Ark: Friendship is Survival

by Pomp-Neigh

Chapter 7 - Prologue To Ascension.

After yesterday's worldwide revelation, there was too much that needed to be done. Princesses Celestia and Luna are currently in the Canterlot Castle's throne room, handling various messengers from the rulers of the neighboring nations. Undoubtedly, this was due to them witnessing the arrival of the Obelisks, which now floated above three separate locations for all to see. Interestingly, they formed a near-perfect triangular formation with Ponyville and The Everfree Forest almost dead set in the center.

As was requested by Twilight Sparkle, she and the sisters filled out the appropriate documentation and paperwork together, which enabled the sisters to return to their old duties. Celestia would once again handle the day's affairs while Luna would return to her nighttime obligations. Of course, this included their roles of raising and lowering their two beloved celestial objects.

After a heartfelt goodbye with Princess Celestia, Twilight visited her parents in Canterlot. She is currently accompanied by Spike, Starlight Glimmer, and Helena. As this happens, the other Element Bearers had already returned to their homes to say goodbye to their loved ones; via the aid of Discord, who opened a portal for them at the request of Fluttershy.

A series of knocking echoes throughout a specific home in Canterlot, to which its current occupants take notice. "Honey!" A white unicorn mare exclaims from the home's kitchen. "I'm preparing today's lunch, so can you get that for me?!"

"Anything for you! My beautiful Velvet!" A dark-blue unicorn stallion responds, positioned on a couch within the home's living room. He hops off the furniture and walks towards the exit/entrance as another series of knocking beats against the door.

"Coming!" The stallion calls out as he finally reaches the door, alights his horn, and opens it. His eyes widen, and a giant smile stretches across his face before he shouts:

"Twilight! My baby girl!"

"Hello, dad! I missed you and mom so much!" Twilight replies as the two run into each other for a warming embrace.

Spike starts to draw near the duo and says:

"How's it going, pops? It's good to see you again."

"Spike! Get in here, you little rascal!" The unicorn stallion exclaims as he fires up his horn and floats the young dragon over to him and Twilight.

As this is going on, Helena turns to Starlight and says:

"Awwww, they are loving parents. Just like their profiles mentioned."

"You probably shouldn't say that out loud," Starlight comments before placing a forehoof to her chin in thought, "Hmm, now that I think about it, I never got to speak with Twilight's parents much. The last time I can remember was when we restored the Crystal Heart. They were also at Twilight's coronation, but I wasn't able to spare a chance to speak with them." She then walks forward, "Nice to see you again, Mr. Night Light."

"Ah! Hello there, Starlight. Twilight keeps us updated on your progress, and I'm so happy that my daughter has someone like you under her tutelage," Night Light responds.

Starlight takes on a surprised expression as a blush then forms onto her cheeks before she replies:

"Wow, Twilight… is that true?"

"Of course, I take the time to update my parents on my various adventures via letters whenever I possibly can. I told them about you becoming my student and all the progress you've made so far."

Suddenly, something clicks within Starlight as she says:

"Wait… did you tell them about when I-"

"What are we all standing out here for?! Let's head inside! Velvet's making lunch as we speak," Night Light interjects as he turns around and beckons for everyone to follow as Twilight alights her horn and closes the door behind them.

"Honey! Twilight, Spike, and some of their friends are here!" Night Light exclaims.

"Oh, dear! Welcome home, sweetie! I'll be with you all in just a moment!" Twilight Velvet responds.

The stallion leads the group into the Living room as he takes his place on the furniture he sat upon before. Twilight, Starlight, and Spike sat on another piece of furniture placed adjacent to Night Light's. Helena floats around the room as she comments:

"This is a cute place, real homie."

"Thank you, miss?" Night Light inquires.

"Oh! Pardon my manners. My name is Helena, and If you don't mind me saying, you're taking my appearance rather well."

"Oh, well, I figured Twilight had something to do with you since she's such an inventive mare. It was only a matter of time before she created something crazy. No offense, Helena."

-That's not exactly true, but I'll roll with it.-

"None taken! However…" Helena then turns towards Twilight with a sad face emoji present on the AI's visor. The lavender mare seems to catch onto the mechanical entity's meaning as she sighs sadly and says:

"Dad… there's something I need to tell you. Trust me when I say that it's going to be crazy, but let's wait for mom to join us first."

As if fate itself were listening, Twilight Velvet enters the room as she comments:

"Sorry for being late, everypony. I've got some hayfries and hayburgers!" The mare then trots happily into the room and places the consumables onto the table positioned between the two couches. Velvet takes her place alongside her husband, to which she pecks him on the cheek.

"Alrighty then. So, Twilight, what was it that you wanted to speak to us about?" Night Light inquires.

Twilight takes a deep breath then exhales as she prepares herself for this revelation.

"Mom, Dad, I'm going to be gone for a while. To be honest… I have no earthly idea how long It'll be until I return. However, before I leave, I want you to know that you are the greatest parents a pony like me could ever have. I'm going to tell you everything I've come to learn recently, but you must keep it a secret and continue to live your lives as if everything were normal."

Twilight's parents turn to each other momentarily with worried expressions before they turn back to their lavender-colored offspring.

Helena nods to Twilight while Spike and Starlight place an appendage onto the alicorn's shoulders. Without any further delay, Twilight says:

"I'm going to start everything off with the Arks..."

---

Two days later.

---

The Elements Bearers, Spike, Helena, and Starlight Glimmer are currently exiting the train and making their way towards the Crystal Empire, much to the shocked expressions of nearby onlookers who noticed Helena's appearance. Then, a nearby conductor shouts:

"Welcome to the Crystal Empire! Attention! All aboard for those who wish to return to Canterlot!"

Helena was stealing some curious glances from those nearby, not to mention the train ride itself as they gaze upon her mechanical wonder. The AI was honestly surprised that they didn't react more overtly, but in comparison to the giant floating Obelisks, she probably didn't draw that much of their attention.

Posted on nearby walls and notice boards were articles and news reports, all of which focused entirely on the Obelisks. Bold texts such as 'Where did these wonders come from?!' and 'Eyewitness reports say that a red, blue, and green light shone over Canterlot before the mysterious objects appeared.' were present on some of these outlets, along with a photo of each obelisk. Of course, the Green Obelisk was the most referred to of the three as it was much closer to home.

"Looks like everypony's going crazy about them Obelisks," Applejack comments.

"Can you blame them, darling? By the way, how'd it go with everypony and their families? We'll be gone for quite some time when we--what did you call it again?" Rarity inquires as she looks towards Helena.

"The Ascension Protocol. Since The Green Obelisk is the closest of the trio, we'll use that one to send you all to The Island," Helena responds.

"Ah. Thank you, darling. Well… Sweetie Belle took it rather well, but my parents aren't exactly too happy about this. Then again, I can't blame them; I'm leaving this world for Celestia's sake!" Rarity exclaims dramatically, raising a forehoof.

"The Cakes can hold down the fort in my absence at Sugarcube Corner. As for my parents, they were ecstatic about it. Maud even told me to bring back a rock for her!" Pinkie Pie exclaims happily.

"How do you know the word: Ecstatic?" Rainbow Dash inquires.

-I'm more worried about her parents' and siblings' reactions… a pretty weird bunch there.- Helena says internally.

"Oh, boy… Granny Smith and Big Mac were pretty angry with me," Applejack says sadly. "Mah' sister was ah'mazed by the idea, but those two begged me to stay here. Sugar Belle had to get involved to calm down Big Mac."

"Wait a second… did you even tell them what's going on?" Rainbow Dash inquires. "You told them we're leaving, but… did you tell them, well, everything?"

"N-naw…"

"What?!" Everyone else exclaims in unison.

"You didn't tell them? Darling, they have to know,” Rarity comments.

"Look, ah'm sorry, ok? Ah' couldn't tell them that… that we all died and came back to life over and over again." Applejack responds with sadness etched onto her features. "Ah' couldn't bear to tell Big Mac and Apple Bloom that we lost our ma' and pa' so many times before."

"I can understand that, Applejack," Twilight comments. "My parents were shocked when I told them we were leaving this world and everything about the Arks. But…" The lavender mare hesitates to go any further, prompting Spike and Starlight to look at each other.

"She left out the part about Discord resetting us all," Starlight finishes with a saddened expression. "Hay, I couldn't even bring myself to tell Trixie about this, not to mention Sunburst when we get to The Empire. I especially don't know if I even want to tell my parents."

"I'm right there with you and Twilight; I couldn't do it either," Spike says as the small drake places a hand onto Twilight's left foreleg, "They're practically my parents, too."

"I told Scootaloo about it but what I got was pretty unexpected," Rainbow Dash said.

"What?" Twilight inquires.

"Well… she wanted to ask Discord about why he didn't bother to fix her wings. As for my parents, they were awesome about it."

"Yer' lying, Rainbow," Applejack responds with a deadpan expression. This causes the cyan pegasus to take on a saddened expression and sigh in defeat before saying:

"Ok, fine… I did the same thing as Twilight. I told them about our world and the Arks but nothing about what that bucking moron, Discord, did."

"Discord is truly sorry, Rainbow," Fluttershy replies as she finally joins the conversation. "He wants to make everything right by us all; he even agreed to watch over my animals while I'm away. Besides, you heard Helena. Someone else ordered Discord to do that."

"That still doesn't excuse what he did to us all, Flutters. I'm sorry, but that jackass isn't getting my forgiveness any time soon, If at all!" Rainbow declares angrily.

"Come on now, no need to be too harsh on the guy. I'm sure he's already bummed out about it as we speak."

"Why are you even defending him, Helena?" The cyan pegasus inquires. "Weren't you chewing him out just a few days ago?"

"Yes, but that was before I scanned him and found the possible existence of a Homo Deus fiddling with his protocols. You need to understand, this is very serious. While you all go to The Island and start your journey, those of us here need to find that entity and make sure that they aren't Rockwell 2.0."

"I'm looking forward to that story," Spike comments. "From what you're saying, this Rockwell guy sounds like a big old jerk."

"Oh, I'll tell you once we get things in motion, trust me on that. Alright ponies, and dragon, of course, we'd better start going before the weather acts up."

Everyone nods in response as they walk off the train station's platform and reach ground level. They make their way towards The Empire in the distance, along with its latest addition floating just above it: The Green Obelisk.

Comments

[GlitchyFox]

wait the ground part of the obelisks are where? and is anyone investigating them?

[Pomp-Neigh]

10631690
That's revealed in the next chapter.
The Obelisk are of course going to make everyone curious and we will explore that in the coming chapters.

[GlitchyFox]

10631694
you could have helana warn the ponys about the bosses if they put the artifacts in as someone is bound to be curious now

[Charlie_K]

Place your bets folks, place your bets. Who's first to die from a level 5 dilo on the beach?

[Pomp-Neigh]

10632763

I wonder who's going to be the first to get annoyed by pegos.

[Green-Venom]

"Yes, but that was before I scanned him and found the possible existence of a Homo Deus fiddling with his protocols. You need to understand, this is very serious. While you all go to The Island and start your journey, those of us here need to find that entity and make sure that they aren't Rockwell 2.0."

Plottwist, it’s the survivor, somehow traveling back in time after Genesis 2.