play everypony against one another, but position herself as the solution to everypony’s problems. Are the two of you okay with each other?”
“As long as she’s not my roommate.”
“As long as we’re not being roommates with each other.”
Twilight smiled. “That seems like a simple solution to a problem. Deal. Citrine, if there’s nothing else, you’re free to go.”
Citrine nodded and left.
“Bifröst, I think Cozy Glow was targeting you, specifically, because your parents are Royal Guards. My best guess is that she felt that if she could convince you of the legitimacy of her power, she could theoretically also win over your parents, who could in turn convince the rest of the guards to fall in line behind her. With my friends and I trapped in Tartarus, there’d be nopony to say otherwise. At least not until Princesses Celestia and Luna showed up. I haven’t quite worked out how she was going to deal with them. I also don’t know why Discord didn’t do something about her. I’ll be having a long talk with a certain draconequus after we wrap things up here.”
Twilight walked over to the window and then stared out at Ponyville. “The Royal Guards are done searching your apartment. I’m satisfied with the answers you’ve provided. I find you innocent of any wrongdoing, Bifröst. You’re also dismissed. I’ll see you next week when classes resume. I think that after the events of the past few days that it’s fair that we take a break from studies for the rest of this week.”
“Thank you, Headmare Twilight.” I excused myself from her office, and then hurried back to my apartment.
I made myself a salad for dinner. I wasn’t feeling very hungry. I was feeling emotionally drained. All I really wanted to do was sleep, but I knew that I had to eat.
When I was done eating, I climbed into bed. It felt much bigger and lonelier now that I had it all to myself. There would be no more snuggling Cozy Glow. On the plus side, there would also no longer be any waking up due to her snoring. I’ll adapt. I just don’t know how I’ll be able to afford this place once her prepaid rent runs out.
That thought prevented me from getting a good night’s sleep.
Ponyville: five years, eleven months, and fifteen days ago
Classes had started up again after the Hearth’s Warming break. I was still living off campus, and had taken on a couple of afterschool jobs to pay for my room. I mostly worked at Blueberry Chamomile’s Teahouse on the weeknights.
On the weekends I worked for Shenanigans. She was an aviatrix, and she was always in need of pegasi to act as a safety net in the case of disaster. She was a very good pilot, but Ponyville’s close proximity to the Everfree Forest meant that errant weather could cause mishaps. I had some experience catching ponies falling out of Cloudsdale – Night View was very happy to give me a recommendation. It was thankfully a very boring job because nopony ever fell from the balloon’s basket.
Because of her occupation, Shenanigans employed pegasi exclusively, despite being an earth pony herself. On Saturday nights, we all competed in Shenanigans’ weekly derbies. They were underground races, which never made any sense to me since the racetrack was aboveground. It was like having a mini-Wonderbolts race every week, and several of my coworkers had tried out for, and been rejected by, the Wonderbolts.
I wasn’t very good at racing, but Shenanigans paid me the same regardless of whether I won or lost, so I didn’t mind losing. I wasn’t delusional about being one of the fastest flyers in Ponyville; I was very definitely not amongst them. Yet every once in a while, I would take the checkered flag first. I was always very surprised when that happened; it was as if nopony else was trying very hard on those nights, or sometimes they would crash out ahead of me.
Between being a student and working three part-time jobs, I didn’t have much free time, but it paid my bills.
I was still very alone in my apartment though. I wasn’t able to find anypony to room with me willing to put up with the temperature I liked best. It was the first day back from break and Headmare Starlight had called me to her office. I sat in the waiting room next to an orange pony with a bee cutie mark. She was talking to another pony I didn’t recognize.
It was rude to eavesdrop on other ponies’ conversations, but I couldn’t help it considering I was sitting right next to her.
“You look awful, Honeybuzz.”
“I couldn’t sleep last night. My roommate’s back from break and she keeps our room as hot as a furnace.”
I couldn’t help but snicker at that. “Is her name Citrine Spark by any chance?”
Honeybuzz turned to look at me. “How did you know that?”
“I’m also a former roommate of hers. I like it very cold because I come from Crystalvania, in the Frozen North.”
“I sleep better when it’s chilly.”
“Me too.” I smiled. “And I have an off campus apartment and I’ve been looking for a roommate. Would you be interested?”
“Yes.”
I clopped my hooves together. “Then let us talk to Headmare Starlight.”
She chuckled. “That’s what we’re here for, isn’t it?”
I laughed along with her as we continued to wait in Headmare Starlight’s office.
Ponyville: four years, eight months, and sixteen days ago
The wind was blowing very hard. A storm of unknown intensity had blown in from over the Everfree Forest. It was a very bad hurricane, which shouldn’t be possible because Ponyville was located inland, far away from any ocean.
Rainbow Dash had called in every able-bodied pegasus to assist in breaking up the hurricane. The normal storm team was there: Thunderlane, Cloudchaser, Flitter, Caldor, Sunshower, and Blossomforth. Three of Ponyville’s weather team were Wonderbolts, so we had some very competent flyers in our midst.
Several hundred pegasi had answered the call and gathered in the town square, and Rainbow Dash was barking out of orders. “Thunderlane, Caldor!” Rainbow pointed to Sweet Apple Acres and the two stallions took to the air to protect one of Ponyville’s primary sources of food. “Cloudchaser, Flitter!” Rainbow pointed to the Everfree Forest. “Try and make a break in the storm.” She turned to the rest of us. “All ponies with a name starting with an A through I, come with me. We’re going to try and blow the storm back into the Everfree Forest or at the very least, divert it to Ghastly Gorge. J through P, go with Blossomforth. Your task will be to keep vendors at the market safe while they pack up. Everypony else with Sunshower. She’ll pass out assignments on protecting the rest of town.”
Our three groups scattered, and I followed Rainbow Dash as we took up positions along the leading edge of the storm. Fluttershy was clinging to Rainbow Dash, and the prismatic mare was explaining that that wasn’t what she meant when she said ‘Fluttershy, on me.’ I was paired with Bulk Biceps, who had also tried out for the Wonderbolts and was a reservist.
Bulk had more experience, so I followed his lead. We took up hovering positions, and tried to blow the hurricane right back into the Everfree Forest. I could see Banana Bliss and Breezie off to our right, and I could just manage to make out Cloud Kicker and Ditzy Doo to the left. Anything beyond that though was obscured by the darkness, except when the lightning flashed.
The storm was more intense than any I’d ever seen previously. There was no weather team in Crystalvania, but we were so far north and inland that we didn’t experience many severe storms, and there were certainly never any hurricanes.
I remembered back to the yearly storm drill we’d run to be prepared for a crisis like this. Then I flapped with all of my might, against the prevailing winds of the hurricane. The hurricane pushed back. This storm wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
Bulk Biceps, for all of his bulging muscles, didn’t have very big wings. They were comically small compared to the rest of him. They were very powerful for their size, but they weren’t enough to keep him airborne. The storm knocked him out of the sky and into the window of Sugarcube Corner.
Even though the windows were boarded up, Pinkie Pie popped up between two of the boards and caught him. “It’s raining stallions!” It was beyond my understanding how she could pull a stallion the size of Bulk Biceps between two wooden planks.
Bulk was the stronger flyer of the two of us, and I also ended up tumbling end over end not long after. Pinkie Pie didn’t catch me, and instead I landed in the stream. The stream wasn’t really any wetter than the storm. I was already thoroughly drenched.
Rainbow Dash’s rule was simple: anypony that got knocked out of the sky, stayed grounded until after the storm. With that, I trotted back to the apartment I shared with Honeybuzz. But the gusts kept blowing me around, and when I tumbled past Carousel Boutique, Rarity grasped me with her magic and pulled me into her shop.
I rode the storm out in her boutique. She took the opportunity to use me as a living equinnequin, as inspiration hit and she was overcome with an intense desire to design a Hurricane Collection. But at least I got to keep a couple of the dresses when she was done.
Ponyville: four years, eight months, and fourteen days ago
Rainbow Dash and the rest of weather team were battered about by the storm, but they bought the town the time it needed to batten down the hatches. But that didn’t come without costs. Some pegasi had been injured, and two of the team were still missing two days later.
I flew over the Everfree Forest, providing air support for Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon as they searched through the forest for the missing pegasi. It was my job to keep alert for potential threats like monsters or poison joke, and to warn them if there was any danger.
I was very vigilant, and didn’t see any threats like hydras, manticores, or thunderbats. Likewise, Lyra and Bon Bon failed to find Flitter or Cloudchaser. Unfortunately, none of the other search teams found the pair of lost pegasi either.
The mood was very somber in town hall, as we regrouped to discuss our lack of results. Rainbow Dash was very frazzled – she took losing her teammates very seriously. It had been her decision to send them into the Everfree in the first place. Fluttershy said she would talk to Discord to see if he could use his chaos powers to find them. Twilight Sparkle read Medley’s Magical Meteorological Mysteries trying to find an explanation as to what had happened. All she was able to determine was that most unexplained weather phenomena had historically formed over the Everfree Forest without any warning, striking the towns that bordered the woods. The book wasn’t particularly helpful.
Ponyville: eight months, and eleven days ago
Earth had become a very big deal in the years since Princess Twilight Sparkle had announced it. There were now clubs, organizations, and even conventions for Earth. I had gone to EarthCon, and joined the EEE, the Equestria-Earth Exchange. The EEE set me up with pen pals to learn languages, and also with a citizen of Earth. My human pen pal had adopted an Equestrian name, preferring to go by ‘Biscuit’ rather than his given name.
The EEE had just assigned a new pony pen pal to me. Her name was Feathermay, and she lived in Steedville, which was in the middle of nowhere. She didn’t have access to anypony else going to Earth and she was in need of help with practicing. So I wrote a letter to her.
Dear Feathermay,
My name is Bifröst, and I’m writing to you on behalf of the EEE. I have learned English, French, Swedish, Norwegian, and Dutch. I’m a graduate of the School of Shipping Friends, and I’m currently living with a pony named Honeybuzz who has learned English, German, Spanish, Mandarin, and Japanese.
I’m writing this letter to you in English, because I know that this language is mandatory. What languages are you learning?
What are your likes and interests? What are your goals once you arrive on Earth? I’m planning on helping stop Earth’s climate change.
As a vocabulary building exercise, in your reply, please work in the following words:
accord
celebrity
citation
dart
diplomat
encore
escort
focus
intrigue
jet
marathon
navigator
rebel
spectrum
spirit
valiant
I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
Your new friend,
Bifröst
I enclosed a photo of myself so she would recognize me if we met up at any events, or on Earth someday, then mailed the letter at the Ponyville post office.
Ponyville: one month, and two days ago
Honeybuzz helped me as I cleaned up our apartment. Feathermay was visiting us, and would be living here until it was time to go through the portal. It was too cold to have a yard sale, so we donated objects that were doing nothing but taking up space. We wouldn’t have room to take nonessentials with us to Earth, so Feathermay arriving early was doing us a favor.
Eventually we made enough room for a third roommate. All that was left to do was cleaning up. I dusted while Honeybuzz swept the floor. Then we cleaned the windows and polished the furniture. It wasn’t much, but it was home. It was also the best it had looked since I’d moved in years before.
With all of the cleaning, I lost track of time. I galloped across Ponyville, and was just in time to meet Feathermay. I found her sitting with the local blacksmith, and I pulled up of a chair. “Hello, you are being Feathermay, yes?”
“Yes. Bifröst I presume?”
I nodded. “Shall we begin with the learning, or am I interrupting the something?”
“We can start momentarily. Just let me wrap this up.” Feathermay kissed Swiftspeed, and patted one of his forehooves. “I’m really not normally this awkward and tongue-tied. Pinkie caught me off guard and got me all out of sorts.”
They continued flirting, while I browsed the menu.
Pumpkin Cake trotted up and gasped. “Oh, you two are totally pink and pinker!”
I nodded, then pointed to the sugar cookies on the menu. Once the waitress was gone, I turned to Feathermay. There’s no time to get started like now. “Let us get to the conversing, then I shall be taking you to see your stallion when we’re done. He is being the local blacksmith, very easy to find.”
Feathermay was very smitten with Swiftspeed. I didn’t see the appeal, personally. He was too old for me, even though I was older than Feathermay. But if that was what she liked, it wasn’t my place to tell her that she couldn’t. She was a mare and fully capable of making her own decisions.
After I showed her where Honeybuzz and I lived, I took her to her new beau, the smithy. He was surprised to see us. I think he thought she was pulling his legs. He agreed to let her stay with him, and I bid the new couple adieu.
Honeybuzz was very confused to see me come home alone. She immediately worried that something had happened, and I reassured her that it was only love at first sight. We agreed that we would keep space open for her in case her new relationship fizzled out as quickly as it started. Is it better to burn out, or to fade away into nothing? Either way, it’s a very bad time to find a new coltfriend.
Ponyville: Yesterday
Honeybuzz, Feathermay, Swiftspeed, and I all sat around a table at Sugarcube Corner. Feathermay leaned against Swiftspeed, resting her head on his shoulder. Feathermay very much disliked the waitress, Pumpkin Cake. Her public display of affection was meant to mark Swiftspeed as her territory. It would have been completely unnecessary, but Pumpkin Cake was oblivious.
“Hey, it’s the return of pink and pinker, now with plus ones!”
Honeybuzz and I were used to Pumpkin’s personality, but Feathermay gave her the stink eye. It had been a challenge to convince May to eat here again, and Pumpkin Cake was making her regret her decision.
“What can I do…” She trailed off as May glared at her, Honeybuzz and I shook our heads, and Swift mouthed ‘no’ with a pleading look in his eyes. “…for you all today?”
It was a pretty good recovery. I responded before things could escalate any further. “A dozen doughnuts, please. We can share.”
Pumpkin Cake nodded and practically galloped away from our table. Swiftspeed patted May’s foreleg to try and calm her down.
Without even taking our drink orders, Pumpkin returned with mead for Honeybuzz, a sweet tea sans ice for Swift, and my usual raspberry lemonade. She put a glass of water in front of May without a word.
A minute later she returned with our doughnuts. Again, she had brought out our favorites for the three regulars she knew. Three powdered sugar, cream-filled doughnuts were on Swift’s side of the dish, three cinnamon doughnuts for Honeybuzz, and three strawberry frosted doughnuts were there for me. It was a reminder that the Cake daughter was a very good waitress. Lastly, there was a trio of plain, unglazed doughnuts for Feathermay. That was a reminder that Pumpkin needed to work on the social aspect of her job.
Swiftspeed had questions for all of us. He hadn’t looked into going to Earth, being too old and the wrong gender to go. Until a month ago, he didn’t have any interest in the subject. May had changed that, and she was still clinging to him in what was a public display of affection that Swift didn’t look entirely comfortable with.
Mostly though, Swiftspeed just wanted us to promise to look out for Feathermay since he couldn’t do it himself. He didn’t have to say it – Honeybuzz and I already knew that May was very distractible and naïve. As aloof as the blacksmith was normally, Feathermay had somehow gotten his heart to thaw.
After answering all of his questions and regaling him with our plans, we chitchatted as we ate of doughnuts. Pumpkin Cake came around occasionally to refill our drinks. Except May’s, which had remained untouched. “You didn’t drink your water?”
“You probably poisoned it.” May wasn’t taking of any of Pumpkin’s sass.
Pumpkin Cake gasped in shock, then she grabbed the glass in her magic and chugged the contents. Then she fell to the floor and her muscles spasmed.
“Ha! I knew it!”
“Nope, not poisoned,” Pumpkin replied from the floor. “Tastes like Ponyville tap water all right. It’s not very good, but you didn’t order a drink and I had to bring you something.”
Feathermay and Pumpkin Cake glared at each other and eventually the absurdity of the situation sank in and they both laughed.
Once she’d stood back up, Pumpkin turned serious. Or at least as serious as she could be. “Since you three are going to Earth… would any of you be willing to do me a favor? Obviously not you.” She stuck her tongue out at May who responded in kind.
“Maybe?” Honeybuzz was hesitant.
“So, if I truss my brother up tonight, could I stick him in your baggage tomorrow morning?”
“No.”
“Phooey. It was worth a shot.”
The Cake twins had obviously gotten into a fight. If Pumpkin was this upset over it, she must have lost the argument.
We paid and walked out. It wasn’t a very productive meeting otherwise, but at least Feathermay and Pumpkin Cake had come to some sort of détente. I wouldn’t expect them to invite each other to their next birthday parties… actually, I could kind of see Pumpkin doing that just to get on May’s nerves.
Ponyville: Today
It was finally the big day. Honeybuzz and I looked around the apartment one last time to make sure we’d gotten everything that was ours. The furniture would be staying for the next occupants, as it came with the apartment. All of our remaining possessions were in our suitcases. We had already sold, donated, or given away everything else we owned.
Honeybuzz moved the dresser to look behind it and exclaimed, “What’s this?” She held up a black, gothic-looking dress that was many sizes too small for me.
“Oh, that belonged to my previous roommate.” I chuckled nervously. “So, do you remember when your twin sister came to town?”
She nodded.
“And you remember how you hadn’t ever mentioned Bumblesweet’s existence to me until that point?”
She nodded again, slower. I could tell she wasn’t liking where this was leading.
“So I never mentioned this but my former roommate was Cozy Glow.”
“Ah. Yeah, I can see why you wouldn’t go advertising that. What should we do with this?”
“It won’t be fitting either of us, and I don’t think she’ll be needing it anymore.” I grabbed it and threw it into the trash.
“So who’s worse – Cozy Glow or my sister?”
“That’s a tough call. One is a manipulative, habitual liar bent on making everypony love her, and who wants her enemies to suffer forever, and the other is Cozy Glow.”
Honeybuzz laughed so hard that she had to sit down and catch her breath. “I needed that.”
Once she had settled down, we grabbed our luggage and left our home for the past few years behind. Honeybuzz had once told me that our apartment was more of a home than her real home had been. Just remembering that made me want to hug her, so I did.
“What’s that for?”
I shrugged. “I just felt like it. We’ve lived here together for years. It’s an emotional moment to leave it all behind.”
She nodded. “Yeah. It really is. But we’ll make new homes for ourselves.”
As an earth pony, Honeybuzz had taken it upon herself to carry most of our luggage. I draped a wing over her as we trotted through Ponyville to the Everfree Forest. We weren’t alone, there were dozens of other ponies also heading in the same direction with their belongings. In a way it reminded me of pictures I’d seen of Abyssinian refugees fleeing from the Storm King. The big difference was the excitement in the air. Everypony here had chosen to go to Earth. Change was coming for those of us making the trip. A change we all wanted.
Once we arrived in the Everfree, there were signs to direct us to the portal. According to some of the other ponies I overheard, they were trying to make a road through the Everfree so they could get some trucks or buses to make the trip easier for everypony. That would be nice for the return trip five years from now. I looked at Honeybuzz. I sincerely doubted she’d be coming back to Equestria. She had nothing on this side of the portal she was really attached to. She loved her parents and even her sister, but she had also long since moved past them. Like me, she was single. Unlike me, it didn’t bother her.
I knew that I wasn’t going to find a nice stallion waiting for me on the other side, regardless of where life took me once I was on Earth. So I knew that for me, it was only temporary. I would have to come back to Equestria someday.
I wasn’t surprised to see more of my fellow graduates from the School of Shipping Friends trudging through the forest. Starlight had really pushed going to Earth to a lot of the students. As we caught up to them, Night View waved me over, so Honeybuzz and I joined their group.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.”
“Too long!” Night View gave me a hug.
I introduced them to Honeybuzz. She was two years behind us in school, so she hadn’t gotten to know many of my friends. “Everypony, this is Honeybuzz.”
“I’m Night View. I owe Bifröst my life.”
“Literally. She fell out of Cloudsdale and I saved her.” I moved on to the only pegasus in their group. “And this is Violet Twirl.”
“Howdy.”
“And lastly, these are Lilac Swoop and Strawberry Scoop. They’ve been dating since not long after the school opened.”
“We’re married now,” Lilac corrected me. “Swoop and Scoop!”
“Swoop and Scoop!” Strawberry echoed. The two earth pony mares bumped hooves.
We giggled as we recalled old memories and shared newer stories. Honeybuzz stayed mostly quiet as she listened to our reminiscing.
My parents had requested portal duty so they could see me off. They couldn’t take time to chitchat, but they made time for a hug. To my knowledge, Honeybuzz hadn’t even bothered informing her family of her intended plans of going to Earth, so there was nopony waiting there for her. The rest of my friends had their families to see them off, and we did the rounds, supporting each other as we said our goodbyes, made promises to stay in touch, and to look out for one another as best as we could.
We ended up near the end of the queue, and then we waited. It was very boring, except for the brief interludes when newly arrived humans walked past us. So I pulled a sheet of paper out of my bags. Honeybuzz nodded in approval as I passed the lyrics around to my friends. Honeybuzz and I had found a song about buses in our research on Earth, and since we would be riding in one, we thought it would be appropriate to sing about the bus on the bus.
“The Wheels On The Bus?” asked Violet, as she read the song’s title from the sheet music.
I nodded, and Honeybuzz and I started the song. We did some practicing, and other ponies near us joined in. We will practice so that we can perform the song so well that our bus driver will be honored at our tribute.
Fort Lee, New Jersey: Today
“We’re coming to America!” We sang along to the song on the radio, substituting ‘we’re’ for ‘they’re’. “Today!” The song was very similar to the Neighl Diamond song, Equestria, except that it was about America.
We were stuck in traffic on a magnificent bridge with nothing better to do than sing. The bus driver had liked our impromptu performance of The Wheels On The Bus so much that he rewarded us with playing the radio loudly so we could sing along. He was so moved by our vocals that he even weeped tears of joy as we slowly traversed the bridge.
Between songs, a unicorn had asked us to go in on a hotel with her, and Honeybuzz and I had agreed to do so. None of my other friends were interested, unfortunately. It was very bittersweet to reunite with old friends only to have to go our separate ways immediately afterwards. But we enjoyed each other’s company while we had it, and promised to write once we all had permanent addresses.
Eventually, the bus broke out of the gridlock and we arrived at the consulate. I thanked the bus driver for his service as we disembarked. It was a chilly winter morning, but the sun was shining. The winds were whipping between the buildings. I spread my wings to feel the breeze. The way the city was laid out was wreaking havoc on the local wind currents. It would take some getting used to.
Much to my delight, there was more singing once we got off the bus, as my new business associates and I broke into a heartsong. The bus driver closed the door and drove away as quickly as possible. I guess he is late for something.
We trotted into the consulate. They had made it look like a castle, which was a very nice touch. The decorations were a mishmash of styles from around Equestria, as well as Earth. It all clashed horribly, which was an unfortunate necessity since it had to represent all ponies. Every tribe, every town. It was as if an art gallery and a historical society had merged.
The waiting area was mostly decorated in maps – some were of Earth, and the rest were of Equestria. I looked at the various maps of Earth as everypony got to know one another better. New York City is very big.
I was still looking at the maps when I was called to meet with the Duchess. I bowed to Ploomette and sat down across from her.
“Salutations, Bifröst. Now that you’re on Earth, what are you planning to do?”
“I graduated from the School of Shipping Friends in Ponyville. Before I left, Starlight Glimmer urged me to come here to try and reverse climate change because Earth’s polar icecaps are melting.”
Ploomette nodded. “That’s a noble goal. How are you planning to do that?”
“I have no idea, Duchess. I was hoping you could point me in the right direction. In the meantime, I have agreed to join Snowcatcher with the hotel she wants to start up. I can research in my downtime.”
“That makes sense.”
“That’s what I was thinking. I need a place to live, and this will work fine for me, until I know what direction I need to go in.”
“You’re okay with paying your entire stipend into this?”
I nodded. “I also have a grant from Equestria because I’m promoting goodwill. So I’ll be getting paid regardless. I’m considering this a payment for living expenses. No different than paying rent.”
The Duchess was seemingly satisfied with that answer because she changed subjects. “From one pegasus to another, it pains me to have to say this. But as you’ve got a weather mark and you’re here to study climate change, you can’t actively alter Earth’s weather without permission.”
I shook my head. “I don’t have a weather cutie mark, Duchess. My mark is Bifröst, which is also my name. Bifröst is a rainbow bridge that’s very much like the rainbow bridge that brought me to Earth. Except Bifröst is in the Frozen North outside what was then known as Crystalvania.”
“There’s another Rainbow Bridge?” The Duchess blinked.
I nodded. “Yes, I discovered it by accident when I was younger.”
“Where does it come out on this side?”
“I’m not sure it comes out on Earth. I traveled across and I went from one vast, arboreal forest to being surrounded by open sea with fjords in the distance. I didn’t do much exploring as I didn’t want to get lost. I turned around and flew back home. I was still a filly at the time and I was scared I might not be able to find my way back if I ventured too far.”
She typed into her computer. “Interesting. Earth has record of a rainbow called Bifröst as well. I guess I’ll need to do some research on this. Does anypony else know about this?”
“Only a dragon named Smokey who was also stationed at Fort Hope. I don’t know where he is now. We fell out of touch when I moved to Ponyville. He told me not to tell anypony else, but you outrank him so I think it’s okay if you know.”
“Where did you say this is located?”
“It’s near Himinbjörg, which is now reunited with the Crystal Empire.”
“Very interesting. Thank you for letting me know. If there’s nothing else, please ask Electric Slide to wait five minutes, then send in the next pony.” She scribbled notes while I returned to the waiting room.
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Since the story notes are at the beginning of the chapter, here are the links for Bifröst:
Story notes for this chapter: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/1018011/story-notes-16-bifrst
Ask Bifröst questions related to the story: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/1018012/meet-the-mares-bifrst
I also have trouble sleeping when it's over 69F in the room.
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Me too, me too. I keep my house between 60 and 64. Saves a fortune on heat in the winter, but my electric bill offsets those savings come summer.
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I am being glad to know that someone has done the reading of the official version of the chapter.
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https://derpibooru.org/search?q=mjolna
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Thank you both!
I am very much doing the appreciating and the agreeing!
I preferred the dialect chapter
On the dialect chapter, it is a little bit harder to read, but once you get used to it it's pretty smooth sailing. So now you have at least a few people reading it successfully!
Thanks for that clarifying author's note at the beginning. :)
I'm planning to put this comment on the Normal Grammar version because I've a vague impression FIMFiction might be less likely to notify me of a reply otherwise, but I'm currently only planning to go through the Bonus Chapter version. (Indeed, I marked the Normal Grammar version as read some time ago after going through its chapter note; it just then took me some time to find time for a block of horsewords this size.)
And no worries. ...I mean. I guess maybe I should wait to say that until I've actually been through the chapter, but eh, it'll probably be fine. :D
(And I'm impressed by your commitment to both artistic integrity and the enjoyment and understanding of your readers, here, that you not only made the more authentic version but also an entire second version of the chapter for anyone who found the main too difficult and/or unpleasant to parse. :))
"A train will be arranged to take all of you home tomorrow."
"Princess Celestia did the teleporting of us after she did the finishing of the raising of the sun."
These appear to contradict each other? Or am I missing something?
Well, that was interesting and enjoyable! Thanks for writing. :)
(And I didn't find the grammar a problem -- though I don't know how it may have affected things that I listened to most of the chapter with text-to-speech.)
I very much stand corrected. I am overjoyed with the Framework 16 laptops.
Though my preorder is listed as Q1, which I assume to mean not until next year. And the promotional Starfield Steam code is reliant on some hardware verification script that's Windows only. But from what I'm reading, AMD does have a .py authentication script, and the tech support aren't unreasonable.
At any rate, I encourage every mare who's interested in Terran computer science to not bother with Crapple, and either consult https://pcpartpicker.com along with linustechtips and tomshardware, or go to the nearest Micro Center, or look into Framework laptops.
And the Raspberry Pi foundation and Free Geek, of course.
And Clint-senpai.
With the recent Barbie popularity,
deserve recognition.
edit. Geez. I start ranting when tipsy. And use Japanese suffixes.
There's been some recent controversy between Linus Tech Tips and some rival channel I never heard of.