Echoes
"Twilight, there's something I have to tell you," Rainbow Dash began, waving to get the alicorn's attention. But she wasn't listening.
Just as they promised, they visited the Aion Industries facility after departing Starlight's village. They didn't offer any tours, but being a princess could get you very far in this country. Right now, they were waiting in a spacious lobby. Sunlight shone through the wall to ceiling windows, illuminating the crisp marble interior. Rarity had already fallen in love with the décor. But Rainbow? She shared the same mood as the bored-looking receptionist at the front desk. Thankfully this lobby came with comfy blue couches.
They hadn't even entered the facility and already Twilight couldn't get enough of it.
"Girls, did you know this design was the winner of the 997 Scientific Equestrian award?!" She pointed at some helmet-looking device behind a glass barrier.
Clearly she wasn't going to get anywhere with the alicorn right now. With a bitter sigh, Rainbow Dash decided to wait until after the trip to tell Twilight about the stutters getting longer.
"That's great sugarcube," Applejack gave the helmet an uncertain look. "But... what is it?"
"Only the first ever portable magical communication device in Equestrian history!"
"I have to say darling, I understand why you admire this place so much. This tilework, absolute magnifique!" Rarity smiled at her reflection in the floor. She ran a hoof through her styled mane. "They have style!"
Rainbow Dash didn't see what the big deal was. Yeah the place looked nice, if you were a fan of Canterlot. And she most certainly was not. So this Canterlot architecture irritated her. Seeing there was nothing to do here, Rainbow got back on her hoofs and wandered around. Surely there was something interesting around here. Like a cool flight suit! Or a rocket!
As she passed by large wooden door, she heard hushed voices on the other side.
"And you're sure it's them?"
"Yes madam. Two pegasi, two earth, one unicorn and one alicorn."
"Excellent. You know what to do. Dismissed."
The door opened suddenly and Rainbow Dash was forced to back away as a dark blue pegasi stallion walked through the door. He gave Rainbow Dash a scrutinising glare as he passed then turned to Twilight.
"A pleasure to have you here, your highness," He bowed low. "I am Radiant Diode, administrator of this facility."
"Oh this place is simply wonderful!" Twilight gushed, smiling wildly. She composed herself. "I mean... thank you for having us."
"Follow me, I'll be showing you around the facility."
Radiant Diode led them the door into a wide polished stone foyer. There was no sign of the other pony Rainbow had heard behind the door. At the end of the foyer were a few pony-sized gateways manned by a bored-looking unicorn guard.
"These are security gateways, they'll scan you for hidden weapons or illusion magic," Radiant Diode explained. "I'll ask that you each pass through them."
"Oh I understand completely," Twilight replied. "After the Changeling invasion, you can never be too careful."
"Exactly. It is nice to meet someone who appreciates our concern with security."
Twilight smiled and walked up into the gateway. There was a bright green flash and a beep. Twilight sighed in relief. The unicorn guard waved her through and beckoned for Pinkie Pie to approach. One by one they passed through until it was Rainbow's turn.
"One moment, madam," Diode halted her. "Company policy says we need to do a more thorough search of every fifth pony at random. Please follow me," He turned to Twilight. "I trust the princess can find our hall of past technological achievements on her own?"
"Thank you, Mr Diode," Twilight smiled. She gave Rainbow a sympathetic look and beckoned the other four mares down the foyer.
Rainbow Dash followed pegasus closely, the hairs of her coat sticking on end. For some reason, she felt suspicious of Radiant Diode. But also... didn't? The suspicion was there, but it shared space with the boredom that came from being surrounded by egghead stuff. Both emotions were definitely hers, but the suspicion didn't feel as 'real'. It was both foreign and familiar at the same time. Like it didn't belong right now.
"Just in here, madam," Radiant Diode led her into a circular room dominated by a single gigantic machine.
The machine was easily the size of a small neighbourhood, built like a massive ring with pillars of metal and crystal reaching in towards the centre. A monstrosity of wires, glowing gemstones and arcane runes, it dominated the entire hanger. Even Rainbow couldn't help but be impressed. Gemstones set along the surface and buried deep within cages of metal glowed with all the colours of the rainbow. A faint oily smell was in the air, making her nose twitch. It was unnerving. This was going to be... scanning her? Quite a lot of machinery for a simple scan.
She followed a catwalk over the top of the machine into it's centre and fought back against the butterflies in her stomach. Standing in the middle of all these coils and glowing auras of magic... it was intimidating. This was something that had no right being pointed at a pony. Radiant Diode stood behind a glass protective shield and began to power up the machine. It hummed, glowing with a light blue energy. Tiny puffs of cool vapour spat out into the coils.
The blue lights began to flicker and Rainbow steeled her nerves. Suddenly, the blue was gone. In fact, every light was gone save few glowing crystals of the machine. But the darkness didn't linger. Rainbow Dash herself began to glow with a familiar rainbow light. Tiny particles of every colour were drawn off her body into the machine surrounding her. It felt like there was an itch deep inside her chest that she just couldn't scratch.
As one, the lights flashed back on and the itching feeling disappeared.
"Thank you for your cooperation. That will be all, Miss Rainbow Dash," Radiant Diode gestured back to the entrance. An almost maniacal grin was on his face. This time, the feelings of suspicion were her own.
Stepping out into the bright midday sun, Rainbow Dash found Twilight rushing up to greet her.
"Oh you must see the wind tunnel! It's cutting edge, designed for perfecting pegasi flight strategy. I think you'll like it!"
"That does sound pretty cool," Rainbow admitted. She pushed all thoughts of Radiant Diode out of her mind and followed Twilight to an open-air tube of metal blasting air at a single hovering pegasus.
He flew against the wind, gliding up and down as ponies took notes around him. Despite herself, Rainbow couldn't help but watch in awe. This place wasn't as boring as she'd expected.
"Oo, what's that big building over there?" Pinkie Pie pointed to a large warehouse complexes in the distance towering over the featureless desert far off on the horizon. It was encircled by a large metal fence lined with coiled wire and staffed by rows of guards.
"I'm afraid that spot is strictly off-limits, even for friends of a princess," Radiant Diode apologised. "We do some of our more... dangerous research in that area and we wouldn't want to risk the public's safety."
Twilight stepped out in front of Diode and stared into him with wide eyes. "Is Starbeam Remedy in there?"
"Miss Remedy is currently preoccupied with securing space for a second facility elsewhere in Equestria."
Then who was he talking to earlier? Rainbow Dash was sure that voice was female. Who else could be ordering the facility director around?
"Oh, you are opening another facility?" Twilight squealed. "Where!?"
Radiant Diode stepped back a bit, unnerved by her eagerness. "Well... we haven't decided yet but we've outlined a few options. There's Manehattan. Then the edge of the Badlands. And your own town of Ponyville."
"Ponyville?!" Twilight flared her wings in excitement.
"Yes, you should expect a visit from either Miss Remedy or one of her representatives to further discuss the construction of the second facility. Then Miss Remedy will decide which location is the best for our... interests."
Seeing the awe-struck look on Twilight's face, Rainbow rolled her eyes. Only an egghead would get this excited about other eggheads moving in. Though to be fair, Rainbow would feel about the same way if Spitfire and the Wonderbolts decided to move to Ponyville.
The rest of the tour was fairly boring for Rainbow and frustrating for Twilight. There were many parts of the facility they weren't allowed in, places Twilight had hoped to visit to get a glimpse of the new inventions Aion Industries was working on. But she was happy to settle for seeing real life examples of all the various technologies already designed and patented by their company, most of them things only Twilight could understand the purpose behind.
Rainbow Dash had to admit, some of this stuff was pretty cool. Devices that let unicorns hover in mid-air, portable teleporters, enchanted armour even Griffons would be impressed by. But in her opinion the coolest invention by far was a foreleg-sized stick thing with a crystal fastened to the end. According to Twilight it was some kind of weapon, a device that could store magic and release it in concentrated beams. She'd gone into a lecture about the storing and releasing enchantments on the crystal, but Rainbow was busy imagining herself soaring through the air blasting monsters out of the sky.
But eventually, it all came to an end. Twilight thanked Radiant Diode for the time he'd spent showing them around and the six mares made their way back to the train station, ready for another long ride back home.
It felt wrong to disturb Twilight now. She was carefully levitating whatever she could find from the ruins of Golden Oaks into the new castle. And from the tear stains on her fur, she wasn't taking the sight of her former home being reduced to ash very well. But Rainbow couldn't put this off any longer.
"Twilight, there's something I have to tell you."
The alicorn placed a half-burned book down on a table and turned to her. The morose expression on her face almost made Rainbow cave.
"What is it Rainbow Dash?"
"So, you know those stutters..."
"Yes, I'm aware of the stutters. All the data I had on them is now burnt to smithereens, but I am aware of them," Twilight levitated a small clock over to her, the same one that Rainbow had been wearing during the first Rainboom Experiment. "But at least this survived."
"And you said they only lasted for a few seconds..."
"Yeah, I did say that..." Twilight's eyes widened. "Has something happened?!"
"I think they're getting longer," Rainbow confirmed. A few minutes a day didn't seem like much, but Twilight had been pretty worried about this at first. And as they got longer, it even began to worry Rainbow. What if one day... they just didn't end?
"WHAT!?"
Twilight all but dragged Rainbow Dash to Sweet Apple Acres. "I need to verify this right now. So get up there and give me a Sonic Rainboom."
"Er... do I have to? I'm pretty sure I remember them getting longer."
"Come on, it's just one Sonic Rainboom. What are you worried about?"
"Getting violently split apart," Rainbow mumbled. It didn't feel very awesome, but the truth was she hadn't even tried to perform her signature move since it caused that awful feeling of being split apart.
Twilight's eyes widened. "Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't think of that. I promise to be more considerate of your emotions in the future. But please Rainbow, this is really important."
"'s alright," Rainbow sighed. "I'll do it."
But their discussion was interrupted by the arrival of another pony.
"Hey y'all, what are ya doing?" Applejack cantered over to the duo.
"Research," Twilight replied curtly.
Applejack looked between Twilight and Rainbow Dash. It had not escaped her notice that the alicorn had been practically pulling Rainbow onto the farm.
"I take it the two o' ya are lookin' into Rainbow's time weirdness?"
That was an apt way of describing it.
Twilight nodded. "Rainbow Dash claims the stutters are getting longer, but my own time-altered clock from the first Rainboom Experiment hasn't picked up on this. So this is either Rainbow Dash exhibiting more unique time powers or my own clock being wrong somehow."
"I'm telling you, they're getting longer!" Rainbow argued. Damn it Twilight, can't you just believe me?
"We'll let the experiment decide. I'm sorry Rainbow. I know you don't want to do another Rainboom, but we need to confirm this. If we don't... I can't even imagine what the consequences could be."
Applejack watched as Twilight fastened a different harness to the Rainbow pegasus. "Can I watch? Ah can take care o' her if she does one of them splittin' things again."
"Please don't mention the splitting," Rainbow moaned, her face taking on a slight green tinge.
"Alright, that should do it," Twilight announced as she fastened the last strap. "Fly up and give us one of those Rainbooms!"
With one last look of apprehension, Rainbow Dash shot off into the air. Applejack watched and she did a few loops as a warmup. It hadn't just been her imagination, her pegasus friend was afraid to pull off a Rainboom. Already she'd taken more time than usual gliding around the air. She was putting it off.
But Rainbow Dash wasn't loyalty for nothing. She swallowed her fear and pushed forward, setting the sky alight in a burst of radiant colours. Rainbow landed gracefully, her wings trailing sparks of colour behind her. As Twilight unstrapped the harness Rainbow looked down at her hooves, expecting them to split apart at any moment.
"It's alright, Rainbow," Applejack laid her foreleg over her friend. "Ya ain't going ta fizzle out."
"You don't know that!" Rainbow shouted. Applejack didn't know anything about what she was going through!
Applejack took a few steps back. "Alright sugarcube. I'm just sayin' that I reckon you're good enough ta control it."
The pegasus seemed to visibly deflate. She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly and hastily apologised. Of course Applejack was only trying to be a good friend. The farmpony didn't have a malicious bone in her body. But stupid Rainbow Dash just had to yell at her for trying to be encouraging.
"Well, I've gotten a second time-altered clock," Twilight announced, picking an identical clock out of Rainbow's harness. "If Rainbow Dash is right, the first clock and second clock should record different stutter durations. Then it will be up to me to figure out why," She placed both clocks into her saddlebag then looked at the pegasus expectantly. "But more importantly, how are you feeling?"
Rainbow paused to think. "I feel... good? Energetic? Like I just woke up from a particularly good nap."
Twilight quickly flipped open a notebook and jotted some things down. "Interesting..."
An odd feeling overtook her. It was like their was an itch just under the surface of her skull. Like a headache but... different. Something wanted release. She focused her mind on the itch and found a 'gateway'. At least, that was how she had chosen to perceive it. Words could not describe this abstract concept. Cautiously, she began to probe this mysterious blockage.
It gave way.
The world exploded into an unsightly mass of colours and information right before her eyes. Rainbow Dash leapt back in surprise, flipping back onto the rough ground. Every shifting atom and collapsing waveform assaulted her conscious. Patterns shifted and probabilities were charted right before her eyes. Trees grew and withered in countless different ways as the soil shifted under her hooves as tectonic forces ripped it apart over and over in an endless cycle. The pegasus cried out and shut her senses, trying to stop the endless tidal wave of information her mind refused to comprehend.
MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP
"Ya ok sugercube?" a voice reached her ears, spoken in a million different words with a billion different intonations. It was less a series of words and more the concept concern made physical. She could see the sounds and hear the letters.
Rainbow dragged her perception to the source and immediately wished she hadn't. If she thought the information her feeble senses had already been exposed to was incomprehensible, it was nothing compared to looking at the two figures before her. The shone against the comparatively dim background like the sun against the void, radiating a near-infinite number of probabilities, so many of them utterly alien to Rainbow's perceptions.
"I think she's splitting again! Remember to focus, Rainbow! Focus on the here and now!" The second being spoke.
"Just follow the sound of mah voice!" the first added.
Desperately she pulled her senses inward, focusing on herself and nothing but herself. Nothing but Rainbow Dash. She knew who she was. She knew where she was. She knew when she was. The tsunami of information slowed to a trickle and then stopped. Slowly she opened her eyes and almost cried out in relief. Who knew simple rows of apple trees could look so good?
"What in the depths of Tartarus was that?" Rainbow whispered to herself.
Applejack shrugged. "You tell me. Your' the one tha' just collapsed like a spooked gopher. Seriously, are ya alright?"
The pegasus nodded slowly. She let the two mares help her back up.
Twilight pushed in front of Applejack. "What did you see?"
"I don't know." That was the only answer she could give. Already that feeling was fading from her memory. Trying to recall anything she'd witnessed in that strange state was like trying to cup water in her hooves. "But I think I know how I can find out."
Fear still gripped constricted her lungs, but she pushed past it. There was something that needed to be checked. Rainbow focused her mind again, finding that same gateway. Instead of busting it open, she only opened it a crack. Immediately the world was plunged into a monotone grey. It was depressingly dull, but at least it could be processed by her mind. Rainbow shifted her senses to her two friends. Unlike the radiant creatures of tangled probabilities and endless possible timelines, they only glowed with the probability of a few timelines. Linear and comprehensible.
"I think I'm seeing probability," Rainbow answered, for lack of a better word.
Twilight approached. The pegasus flinched upon seeing the strange shifting probabilities that came with Twilight's movement, but forced herself to focus on the present Twilight. The real Twilight.
"How fascinating. The boost of energy from the Rainboom must have let you temporarily see multiple possible futures," Twilight theorised. She turned to Applejack who just shrugged in response. '
"Hey, don't be lookin' at me. Ah'm still tryin' to figure out what 'seeing probability' means."
"Trust me Applejack, I don't either," Rainbow admitted.
Looking closely, Rainbow Dash realised it wasn't just possible futures she could see. There were faint echoes across the field of things that had already happened. With some effort, she could even see these things happening. She saw a shorter Applejack relentlessly bucking countless trees season after season. The trees were stripped of leaves as winter came. Looking closer to now, Rainbow could see herself walking with Twilight only a few minutes ago followed by a tremendous explosion that sent ripples through the timeline. That could only have been the Rainboom.
And focusing nearby, Rainbow could see three presences walking across the field only a few hours ago. Curiosity got the better of her and she allowed the echo to play out.
"We'll totally get out cutie marks in Go-Karting for sure!" a voice cheered.
"Totally!" came a second voice. "I can't wait to see Diamond Tiara's face when she sees me with an awesome cutie mark like that!"
The third figure hushed the other two. "Keep it down, mah sister is probably nearby and ya know how she feels 'bout us doin' these dangerous stunts."
There was something about that scene that left Rainbow Dash with a feeling of distress. Why? This wasn't the first time those fillies had done something potentially dangerous. Usually she found them awesome. The answer was obvious, but the reasoning was not. What about the Cutie Mark Crusader's latest stunt could make her future self feel so distraught...
Oh no
Applejack considered herself a down-to-earth gal. She didn't get none of this fancy-schmancy time nonsense. But what she did get was ponies. How to help them. How to nurture them. How to support them. She prided herself on being the unshakable rock everypony could rely on both physically and emotionally. In her opinion, this timey nonsense was givin' her friend a lot to be worried about. That's why Applejack took it upon herself to be standing by whenever it seemed like Rainbow might need a rock.
And with Rainbow Dash looking from place to place so quickly she expected her neck to snap, Applejack decided that time was now.
"Now sugarcube, why don't you sit down an' tell me what's botherin' you?"
"Got to find them. Got to find them," Rainbow mumbled in a half-panicked state, completely ignoring Applejack. Twilight looked on curiously, carefully jotting down notes while trying to signal to the pegasus.
Rainbow's eyes fix themselves on a random patch of grass in the distance. In a shimmer of rainbow light she blurred forward faster than anything Applejack had ever seen. Before she could even blink, Rainbow was on the other side of the field, looking around wildly for... something.
You ain't gettin' away from me that easy, Applejack thought as she galloped after her.
"Did Rainbow just teleport?" Twilight pondered, eyes wide in disbelief. The sound of hooves thundering on ground broke the alicorn out of her reprieve. She flew after the farmpony, carefully soaring next to her.
"Applejack, what did Rainbow say to you?"
"She said somethin' about 'finding them'! No idea what that means!" Applejack shouted back, keeping her eyes fixated on her pegasus friend and picking up the pace.
In another blur of light, Rainbow was on the road to Ponyville. She paused for only a moment before flashing away towards the town.
"Ah think she's headin' into town!" Applejack shouted to the alicorn. "Try an' teleport us there!"
Twilight nodded. She swooped down wrapped her forelegs around Applejack, flashing them away in an explosion of purple. They reappeared in the town, just in time to see a rainbow blur shoot past them.
"Ah don't think I've ever seen Rainbow go that fast," Applejack commented. Just as she was about to follow the blur, another one shot right past her nose in the opposite direction.
"She must be accelerating time for herself!" Twilight theorised. "She's not actually faster, but relative to us-"
Applejack nudged her hard. "You can explain your theory later, she's heading for the cliff!"
The two galloped off again, following the second blur. There they found Rainbow Dash standing at the edge of the cliff. Completely still. An awful thought hit Applejack. Was her friend really plannin' to... no. That's impossible.
"Hey Rainbow... are ya alright?" Applejack asked, slowly approaching the mare.
But the pegasus didn't reply. As Applejack and Twilight took spots to either side of her, Rainbow Dash turned to face the road.
"The trail ends here," She said with a cocky grin.
Twilight cautiously put a hoof on the pegasus' shoulder. "Would you like to come inside? I think you've had a tough day and maybe some rest would do you good. Just please come off the cliff."
"I can't do that Twi," Rainbow replied. She held a hoof up dramatically. "Any second now..."
The sound of screams reached her ears. Applejack looked up to see a Go-Kart accelerating down the hill, plummeting straight towards the edge of the cliff. Three fillies were crammed inside, each screaming their heads off. With mounting horror, Applejack realised she recognised them.
"APPLEBLOOM!"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders each tried to halt the cart. Scootaloo was leaning back, flapping her tiny wings against the drop while Applebloom and Sweetie Bell each pulled on a lever to engage the breaks. Their efforts were in vain, the cart sped even faster towards the edge. Applajack leapt in it's path, holding her hooves out to catch it while Twilight prepared to grab the fillies in a telekinetic grip. But before either of them could stop the cart it froze in place.
"Hey Twi, can you use some of your princess status to get them to build a barrier on this cliff face?" Rainbow Dash stepped forward, casually trotting to the frozen Go-Kart. "I swear, Equestria's greatest villains are the Ponyville engineers."
Applejack looked on in disbelief, heart still beating so fast it might burst out of her chest. She glanced between the frozen Cutie Mark Crusaders and the lake far below them. If Rainbow Dash hadn't led them here...
"Hey Rainbow... I don't know how to thank you. You saved my sister," She finished lamely. How was it possible to express the sincere depths of her gratitude in words?
Twilight simply nodded in agreement. Even she was too stunned to speak.
But the pegasus just snorted humerously. "Hey, what kind of awesome friend would I be if I didn't? Besides, my kind-of sister is in there too. One free cider and I'll call it even."
"You can have a whole damn keg."
The three mares burst into laughter. Rainbow entered the bubble of frozen time and casually plucked each of the fillies out of the cart then kicked it aside. She left them to hover in the air then exited the bubble.
"Now be ready to catch them."
Time resumed and Applejack caught Applebloom in her forelegs. Before her little sister could even say a word, Applejack nuzzled her softly.
Maybe timey weirdness wasn't all bad...
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Congrats on the featured
Time travel without a ship that has got to take a toll on ones body
Someone was trying to train RD's temporal powers, methinks. To what end, I'm not sure yet.
The thing is, if RD's powers are increasing/accelerating, one of two things will happen. Either she will Ascend to become the Alicorn of Time, or her powers will rip her mind and body apart as it tries to be in ever possible future, every reality at the same time.
Not sure if anyone picked up on this or if it's of any significance, but the pony that took Rainbow aside for the 'random' check shares her initials.
10588357
I got featured? Huh. That's pretty neat.
10588542
I'll be touching on that in a later chapter.
10588755
I'm not going to reveal how much of the plot you just guessed. But it's a fair amount. Remember what I said about Starlight?
10588888
Let's just say that Aion Industries has been expecting her arrival for some time.
10589076
Starlight Glimmer went back in time without a way forward, correct? She time travelled without RD's powers and was stranded in the past. But it ended up as a "stable" loop, so she re-established herself and waited for this moment, to drain RD's powers so she could achieve whatever her goal has now become (considering an unknown amount of time has passed, it may not longer necessarily be the elimination of cutie marks. Time has a way of changing one's perspectives on things, after all...
10589322
Yeah I'm going to stop giving you hints. Your guess is off by a lot, but it’s close. If you want to discuss more pm me.
10589427
How can I be off by a lot but close at the same time?
If you'd prefer, I can go back and put my previous comments into { Spoiler } tags.
10589592
You are correct about Starlight Glimmer trying to travel through time by harnessing Rainbow’s time magic. Incorrect about the consequences of it.
10590110
Ah. I actually thought Starlight time travelled without RD's power at first. Starlight went back in time, found herself stranded, and founded Aion industries (or otherwise became involved with it). How else could they have known to expect RD right after her visit to Starlight's village? Now they're trying to drain RD's powers for some other purpose that hasn't quite been made clear yet. Apparently the draining hasn't negatively affected RD yet, given she's now freezing time of others as well as jumping forward faster than a princess can teleport.
All guesswork of course, but I have fun doing it.
10590125
Seriously don’t read this comment if you don’t want to be spoiled.
You’re right about Aion Industries being founded by Starlight (should be pretty obvious that she is Starbeam Remedy) but she’s not trapped in the past. Trying to harness time magic affected her in other ways.
Omg it was worth waiting, I love this
10590562
Glad to hear it!