Restoring a wasteland.

by Aiwhisper

Ch8. Day one.

“Morning everypony.” Sunset grumbled. She was the last one to show up to breakfast having fallen back asleep for a bit, after she did her part for the exchanging of Moon and Sun.

“Morning Sunshine.” I cheeky replied. She growled playfully a bit at that remark.

“Morning Sunset.” Rainbow spoke with a mouthful of pancakes causing her smile to return.

“Morning.” Twilight and Fluttershy replied.

“Morning girls and Dusk. So, today you three.” Sunset used her wings to motion at the newly minted mares. “Will be learning the basics of how to be a pony. It is a lot different that being human with some perks, like no periods, and some detriments, like yearly heat seasons. Once all that’s out of the way we can move onto magic for you Twilight.” She began digging into the pancakes I passed her.

“I really get to learn magic?” She looked up at her horn while Sunset replied with a nod.

“What about us learning to fly?” Rainbow fluffed her wings. She had already finished her breakfast and was excited to get moving.

“I’ll be taking care of that.” I answered. I’m glad Harmony didn’t skimp on flight knowledge compared to magic, probably figured I would have to teach Sunset. “I’ll also be teaching you girls to preen your wings though it looks like you’re doing decent Fluttershy.”

“My birds need help sometimes, luckily pony wings aren’t much different.” Fluttershy held one out showing some impressive control of her nicely groomed wing.

“Anyway Sunset, what do you want me doing while you handle ‘girl talk’?” I tried doing air quotes with my hooves.

“Well the storm is still going.” She tapped her chin. “Maybe finish organizing our supplies? I wouldn’t explore the rest of the castle alone until I take care of the wards.”

“Sounds good.” I went back to my breakfast.

---

“Alright you three.” Sunset started. She had lead the girls back to the suite Rainbow and Fluttershy were using. “First things first, a basic intro to being a pony and using your hooves. I noticed you all having trouble with eating at breakfast.” She picked up pen from the desk with her hoof While Fluttershy blushed.

“Fascinating, how do you get it to stick like that.” Twilight looked closely at Sunset’s hoof.

“Magic, specifically my TK field. Everypony has two types of magic, the basic TK field and the race specific magic. The TK field is used for lifting items with our hooves and provides just as much control as hands once you get good enough. You can also use it to balance items on your back or even stick things to your sides.” She lifted a book then stuck it to her side and used her field to slide it onto her back. “Most ponies don’t bother with that much control, especially unicorns since they have levitation, but it comes in handy and you can still use it while casting spells.”

“So what’s the other types?” Rainbow looked impressed by the display while Fluttershy just watched normally.

“Well for you and Fluttershy you have Pegasus magic which includes weather manipulation, cloud walking, flying, and enhanced vision. As for Twilight she has general magic like levitating objects and learning spells. We don’t have any Earth ponies but they have enhanced strength, stamina, and endurance along plant or nature magic. There’s a few other types of ponies but they were rare even before the disaster.” Sunset finished her basic explanation.

Fluttershy raised her hoof. “So what about alicorns like you and Dusk?”

“We are a mix of every type of pony so we get every type along with a much larger wellspring of power.” Sunset smiled.

“Awesome! How can I become an Alicorn?” Rainbow excitedly got into her face.

“Sorry Dash.” Sunset pushed her away with a hoof. “Not even I know that. Normal ponies can ‘Ascend’ into alicorns but the method isn’t known. I only became one when Harmony Ascended me into one as the last Equestrian mare left.” She became extremely downcast for a moment then shook her head.

The girls all exchanged glances at the scene.

“Hey, it’s alright girls. At least I’m not alone.” She gave a sad smile and the three gave her a hug. Even Twilight awkwardly joined in.

“Alright let’s get you girls training those hooves.” Sunset broke the hug and passed them each a few pens to manipulate. The girls immediately got to work trying to old them along with other objects in the room.

---

“Let’s see here.” I was hovering a clipboard in my magic and checking items off my list. “Food will be a bit tight with the extra mouths to feed but the extra hooves will be worth it.” I tapped the pen on my chin. “Luckily everything transitioned safely, I was worried magic would damage the electronics. I do hope the library survived since the movies we brought won’t last forever and there were only a few advanced spell books in Celestia’s room.”

We had yet to find much other useful literature around the castle, aside from the journal, in our brief searches. Continuing to check the supplies we had brought, “Hmm, we will need to plant these seeds soon else we will have to ration. Should be able to just turn the old garden outside into a small farm as the greenhouse is already full.”

I set down my list after getting everything organized and began unpacking the leisure items. “Hmm the solar panels won’t work until this storm finally passes but the batteries should last long enough.”

I took the electronics back to our suite in order to set them up and overheard the girls practicing. Once I finished unpacking everything that needed to be unpacked I decided to explore a bit even after Sunsets warning.

Most of the castle was actually quite ordinary until I reached the throne room. “Wow the show didn’t do it justice.” As I looked around I got a bit worried when I spotted the throne. “Celestia must have really been upset.” The backrest of her golden throne was half melted into slag and there were four melted hoof prints on the floor where she must have stood. It was a testament to the castle’s construction that the rest of the room was untouched aside from a few singed banners.

“I guess I should be glad she didn’t burn it all down and make it harder on Sunset and I to repair.” I stopped to look at the last stain glass window in the procession of history that should have included Twilight saving Luna. The spot now contained a window of Celestia mourning in a graveyard with the sun high in the sky and the moon under her hooves.

The design was clearly different from the rest. “The survivors must have made it as a final reminder.” I found myself tearing up even though this wasn’t originally my home after reading it’s placard ‘Celestia’s lament’.

“Dusk you in here?” Sunset came through the doors. “There you are we’re fin…” she strode over withe the others and they all started up at the same window I was looking at with somber expressions.

“Mom really gave up didn’t she.” Sunset sniffed. “Just let the world burn after her family was gone.”

I pulled her close with a wing and the others joined in with a nuzzle.

---

None of us really noticed how long we sat there until Rainbow’s stomach growled. “Hehe, sorry guess it’s lunch time.”

“Yes lunch.” Fluttershy clapped her hooves together and began hovering. “How about I cook since Dusk kindly did it this morning.” With impressive control the peagsus floated out the door towards the kitchen.

“Did she just fly?” Rainbow eventually asked and we all gave a nod before following along to the dining room.

“So how did the training go?” I asked as we all sat down.

Sunset was about to answer before Twilight beat her too it. “Oh it was wonderful, Sunset is a great teacher and I can already use utensils again.” Twilight demonstrated with a fork as Sunset blushed.

“Yeah, being a Pony ain’t so bad.” Rainbow puffed up. “Still kind of strange to not wear clothes.”

“Not wear…” It was Twilight’s turn to blush as she glanced my way as the other two laughed. She was saved further embarrassment by Fluttershy bringing in bowls of soup with crackers balanced impressively upon a tray on her back.

“Eat up everyone.” Fluttershy smiled as Sunset helped out, using her magic to distribute the meals.

“So, how were the supplies?” Sunset asked while eating.

“They all made it through safely however…” I didn’t know how to proceed.

“What?” She stopped eating and focused more on me.

“Well, with three extra ponies food will run out faster.”

“Oh my. Should I eat less?” Fluttershy asked.

“Are we going to starve?” Rainbow looked worried.

“No, no. We should be fine so long as we focus more on growing food before any other plans, like exploring, first.” I placated and the others sighed in relief.

“I can make us a meal plan!” Twilight shot up from the table and ran into the kitchen.

“Guess that’s one plan.” Sunset laughed. “Why don’t the rest of us go practice flying?” She asked wile levitating our dishes into the kitchen a yelling towards Twilight. “Twilight practice your levitation while doing the dishes please!”

“Okay.” Was the only response before we heard a crash of a dish followed by ‘oops’.

---

“So what’s first? Hovering or maybe laps?” Rainbow excitedly asked after we made it into the large ballroom we planned to practice in.

“Rainbow let him talk.” Fluttershy quietly admonished while Sunset tittered.

I coughed into my hoof. “To be honest I’m not exactly sure where to start. Fluttershy already has preening down so she should probably teach you girls as it can be quite… intimate.” This got a blush from all three. “So how about gliding.”

I walked up the stairs to the balcony and jumped off with flared wings for a nice landing. “Nice and simple see. And I can catch you with magic if you’re worried about falling.”

We spent the next few hours practicing gliding and other flight techniques. The girls all learned quite quick, probably because of the portals magic, and we eventually stopped once Twilight showed up.

“Well I have good news and bad news.” Twilight started as we gathered around her. “I finished my list and we have only three months worth of food, on a set schedule, and without snacks.”

“Um Twilight, what’s the good news?” Fluttered meekly asked.

“I just told you. I finished my list.” Twilight gave a proud smile.

Rainbow groaned. “Great, so we will starve, there’s no way we can grow food that fast.” The three former human girls looked worried.

“Um girls, you’re forgetting we’re ponies. We can eat hay or grass, which grows quickly, for part of our diet and with Dusk’s and my Earth pony magic we can help plants grow for the other food items. We also brought a few saplings so they are a bit ahead.” Sunset smiled.

Twilight tried to do a face palm. “Right, I forgot to take our new diet into account.” Twilight did a few mental calculations before nodding.

“Grass? Sounds gross.” Rainbow huffed.

“It’s good. Depending on how you season it you won’t even notice.” Sunset poked her with a hoof. “Unless you prefer starving?” Sunset raised an eyebrow.

Rainbow grumbled. “Fine.”

---

After a quick dinner we all got together in Sunset’s and my suite to play a board game and relax. This also allowed the girls to practice their hoof control.

While the first day hadn’t been very stressful we all knew the work was just starting.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Will Sunset also have to deal with whatever evil force was responsible for the Wasteland Timeline that Starlight Glimmer accidentally created?

[Aiwhisper]

11783985
Not really since Celestia caused most of it in her grief, there will be other baddies and issues though.

[My dad]

I'm really looking forward to where you take this story keep up the good work:rainbowlaugh