Chapter 2 - The Emerald Light
Transistors, vacuum tube diodes, cables, switches, transformer, more cables, and a few spare resistors. Yep... that should be enough... wait, isn't there also a... ah, here it is, my... oh wait, I never came up with a name for this thing, what should I call you, mister something? A.... well it holds energy over time, so I guess an energyizer, capa...capacity? Capacityor... a capacitor! Yep, that's perfect! Okay, and a couple capacitors. So that means... I dunno, Apple Bloom, maybe this won't even... oh Tartarus, worst it could do is burn out again.... or explode... wait... what was that sound?
Looking up from her work desk, Apple Bloom blinked to get her eyes to focus at a distance. And they did, bringing the vast contraptions of her workshop into sharp relief.
It was a large room, made from an old cave, once hollowed out of the mountain through centuries of wind and rain. Its front was enclosed with a well built wall of wood planks, a project that Apple Bloom and her big sister had once built together, when a foolishly optimistic teenage Apple Bloom had believed it would act as a headquarters for the Crusaders, the sister organization she had started to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
But the sound hadn’t come from that side of the workshop, so she continued to eye the place over.
Her own work area was set in the back of the workshop, within spittin’ distance of the lightning room; a mad scheme designed to power the underground city of New Canterlot entirely with a combination of magic and Shock troop lightning blasts in the event of a siege. Luckily at the moment even that sat quiet, the city being powered mainly by wind on a breezy autumn day like today.
Her workroom itself was actually fairly quiet at the moment. The coils of copper cables and vacuum tubes larger than Big Mac himself were sprawled around her part of the room well-lit with the harsh glow of off-white bulbs hung where they were needed in a pattern that to any eye but her own would have been called random. The hulking shapes of her new prototype armor sat amid broken relics from ancient storerooms half taken apart in study, a smattering of crystals and screws spread on tarps with pencil marks showing how they had all fit together in ancient devices she could barely begin to guess the purpose for. And yes, there were even some of her own machines in the workshop that had been sent back to her for repairs or the hope of some kind of upgrade.
Listening, however, brought no change. The place was as quiet as ever. Well, save for the rather large steam engines pumping fresh air to the lower levels of the Command Bunker next door through the wall.
She had grown so used to that sound, like a massive dragon snoring, that she didn't even register it as noise anymore. She had been meaning to see about installing some kind of backup to the system for a while now, but she really hated the idea of taking time she could be spending on something new to build another of something old. What I really need is an army of assistants to do that kind of thing for me, then I could actually start to turn a profit on my little operation down here, instead of just getting by with...
She froze. Again she heard the noise that had snapped her out of her concentration. A metallic ding, high pitched and far off, but audible, even over the din.
Apple Bloom rose from her stool, flexing stiff muscles. She was a fairly tall mare, though her muscles were more developed for machine shop work than from years toiling on the farm like her older sister's were. Her eyes were the color of golden delicious apples freshly picked from the tree, her red hair held back by a pink kerchief tied in a small bow. And she wore a heavy, dark wool apron tied around her front legs at the moment, a matter of workshop safety more than any sort of fashion statement.
If a nut has gotten loose on that filly's project, the whole thing could tear itself apart! she thought with growing concern. And yet, no yell of alarm coming from my only assistant - what is she doing?
"Pumpkin Cake!" Apple Bloom hollered, wiping grease off her front hooves with a cloth not much cleaner. "Girl, where are you?"
"Up here, Apple Bloom!" came a youthful voice from the front of the workshop. "At the front! You've got a guest! It's the Lieutenant!"
Apple Bloom jumped in surprise. This is unexpected! She thought with some excitement. He never comes by to inspect my progress himself! True, I have made some great stuff lately, but I don't have anything new to present at the moment... unless, could he have come by just to see me?
She shook her head to clear such thoughts from her mind. Surely not, she thought. He's too professional for something like that.
Still, the thought persisted, a Parasprite of her mind, consuming all other thoughts as it grew.
Another metallic ding echoed from Pumpkin Cake's part of the workshop, snapping her out of her trance completely.
"All well and good Pumpkin Cake, I'll be along in a moment, but shouldn't you be mindin' that crystal device? It sounds like the central shaft might be sliding, and if that thing breaks 'cause you weren't doing your job..." Apple Bloom let the sentence hang unfinished in the air. Pumpkin knew how long it would take to repair, and how hard it would be to get more funding. Apple Bloom certainly didn’t need to say that out loud. Especially if they had guests. But the filly really did need to check on that thing, it really did show promise. If it worked.
A quick squeal and the sound of drumming hooves was her only response, as Pumpkin Cake practically galloped to her part of the workshop to check on the device.
Trotting towards the front, Apple Bloom couldn't help pausing to eye over her reflection in a polished sheet of steel that hung on the wall. The face that looked back at her seemed as surprised as she was to see that somehow she was all but covered in engine grease. Stifling a groan, she made a go at cleaning up, though her cloth seemed to push the grease around more than remove any of it. Finally admitting defeat, she found her eyes drawn to the cutie mark on her flank. The tale behind that mark always made her smile.
Quickly straightening her mane, she checked her reflection again. Nodding in satisfaction, she trotted the rest of the way to the front of the workshop, resisting a sudden urge to canter.
•
"You don't understand Pip," Pumpkin Cake was saying desperately. "I can't just sit by and do nothing!"
Pip couldn't believe it. Pumpkin Cake picks today to harass him about her brother wanting into the military, when all Pip had come for was a quick word with her mentor? And yet he was somehow supposed to make sure that Pound Cake is not put on the front lines where they were the most desperately in need of new recruits? Not to mention the fact that front line, able bodied pegasi could easily be trained to drop bombs or if they were skilled enough, to take out enemy fliers in air-to-air pegafights?
"You do realize the air is the safest location on the front line, don't you, Pumpkin Cake?" he asked with incredulity. "Short of the occasional dog fight, air troops are essentially unmolested in combat. Most soldiers I know would trade both their back legs for a set of wings! That aerial safety is the whole reason everypony hides in bunkers during these daily bomb raids! We can't stop them!"
Pip stood panting by the door to the workshop, that for some reason resembled the door of a barn, surprised at how riled up this request had gotten him. Here he was trying to find out what his trance could mean and instead he was taking his stress out on a filly who was only worrying about her twin brother.
"I'm sorry, Pumpkin Cake," he said, acquiescing. "I guess I have a lot on my mind right now."
Pumpkin Cake nodded slowly, looking out the door of the workshop at the grassy hillside, as though wishing she could go hide in one of the nearby houses that spread off into the distance.
She anxiously chewing on a loose strand of hair from the copper colored bun atop her head - an age-old habit she never seemed able to break.
Finally, she said, "It's all right. I realize I'm asking a lot, but he's my brother, and if I don't look out for his best interests, nopony will."
She paused hesitantly, then continued, her face growing hard: "I have worked under Apple Bloom for a while now. I know that the military is her largest financer, and they are hoping for more weapons of war. Even if it is classified, I know enough about science to see the kinds of things this war is creating."
He opened his mouth to deny knowing what she was talking about, but she cut him off, yelling, "So don't you dare give me that propaganda about how safe the skies are on the front lines! We both know those skies will not be safe for much longer!"
Pip was stunned, but also impressed. Clearly Pumpkin Cake acted out of love for her brother, but she seemed to have an awareness of the world that was unusual for a pony who had lived most of her life in fear of attack, a shift in the Lay Line, or an advancing wall of Lay Ponies.
He considered: If her brother is as sharp as she is, he thought with excitement, he may be officer material! That will get him off the front lines...
"Okay Pumpkin Cake, I'll talk to your parents tomorrow at their shop in Ponyville. It's my day off anyways and I really have been meaning to go to town. If your brother really does have his heart set on a military life, your parents really can't do anything to stop him when you both come of age next week. At the very least, I will make sure they understand that he will need their support if he joins up. And who knows? Maybe I can pull some strings for him. We'll see."
It wasn't really a promise, he supposed. The war needed every available recruit they could get their hooves on these days, since the princess insisted that a draft was out of the question. Of course, she hadn't said anything against using propaganda or recruitment fairs, so that was something. Plus, whether they lived on the surface in Ponyville and used the princess's public bunkers, or they lived in either the semi-permanent civilian bunkers that dotted the countryside or the underground city of New Canterlot, getting bombed regularly had a funny way of bringing in ponies who wanted to protect their loved ones.
And now that he thought about it, Pumpkin Cake had been right to ask him. Pip could probably keep Pound Cake off the front lines if he called in some favors or had him tested for officer potential, though if we was going to stick his neck out for this young colt, he wanted to meet him face to face first, and see if he was worthy of the special interest.
And all that aside, his real interest now lay in this young mare in front of him. If she was this sharp at her age, she could do very well in weapons research one day. Especially if her theories about magic crystallography bore any fruit.
Suddenly, Apple Bloom's voice arose from the back of the workshop. "Pumpkin Cake! Girl, where are you?"
Pumpkin Cake's head swung around so quickly at the voice of her mentor, her hair almost came undone.
"Up here, Apple Bloom!" she replied in a loud voice. "At the front! You've got a guest! It's the Lieutenant!"
Pip had no idea how Pumpkin Cake could make out Apple Bloom's reply over the din, let alone what her mentor was talking about, but the young mare's face grew paler by the word, apparently realizing how long she had been away from her duties.
Turning back to face him, she bowed slightly, giving a rushed apology that she must return to work at once, but with assurances that Apple Bloom would be here to see him momentarily. As she rushed off to those duties, she yelled back to him her thanks, and that they looked forward to seeing him soon.
Subtle. He thought with a wry chuckle. She might do well in politics, too.
•
Pumpkin Cake wasn't sure if she was more excited, nervous, or annoyed.
Everypony knew that Lieutenant Pip spoke with General Rainbow Dash and Princess Twilight Sparkle on a regular basis. As if he couldn't take a minute to ask them to keep her brother stationed somewhere safe! she thought bitterly. The princess at least was nice, and Rainbow Dash was still a living legend, even bordering on superhero in the minds of the young ponies she knew. Surely they would have understood and helped.
She knew it was probably a hopeless cause, asking for something like that when the war desperately needed troops. The crude propaganda that permeated life in Ponyville these days was proof enough of that.
And on top of that, she had almost destroyed a machine that had cost her quite a bit of grant money just to prototype, and all because she wasn't at her post for the final test! Lucky that Apple Bloom had been watching out for her, like always. Pumpkin Cake really did consider herself lucky to have somepony as great as Apple Bloom as her mentor.
Of course, none of that meant anything if she couldn't fix this...
Upon rushing to her private area of the workshop, a wild array of crystals, gems, jewels, and even shiny rocks lay spread on the floor, the tables, and even taped to the walls, as she had worked through the arduous task of cataloguing every combination of cut, clarity, carat, and color that she could get her hooves on. It looked either beautiful or maddening, depending on who you asked. She was always jumping back and forth between the two perspectives herself, though now that scarcely mattered. For her eyes were now lost in the wonder of her creation, as it sat in the middle of the floor, glowing and spinning in place.
The machine was sizable, about the size of a male buffalo she had once seen in a refugee center a few years back, though it certainly looked nothing like one.
It was a mounding mass of cables and wires, vacuum tubes and arching electricity. But that wasn't what drew the eye. What made this machine different from all the others in the workshop was the source of all that grant money, the gems it was both covered and filled with. Red and blue and yellow and green and pink, they didn't just twinkle in the overhead lights, they glowed with a light all their own.
She had found years ago that she could take the potential residual magic her horn channeled and store it within gems. In fact, she found that the gems shone with light so intensely they could be seen through solid objects when she cast a particular spell near them. Imagine her shock to discover that the Lady Rarity, the Element of Generosity herself, had known about this since she was a filly, and had only used the knowledge to collect gems for use in clothing! As decorations, no less!
She still had trouble believing it at times. But unlike Lady Rarity, Pumpkin Cake had realized that this meant that gems and crystals could be used as conduits for storing magic. When she later saw the electrical wonders that Apple Bloom had created, she had finally realized the implications of her discovery, and she had gained her cutie mark, a collection of glowing gems radiating waves of colorful light, on the spot.
Naturally, she had become apprentice to Apple Bloom as quickly as she was able to after that. It wasn't hard really, once she had explained her theories about using crystals as conduits to control magic and her belief that Apple Bloom's electricity seemed to follow a similar natural law.
And yet here she was, running what had promised to be the last in a long series of stress tests before her machine was to be tried at full strength as intended, and her machine seemed to be on the verge of self destruction.
A quick look over the device, and she found the problem. A loose nut!
It was the worst possible nut to have gone loose as well, in what could only be described as a textbook example of Murphy's Law.
Anything that can go wrong will, and at the worst possible time, she quoted to herself, as she carefully drained the excess magic out of the input crystal, turning the machine off.
She only dared to use hoof tools in the vicinity of this device: she did not want to risk causing an unintended reaction with the crystals. So she pulled out a wrench, and carefully tightened the nut in question by hoof.
The centerpiece of her device was a large, carved emerald shaped in what was known as a princess cut, and the nut that had come loose was the one that held the rod keeping that centerpiece firmly in place.
When she had come back to check on the machine, that emerald had been slowly rotating on its stand, with each rotation it rubbed against a ruby she was using as a power conduit, sending off a shower of sparks, causing a loud metallic dinging sound and releasing a whiff of ozone.
She looked over the machine in concern. The emerald and the ruby both looked the same as before. No apparent scratches or blemishes. She breathed a sigh of relief. Any damage to her gems would have made them a danger to use, she was sure. And she certainly could not have afforded to buy replacement gems for at least a few months.
She was also sure the color, clarity, size, and cut of the gems were all as crucial to how the machine functioned as capacitors, resistors, and vacuum tubes were to Apple Bloom's machines, but until she could identify which combination produced useful results, she supposed that she was really just guessing, but that emerald was the largest she had been able to get her hooves on, not to mention the clearest.
Plus, she mused privately, a princess cut just seems like a good omen to me.
Sighing, she wiped the sweat from her brow with a hoof. At last, the nut was twisted tightly in place, and everything looked right.
With a quick surge of focused magic, she recharged the input crystal, turning the machine back on, intending to finally finish this last stress test.
The machine hummed to life, louder than she had ever heard it before.
And that's when Pumpkin Cake realized with shock that without thinking she had fully charged the input crystal, and the device was now running at full strength.
The last thing she remembered before a blinding green light erupted from the emerald centerpiece of her invention, tearing all thought from her mind, was the sound of her own voice, saying simply, "Murphy's Law indeed..."
•
Again, Pip found that his day was not going as planned.
It was supposed to have been a simple rendezvous to Apple Bloom's workshop, to find the pony most likely to know where he could find Applejack, who wasn't working today.
He was convinced the 'apple' he spoke of in his bizarre trance had to refer to one of those sisters, and if he had been a betting stallion, he would have put his money on the Element of Honesty wielding, truth-sensing, homefront coordinator.
Instead he was in a hospital waiting room on the surface about a mile from the workshop, trying to comfort Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Their son was pacing the tiled floor anxiously while his sister was in the back, getting looked over by doctors.
"Just tell us this Pipsqu-," Carrot Cake hesitated, lines creasing his worried face like the dough of a pastry, his orange hair dusted with white that was as likely to be flour as age. "Sorry, Lieutenant. I, that is to say we," he said, putting a foreleg around his wife, who was softly crying, "know that Pumpkin Cake is involved in potentially ground breaking research, and we couldn't be more proud of her, but we also know that that workshop invents new weapons that are used in the war. So I have to ask, did one of those," he paused again, this time for lack of the right word to use, "those things, hurt my little Pumpkin?"
Pip paused a moment before replying, considering. He could not reveal top secret military weapons research to the Cake's, but at the same time, he considered these two as family friends from all those years ago in Ponyville. And on top of that, he had promised Pumpkin Cake that he would talk to them about their son, who wanted to join the military himself, and there was hardly a better time than now, while they stood in front of him.
Finally, reaching a decision, he spoke.
"I had gone down to the workshop to research an unrelated matter, and I spoke with your daughter. She was apparently, as I understand it from speaking with Apple Bloom, on the verge of a major breakthrough in her studies. We spoke for a bit, and she went back to make some kind of adjustment to her device."
He hesitated, deciding to skip what he had spoken with Apple Bloom about, before continuing: "The next thing I know, the workshop was engulfed in an intense green light. Apple Bloom and I ran over to the source, only to find Pumpkin Cake sitting next to a large machine covered in twinkling crystals, which Apple Bloom identified as the crystal device your daughter had been working on. The green light seemed to have come from a large emerald in the center of the device, which was brightly glowing."
He could still see it clearly, with arching waves of dark green magic stretching from the emerald, orbiting around Pumpkin Cake in a dance of lights, before returning to the emerald, an otherworldly hum emanating from the device.
Pumpkin Cake had just been sitting there, staring into the large emerald with a look of pure rapture on her face, her pupils fully dilated, her eyes - rather than their regular shade of blue - were glowing in the same intense shade of green as the emerald.
Shuddering, he continued, choosing to leave those details out. "The device appeared to be doing something to Pumpkin Cake, so acting quickly, Apple Bloom grabbed a small black gem attached to the end of a silver rod, and touched it to a few of the gems in the device, which according to her would siphon excess power from the device. Sure enough, the emerald dimmed. Apple Bloom said it would be safe to move Pumpkin Cake, so I called the EMT's, and had her rushed straight here."
Of course, he also chose not to mention Pumpkin Cake screaming while the device powered off, before passing out. He had a bad feeling that scream would haunt his nightmares for a long time to come.
Shuddering to himself yet again, he finished the story: "Apple Bloom is back in the workshop with a couple of my soldiers, checking over the device to try and figure out what happened and what it may have been doing to Pumpkin Cake. Other than that, I'm afraid that all we can do is wait."
He paused again, hesitating, uncertain how to proceed. Finally, he pressed on. He owed Pumpkin Cake that.
"There is one final thing," he said, nodding towards the pegasus with the brown mane curled in a constant coif, his faintly golden wings ruffled in apparent agitation as he continued to pace the other side of the room. "I understand that Pound Cake has been planning to join the military when he comes of age next week." The Cakes stiffened. Before either one of them could say anything however, he rushed on: "If he still wants to join after this, I will personally do my best to keep him safe. You have my word on that."
It was the least he could do, he supposed. Pip had been the last to speak to Pumpkin Cake before this had happened to her. He knew it wasn't his fault, but even so he felt awful. And it only seemed like the right thing to do, given the circumstances. These two really did not need to worry about their son on top of everything else.
The grateful looks the Cakes gave him did make him feel a bit better, yet not as much as he would have liked. He paused, hesitating one final time before adding, "And I am sorry about Pumpkin Cake. I really do hope she is all right."
Before he could say another word, a teary eyed Cup Cake gave him a hug, which Pip returned awkwardly. As a soldier he really wasn't used to such things.
Releasing her, he gave them an apologetic smile, before saying: "Now if you will please excuse me, I have other matters I must attend to, but I'll be back to check on things here in a little bit."
Nodding to himself as though nothing more needed saying, he trotted off, the sound of Mrs. Cake soft crying the only thing to follow him as he left the hospital.
•
But this doesn't make any sense, Apple Bloom thought with growing concern. Where is this thing getting its power from without a unicorn powering it?
She was still in her workshop, going over every inch of Pumpkin Cake's device with the two unicorns Pip had sent to help her. And she was growing more nervous by the minute.
Since Pumpkin Cake had been rushed off, Apple Bloom had looked over everything. She had drained off the magic with the black drain crystal and the device was inert, yet for some reason in the last few minutes the large emerald in the center of the device had been getting brighter again.
She couldn't understand it. This violated every natural law she had ever known. The device was drawing magic from - well, from nothing!
Her ears perked up at a dreadfully familiar sound. The device had started making its ghostly humming noise again.
"No good!" she said aloud, "I think the device is about to activate again. You two, drop everything and make for the exit, NOW!"
Without hesitation, the two unicorns set down the tools they had been holding, turned around, and bolted with Apple Bloom following not a second behind.
As they burst through the exit to the grassy knoll with its garden path, the room behind filled abruptly with a blinding, green light.
Laying on the grass in shock, Apple Bloom was panting from the exertion of the unexpected sprint.
Standing up, she looked around. Both of Pip's soldiers had made it out, neither one looking the least bit winded at all.
The leader of the two, a stocky gray mare with a black mane, was looking down either side of the path they now stood on, as if she expected a sudden attack to spring from either a bush or from behind a tree, while the other, a pink-maned teal colt, was looking back toward the workshop with concern, his face awash in a rippling green light.
Apple Bloom turned back to the workshop herself, and gasped.
Through the open door, every square hoof of the workshop was glowing in an intense, emerald shade of green. And what was more, it appeared as though the light stopped in mid air at the door, making a solid wall.
"What is it?" the teal unicorn asked in a surprisingly flowery voice. "It looks so... solid!"
Apple Bloom had to agree. It did look solid. But being the practical pony that she was, she resolved to quickly find out. Reaching into the front pocket of the apron she had still forgotten to take off from before, she found a loose screw. Hesitating for only a moment, she threw it at the door, only to see a shower of green sparks and an intense flash of green light; a metallic odor suddenly filled the air. When her eyes cleared, the screw was nowhere to be seen. And the green wall of light still stood there, undisturbed.
"A force field!" she gasped, unable to believe her eyes. "They normally act as a solid wall that nothing can break, but this one is much more powerful. It didn't just stop that screw. It destroyed it!"
"And no unicorn was there to cast the spell needed to do it," the teal unicorn added nervously. "I need to tell my commanding officer about this," he said, regaining his composure. "This looks dangerous. Uh... Ms. Bloom, please do not approach the green light."
Without another word, the unicorn galloped off, his partner following close behind.
Apple Bloom sighed. Of course she wasn't going anywhere near an unknown force field emanating from an experimental technology with no apparent power supply! But that certainly wasn't going to stop her trying to find a solution. Her entire life's work lay behind that door!
That Pumpkin Cake had better not have ruined my inventions because of all this. She thought bitterly. If she survives whatever this machine did to her, I might just have to make her wish she hadn't.
Worry for Pumpkin Cake's safety made her amend the statement quickly. I just hope she is alright...
•
Pip was concerned. Here he was, simply trying to find out what a prophecy he had spoken in a trance while standing near three godlike royals had meant, and instead he was dealing with crystal magic beyond his imagining and comforting old friends in hospitals.
Okay, maybe it wasn't so simple. But he had found what he needed from Apple Bloom, brief as their visit had been. Today, Applejack was off to visit her brother Big Macintosh and his family at their old family farm.
The distance from the civilian hospital outside the New Canterlot Command Bunker to Sweet Apple Acres was significant. In fact, it was about half of the distance from the ruins of Old Canterlot to the heart of Ponyville. It didn't really matter though. He had a destination, and the train he was riding would get him most of the way. If his luck did not get much worse, he should have his answers and be sitting by a warm inn fire with a mug of good cider within two or three hours.
During the train ride, Pip sat staring out the window, lost in thought. The occasional thatch-roofed house or farm was visible in the setting sun, making long shadows stretch across fields of colorful fruits and vegetables as they grew. He was always pleased to see that even in wartime, life seemed to go on. True, every mile or so there was a large public bunker, or a ditch had been dug for a pony stranded outside during a raid to hide in, but even these seemed to have become just another part of everyday life.
Of course, he also passed an occasional ruined house, the victim of an attack on Ponyville itself. He was relieved to see no new smoke clouds rising; they would have indicated that today's bombing had hoped to strike at the civilian populace rather than cause damage to the military. No, it seemed they had only targeted New Canterlot today.
As the countryside flew by, he could just to say make out an old refugee camp about a mile off in the distance. As memory served, that camp was mainly refugees from Manehatten who had embraced their new lot in life, turning the formerly ramshackle collection of tents into what some had begun to dub Little Manehatten. He could even see buildings being constructed, in their peculiar style of using metal-roofed buildings which stood four or more stories tall that were indicative of ponies used to living in enclosed spaces.
I hope the Shadow's bombers have the decency to leave those ponies alone, he thought sympathetically. They have suffered worse than most in recent years.
But even the destruction of Manehatten fell from his mind as the train rounded a bend before coming into the station, the wheels hissing steam as it finally reached a full stop with a lurch.
Pip hadn't brought anything but the clothes on his back, so he was among the first off the train into Ponyville. Not wasting any time, he set himself to get to the farm at a brisk canter. He was in quite good shape; he could probably have galloped the distance if he chose to, but there was no reason to cause a panic. An officer running through a civilian zone might do just that if he wasn't careful. Plus he was known in Ponyville, and if he was recognized by anypony who had heard about Pumpkin Cake being rushed to the hospital...
He shuddered. Despite its explosive growth in size from refugees and the former elite of Old Canterlot flooding in over the last eleven years, in a way Ponyville still managed to have that small town habit of everypony getting into everypony else's business. And the Cake's were well-liked ponies.
Yep, I better get out of town fast before I am overrun with ponies wanting to know if I heard anything out at the base about what happened to Pumpkin Cake. I can definitely not report anything that happened today yet, and anything I refuse to say will run through the rumor mill until these ponies will say that any number of things happened.
So despite the risk, he picked up his speed a little more, the scattered houses becoming little more than a blur as he focused on his approaching target, a narrow alley, rarely used. It had been a favorite of his in his youth, a way to move around town without the constant worry of being trampled underhoof.
Quickly entering the alley, he looked around carefully. Lucky for him, it was as empty as he had remembered it. Picking up his speed again, he ducked clotheslines and wove around crates with a practiced ease. Finally, the edge of town came into view, and nopony had tried to stop him or ask him what he might know. With one last burst of speed, he pushed for the open meadow that led to Sweet Apple Acres.
"Oh Pipsqueak! Hey! Over here!"
The surprise at hearing that voice was almost overshadowed by the use of his full name. He hated it when ponies used it, he never understood what was so hard about just calling him Pip.
He sighed as he slowed his pace, until he found himself face to face with the last pony on the planet he had expected to run into. Silver Spoon had appeared around the gap out of the alley, blocking his path.
She was taller than he remembered when he had last seen her. Her violet colored eyes framed by opal glasses were the first thing he noticed, as she stared him down with apparent disapproval. Her silver on silver frame stood firmly in his way. He was trapped.
"Ello there Silver Spoon," he said dejectedly, resisting the sudden urge to flinch as he felt a hint of his Trottingham accent leak out. "Listen, I’d love to stay ‘n chat but..."
"What happened to you, Pipsqueak?" Silver Spoon said in the same snooty tone he remembered from his youth. "You go off and join the army like you're too good for the rest of us, and when you do bother to show your face around here you're galloping like the open gates of Tartarus are right behind you. So what happened? Did you leave your cutie mark at home or something?"
He couldn't believe it. He hadn't spoken to or even seen Silver Spoon in years. She had grown to full mare height in that time, yet the self superior tone she had always carried around in those days seemed to be missing. In fact, she almost seemed to be slouching where she stood. And for some reason she reeked of varnish.
"Actually, Silver Spoon," he said quickly, "I am in a hurry, so if you don't mind..."
"Well, maybe I do mind, Pipsqueak! Maybe I mind you charging past my shop to avoid the fumes, but you not having the common decency to show your face as you do so!"
Pip was stunned. Her shop? He had been gone from Ponyville for a while, but it had never occurred to him that even the ponies from his past who he didn't like weren't doing the same things they had as kids. Somehow he had imagined Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara were still roaming the streets, torturing blank flanks.
He couldn't help himself. Raising a hoof to point at her, he said, "You... work in a shop." It didn't even sound like a question to his ears.
"Yes, Pip, I work in a shop," she said dryly, rolling her eyes at him and smirking. "I was polishing some silver when I saw you barreling through." She gestured without looking to a tarp spread on the ground covered in silver pots and spoons at the side of the alley, which Pip realized he hadn't seen as he barged through because they were hidden behind a large, wooden crate.
He paused, resisting the urge to check over his shoulder before asking, "So what, is Diamond Tiara around here somewhere as well?"
At that, Silver Spoon seemed to deflate, the light silver mane hanging loosely down her dark silver back almost seemed to lose its sheen. She frowned, and straightened the glasses on her face before responding, her eyes averted. "She married a colonel and moved away a few years back... I haven't heard from her since."
She paused, clearly uncomfortable with thoughts of her old friend abandoning her, before continuing.
"As for the rest, things haven't been going so well what with the war. This piece of junk is my father’s antique store,” she remarked with a wave of her hoof at the building they stood behind: a tumbledown yet stately construction with Old Ponyville bones, just like them. She said it with a wry, partially-joking grin that said even though she insulted it, no one else could. “The fumes were affecting his health, so I took over things around that time. It actually gives a different kind of meaning to my own cutie mark, if you think about it."
She smiled at the last, a not entirely unpleasant smile, and Pip was surprised to find himself smiling back. Maybe she's not so bad after all.
"Well listen, Silver Spoon," he said in a much friendlier tone than he had before. "I really do have to take care of an urgent matter before it gets too late, but I dunno, it would be nice to get to catch up. What do you say we grab a drink when I get back into town later tonight?"
A look of genuine surprise on her face, Silver Spoon nodded in agreement, before suggesting a nearby inn she claimed had a good selection of ciders and wasn't too crowded.
Giving her a quick smile as he said his goodbyes, Pip stepped around Silver Spoon, before he took off at a gallop once more, leaving Silver Spoon to stand behind him, a smile still on her face.
That went well! He thought with glee. Silver Spoon and I can catch up later and nopony got the chance to ask me about Pumpkin Cake!
As he cleared a rise, leaving Ponyville to disappear behind him, Pip's jaw dropped. Wait a second, did I just ask Silver Spoon out on a date?!
It had happened so naturally that he hadn't even thought about it, it had just happened. Still, she had seemed a lot nicer than she had all those years ago, and if she can change, then so can my luck. Maybe things are finally turning around after all, he thought as he galloped, a smile forming on his own face.
•
Apple Bloom was at the hospital. The green energy field was being examined by 'experts' from the military, and she had some time to kill without access to her workshop, so she had decided to visit Pumpkin Cake.
By the time Apple Bloom arrived from her workshop, the Cake's had already been let in to see Pumpkin, and it seemed with luck that Pip had had the foresight to put Apple Bloom on the list of approved visitors, so she got in right away.
The room was a fairly simple hospital room: white walls, white sheets, white tiles on the floor. The hospital bed was the only one in the room; it seemed that Pip had secured the Cake's with a private room. Apple Bloom could not help but wonder if he had done so as a favor to old friends or because a private room was easier to guard against eavesdroppers.
It was what she saw in Pumpkin Cake's room that Apple Bloom hadn't expected.
Pumpkin Cake was in the bed, and either asleep or unconscious; Apple Bloom could not tell which. The top of her head was wrapped in a complex metal frame, with a cable feeding to a print out that moved back in forth in a series of waves. It was a design of Apple Bloom's based off of a device that Twilight had made back when she had first moved to Ponyville almost sixteen years ago that measured brain activity. And from the looks of the printout, Pumpkin Cake's thoughts were racing furiously.
Before Apple Bloom could so much as think to ask a doctor how long Pumpkin's brain had been running at such an alarming rate, she was taken upon by the rest of the Cake family, all at once.
"Oh Apple Bloom, dearie, thank you so much for coming down to see our little Pumpkin!" Cup Cake said as she embraced Apple Bloom in a hug that made Apple Bloom's eyes bulge. "It means so much to us that you came! Oh my, but she does ever so much look up to you!"
Gasping for breath, Apple Bloom managed a weak smile and asked, "How is she?"
Releasing her, Cup Cake's face grew dark with worry once more, her crows feet looked to be larger on her light blue face as it was contorted by a mixture of worry and lack of sleep.
"No better.” Cup Cake replied, “She hasn't regained consciousness since they brought her in."
Pound Cake spoke up then, his voice steady and confident, having already dropped to the deeper voice of the adult he was to be declared next week. "She's okay. I know my sister, and she would not, would not, just give up. She could always get herself out of any situation with that head of hers. If I had to guess, I would say she was just waiting for the right moment to surprise us."
Carrot Cake chuckled in agreement, albeit with some sadness to it, before he replied, saying: "Ya know what Pound Cake, she would at that."
Apple Bloom wandered over to the bed to have a closer look at Pumpkin Cake, only to jump in surprise as she heard her quietly mutter: "Quetheru linyenwa, hlar Arassë."
Noticing her sudden jump, Cup Cake asked hopefully, moving a steel gray hair out of her face before she could chew on it, "What is it? Did she say something?"
Apple Bloom was sure that what she had heard was only gibberish, but she could have sworn she had heard the name of the Deerfolk, 'Arassë', used. If it was, then that must have been their native tongue that Pumpkin Cake had been speaking.
"No, it was nothing," she said carefully, not wanting to worry them further. "Just random murmuring in her sleep."
She gave them a reassuring smile, yet she felt an icy ball form in the pit of her stomach. What had that machine done to that poor filly?
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wow, it seems that things are going to get worse before they get better
How is the "Distant Future" the same generation as the current element bearers?
Apple Bloom, the Cake twins, and Silver Spoon too? I sure hope we keep seeing familiar faces!