Fields of Fire

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Table of Contents
Epilogue

Chapter 1

Fields of Fire
Chapter 1

Ponyville was changing. Twilight Sparkle looked around in confusion, watching as she and her friends walked along the High Street following Mister Happy as he lead them along towards the edge of town. Twilight kept a close eye on the combat as she walked whoever these FutureTec bosses were, they had seized control of the Everfree Plains Ballistic Research and Development Facility, along with what remained of Emerald Sparkle’s combot and spritebot armies.

Twilight watched as a combot work crew pulled up the cobblestone road as she walked; another work crew not far behind it were putting down asphalt for a new road. Parts of Ponyville were being torn down and built back up right before her eyes, and it was a lot to take in. Twilight glanced to her friends, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike, Vinyl Scratch, Surprise, and Whirlwind had all fallen in behind her, and all of them were dumbstruck by the turn of events.

Following the north eastern road, they exited Ponyville and into Whitetail Wood, following along the pathway. They entered a clearing and discovered a small building that they were not familiar with.

‘This is where the cave is supposed to be’, Vinyl Scratch said.

‘There used to be a cave here!’ Mister Happy proclaimed in his cheerful voice as his torso rotated around its axis for him to ‘look’ at them. The face on his monitor giving them the same cheerful appearance it always did, as if it weren’t able to display anything else. Which, they supposed to be very likely. ‘FutureTec levelled it and built this building on top of the old site!’

Mister Happy waved his manipulator arm for the ponies to follow as they went inside the building. It was a small, rather plain looking room, with nothing in it with the exception of a few potted plants and several posters adorning the walls. Twilight glanced at the one closest to her. It displayed a picture of Cheerilee teaching a class. ‘FutureTec, building a better future, for our children’, it said, printed in large, bold letters. Another poster displayed a combot walking a group of foals across a busy street while holding a balloon. ‘FutureTec, Old Friends you never knew you had’.

At the far end of the room, there was a set of metal doors, an elevator, Mister Happy rolled over to it and pressed the down button. The doors slid open and he beckoned for the ponies to join him.

‘This is always my favourite part!’ Mister Happy said.

Twilight glanced over to Rainbow Dash, who shrugged, and then over to Vinyl Scratch, who was wearing an uncharacteristic frown on her face.

‘Please! We mustn’t keep the bosses waiting!’ Mister Happy proclaimed.

Without another word, the ponies followed the combot into the elevator. The metal doors closed behind them with a loud clank. They all felt the elevator begin to move.

‘These bosses?’ Applejack asked. ‘Who exactly are they?’

Mister Happy rotated towards her, not answering immediately. ‘It embarrasses me to say this, but I don’t actually know! I’ve never met them!’

‘Didn’ they make ya?’ Applejack asked.

‘Nope! I was built as part of Doctor Emerald Sparkle’s force for her coup d’état against Princess Celestia!’ Mister Happy said. ‘But I was never deployed. I was in storage during that time, and I was reprogrammed and reactivated by a FutureTec engineer named Sprocket!’

‘Ah see...’ Applejack said.

The elevator reached the bottom, opening to the familiar, albeit, now well lit cavern, which housed the EPMB door. The door was shut tight, and had been repainted. The large white letters that said EPMB were gone, and instead the door had been painted with a new message. ‘Welcome to FutureTec Headquarters!’

Mister Happy rolled over to the control console, throwing the switch, to open up the door. Two hazard lights began to flash, and the air began to hiss with steam. Something from the inside pulled the metal gear back, creating a deafening screech as metal grinded against metal. Twilight and her friends through covered their ears as the door pulled back, then rolled to the left.

‘Right this way!’ Mister Happy said, as he rolled into FutureTec Headquarters. Twilight glanced to all her friends, and then followed.

Twilight looked to Vinyl Scratch and Rainbow Dash, this corridor was a familiar one to all of them, but it was unlike anything they had ever seen before. For the entrance corridor to EPMB was filled with ponies. Each of these ponies were wearing identical cards around their necks detailing identification information, however, other than that, the corridors were filled with a diverse crowd. Some of the ponies were ponies that Twilight and company recognised as Ponyvillers. However, they were few and far between, most of the ponies here were ones that Twilight had never seen before. Most of them were wearing a set of blue robes. There were small subsets, however, that were wearing black robes. Twilight figured that the robes had to indicate something, but otherwise, she hadn’t the faintest idea.

‘Why am I not surprised?’ Vinyl Scratch said. ‘Machine Cultists’.

‘What?’ Twilight asked.

‘You remember when Surprise and I went off to Fillydelphia before Emerald Sparkle unleashed her combot horde on Equestria?’ Vinyl asked.

‘How could I forget?’ Twilight asked.

‘Well, I met some ponies dressed like these while I was there; they’re members of an organisation called the Cultus Mechanius, or, the Machine Cult’.

‘That’s correct!’ Mister Happy said brightly. ‘FutureTec currently has a partnership with the Dustbowl and Manehattan chapters of the Cultus Mechanius to produce a number of FutureTec products at several of their offsite production plants!’

Applejack raised an eyebrow at Mister Happy’s statement. ‘Dustbowl? What’s that?’ she asked, she looked to the rest of her friends to see if it sounded familiar to them. They all shook their heads in the negative. It did not.

‘It’s a town!’ Mister Happy said cheerfully.

‘Where’s it all?’ Applejack asked.

‘I don’t know! I’ve never been there!’ Mister Happy said.

Twilight sighed, for all his cheerfulness and seemingly friendly attitude, Mister Happy wasn’t exactly the most helpful. She figured that if they wanted to learn more about the FutureTec bosses and the Cultus Mechanius, they were going to have to ask somepony else.

That was when somepony they knew rounded the corner, a filly with a brilliant raspberry mane and with a bow in it.

‘Apple Bloom?!’ Applejack cried out in surprise.

Apple Bloom stopped, and turned to look. Her mouth widened into a bright smile. ‘Applejack! Yer back!’ she cried out happily, leaping towards her sister and giving her a tight hug.

‘Apple Bloom!’ Applejack cried out. ‘What are ya doin’ here!?’

‘Ah work here!’ Apple Bloom said as she released her sister from the hug. She pointed to the ID badge around her neck. It had her picture on it, and reading, ‘Apple Bloom, Sales’.

‘Ya work here?! But yer just a filly!’ Applejack cried out.

‘Ah know! But FutureTec believeses not age that’s important, it’s ability!’ Apple Bloom said. ‘Take Sprocket, he’s only a lil’ older than me, an' he reprogrammed all tha combots that were here!’

Twilight was interested now. ‘I’d think I’d like to meet this Sprocket...’ she said, but before Apple Bloom could answer back about it, Mister Happy interrupted her.

‘Hello! Sales representative Apple Bloom! How are you doing today?’ Mister Happy asked.

‘Well hi there Mister Happy!’ Apple Bloom said giving the combot a smile. ‘Ah’m great! Thanks fer asking! How are you?’

‘I’m super! I was just taking this group here to see the bosses!’ Mister Happy said.

Apple Bloom’s mouth fell open and her eyes widened. ‘Ya’ll are goin’ ta see tha bosses!?’ she cried out in surprise.

‘Yes indeed’, Rarity said. ‘Darling, you say it like it’s a rare occurrence, does anyone know who these... bosses are?’

‘Uh... sorta?’ Apple Bloom said. ‘Ah mean, ah met em when Me, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle got hired ta sell FutureTec toasters ta Ponyville... that’s how they got started ya know, but we never did see their faces, they keep em hidden!’

‘Sweetie Belle is here?!’ Rarity cried out in surprise.

Apple Bloom nodded. ‘She an’ Scoot are round here somewheres’.

‘Apple Bloom? How come the bosses don’t show their faces to anypony?’ Rainbow Dash asked.

‘I dunno somethin’ about wantin’ ta keep their privacy or something. Anyway, it was nice seeing ya’ll but Ah gotta get back ta work’, Apple Bloom said. She gave the group a smile and trotted off out of sight.

‘Well then! That was nice!’ Mister Happy said. ‘Please follow me, we shouldn’t keep the bosses waiting!’

Mister Happy lead the group down the hallway, Twilight and Vinyl recognised it as the pathway to the control room, which had been the room that housed Emerald Sparkle’s mainframe terminal when she was still in control of the base.

The doors to the control room were shut tightly. Mister Happy turned around to face them. ‘This is as far as I go. Good luck in meeting the bosses!’ Mister Happy said. ‘Who knows? Maybe you’ll get jobs out of this meeting!’

Mister Happy opened the doors and allowed them to enter, and then shutting the doors behind them.

Twilight looked around the room. She could see Emerald Sparkle’s mainframe terminal, identical to the last time she had seen it. Printed on the screen were the words, ‘Connection Lost...’

In the middle of the room, however, there was a large wooden desk, and several thick vinyl chairs on wheels facing towards the terminal.

‘Uh... hello?’ Twilight said. ‘I’m told you wanted to see us?’

‘Yes’, a mare’s voice said from behind the centre chair. At the moment the centre chair rotated around to face them, giving the group what would be their first glimpse of the FutureTec bosses, and likely not the last.

All of their jaws dropped.

‘No way...’ Rainbow Dash said.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Everypony's jaw dropped wide open as the first chair turned around to reveal the FutureTec Boss that it held.

'No way', Rainbow Dash said.

'This is a joke, a joke? Right?' Rarity asked afterwards.

'The FutureTec bosses... are...?' Fluttershy managed.

'Well howdy everypony!' Apple Bloom said as she waved to the group from her seat in the chair. Sharing the chair with her were none other than fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

'The FutureTec bosses are the Cutie Mark Crusaders!?' Rainbow Dash cried out in surprise.

The three fillies nodded in affirmation.

'But... but...' Rarity began all of them were at a loss for words. 'Who are in the other chairs?' she asked eventually.

'Oh, nopony', Apple Bloom said, as Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo reached out and rotated the other chairs around to reveal that they were indeed empty, and likely, just for show.

'This can't be real', Applejack said. 'Mah sister an' her friends can't possibly be tha FutureTec bosses!'

Apple Bloom's smile turned to a frown, and that frown turned to a look of annoyance. 'And why not?'

'Ya'll are fillies! What do ya know about running a business!?' Applejack cried out.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders sighed in annoyance. 'What do YOU know about running a business Applejack?' Apple Bloom countered. 'It ain't no secret that Sweet Apple Acres went from profitable enterprise ta heavy debt since Granmpa Apple died, under yer management. Sweet Apple Acres is in a position where ya'll can never pay back the interest on any of tha six mortgages you an' Granny Smith took out' ta keep us from goin' under'.

Applejack took a step back in surprise. 'H... how do you know about that?'

'Ah always here ya, Granny Smith, and Big McIntosh arguing about money after ya'll send me ta bed', Apple Bloom said. 'Applejack, yer a terrible liar, and it’s been pretty obvious that we were in trouble since last cider season!'

'Cider season?' Applejack asked.

Apple Bloom nodded. 'Tha Flimflam brothers made it ta be pretty obvious that we were in trouble'.

'So when we found the old cave that housed the entrance to EPMB, we knew what we needed to do', Scootaloo said. 'Luckily, the door was unlocked and we were able to walk right in'.

Twilight glanced over to Rainbow Dash, who gave a nervous, apologetic chuckle. 'Okay', Twilight said. 'So, you're the bosses of FutureTec', Twilight said. 'It doesn't change the fact that you're fillies, and that it takes education in a lot of complicated subjects that you don't have...'

'Way ahead of you Twilight', Sweetie Belle said. 'We took a leaf out of your book, pun intended, and read a book'.

Sweetie Belle opened a drawer in the desk and pulled a book out, setting it on the desk. Twilight took the book in her magic and pulled it closer to her.

'”Macroeconomics: made so easy a foal could understand it”...?' Twilight read, she put the book down, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were all grinning widely at them.

Twilight opened her mouth to make a counterargument, but then quickly shut her mouth again. Almost all of Twilight's knowledge of advanced subjects came from books. She couldn't say anything here without being a hypocrite.

'Okay', Twilight said. 'So you're the bosses of FutureTec, but how did you get the company started?'

'Now that's a story', Scootaloo said. 'It's not one we get to tell very often, since we need to keep who we are a secret when we're the bosses... for this exact reason, because everypony sees a foal when they look at us'.

'Yeah', Sweetie Belle said. 'But it is a good story'.

'We got some time', Apple Bloom said. 'If ya'll got time ta listen, we'll tell ya'.

…

'RUN!' Scootaloo cried out.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo took off down the path through Whitetail Wood., running at full speed. Sweetie Belle turned her head and looked back, the gigantic ursa was hot on their hooves as they ran. 'This was a bad idea!' Sweetie Belle cried out.

'Shut up and keep running!' Scootaloo shouted.

Apple Bloom glanced around; they had antagonised an Ursa's den, and brought its wrath down upon them. She knew that they couldn't outrun it forever, and she looked around for anything that they could use for a place to hide, specifically, a place small enough for them, but too big for the ursa to fit. That was when she saw it. A cave! The entrance to which was partially collapsed, and had a whole just big enough for a pony to fit in. 'There!' she cried out. The Cutie Mark Crusaders turned towards the cave, leaping into the whole and skidding along the ground in the cave.

They heard the Ursa slam into the rocks and yelp out in pain. It let out a loud growl and began to walk away.

Scootaloo sighed. 'Okay, I think Cutie Mark Crusader animal trainers is out'.

'Yeah', Sweetie Belle said. 'That idea was way better on paper, is the Ursa still out there?'

Apple Bloom crawled over to the entrance whole and took a look out it. The Ursa Minor was indeed still out there, pacing back and forth outside the entrance. 'Yeah, an' Ah don' think its gunna go away anytime soon'.

'Great!' Scootaloo said in annoyance. 'We're stuck here, and we're going to lose a whole day of crusading for this!'

'Animal training was your idea dodo!' Sweetie Belle cried out.

'Don't call me things I don't know the meaning of!' Scootaloo snapped back.

There was a flash of light lit up the cave as a number of lights snapped to life. The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked up and around at their surroundings. Apple Bloom looked to her friends and smiled. 'Day's not over yet Crusaders! There's still a chance our talent might be as potholers!'

'As what?' Scootaloo asked.

'Ponies that explore caves!' Apple Bloom said. 'Come on! Let's take a look, we got time'.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders nodded and got up and started to walk around. The cave was pretty easy to navigate, as if somepony had graciously laid a path before them to follow. They headed down, following the twists and turns of the cavern walls until they ended. They looked up to discover that it was not, a dead end; rather, it was a door, a giant metal door in the shape of a gear, the letters EPMB painted on the front. The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at each other for a moment, they had never seen this place before, and their curiosity was getting the better of them.

‘Cutie Mark Crusader Potholers right?’ Scootaloo asked.

‘Right’, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle said. They went over to the control console for the door and studied it for a moment, it was a relatively simple device, and it was pretty clear what they needed to do to open it up.

‘Pull down to open’, Scootaloo read off the control panel. ‘Seems easy enough’, she added before reaching out and pulling the lever down. Hazard lights began to flash, and the air filled with the hiss of steam. They heard something from the inside reach out and take hold of the door with a loud thump. The door began to pull backwards, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders covered their ears as the deafening screech of metal against metal filled the air. The door then rolled open to the left, and allowed the Cutie Mark Crusaders entry.

‘Cool!’ the three of them all cried out together, taking a step inside. They got a few steps in when the hazard lights began to flash once again, the door rolled back to the right and began to slide shut with the same deafening noise that they had heard on the way in.

‘Somepony needs to grease that or something’, Scootaloo said after the door shut itself. The Cutie Mark Crusaders noticed a control panel identical to control panel outside, albeit a much cleaner looking version of it. ‘What is this place?’ she asked.

Query acknowledged, beginning playback. A tinny artificial voice barked over a loudspeaker.

Head researcher’s log, Doctor Emerald Sparkle reporting. This is likely to be my final entry. Hello, if you are hearing this, it means that I’m no longer in control of the Everfree Plains Ballistic Research and Development Facility, wether by the hooves of that bitch or otherwise, the systems have gone over to automatic, and I’m probably dead. I don’t know who you are, or what you want. For all I know, you’re probably Cultus Mechanius scum from Fillydelphia come to pick over what’s left of my installation. Well, I guess I can’t stop you... In the off chance you’re simple travellers who lost their way or maybe even Ponyvillers who’ve taken a wrong turn. I ask that you leave this place be, let my legacy... actually, on second though? Come on in. I’ve left a number of technical manuals behind to teach you how to work all of my technology. Destroy it, use it, I don’t really care anymore. I’m old, so so old, and I don’t care anymore. Do what you will, who knows? Maybe you’ll accidentally kill that bitch in the process.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other and smiled. They may not have gotten their cutie marks from this find. But it was almost the next best thing.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

‘Naturally’, Scootaloo said. ‘We could hardly pass on Emerald Sparkle’s invitation; EPMB was ours for the taking! And we took it’.

‘Doesn’t sound like the Emerald Sparkle I know’, Vinyl Scratch said. ‘She wasn’t the type to give up and let anypony do whatever they wanted’.

‘With that, you have to consider the context of the log entry’, Sweetie Belle said. ‘Emerald Sparkle just lost the Battle of Ponyville when she made that’.

‘We didn’t find that out until later’, Scootaloo said. ‘But what really got FutureTec kicked off was when we started playing around with the mainframe terminal’.

...

‘Are ya’ll sure it’s a good idea ta be messin’ with that?’ Apple Bloom asked.

‘Oh it’ll be fine’, Scootaloo said as she continued to fiddle with the keyboard for the Missile Bases Mainframe Terminal. Propped up against on the screen it was a technical manual, entitled: ‘High end networking: so easy, a foal could understand it’. It was one of many such manuals written for somepony by the name ‘Diamond’. All of the books had an identical message written in ink.

‘For my beloved Diamond, in the hopes that you may someday claim what is rightfully yours, love, mum’.

At first, the Cutie Mark Crusaders thought that it was referring to Diamond Tiara; their school’s stuck up, spoiled rotten, alpha bitch. But when they considered the age of the manuals, they ruled that out rather quickly. Who this ‘Diamond’ was, it was unlikely that they would ever learn.

Scootaloo tapped another key with her hoof, and jumped slightly in surprise when the screen crackled to life.

Manehattan Relay here, why isn’t your video feed working?

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo looked up at the screen. There was a pony on the screen, but not like any pony that they had ever seen. This pony seemed to be wearing a metal mask; the eyes were a bright glowing green, almost like the goggles that Scootaloo had noticed this one unicorn wore all the time.

‘Uh... it’s working just fine! I can see you!’ Apple Bloom said.

The pony on screen let out a loud sigh in annoyance Try the gain.

Apple Bloom quickly motioned to Scootaloo to pretend to try and fix it. Scootaloo responded by rotating a few dials on the control console back and forth. ‘There! It should be workin’ now!’

Well your unit still doesn’t appear to be operational pal. Who is this?

‘Well, Ah guess that shouldn’t be surprising, considerin’ how old this stuff is’ Apple Bloom said.

The pony on the other end let out another sigh, and nodded his head in agreement. Ain’t it the truth? Most of these installations are still using the original thermionic valves manufactured over a thousand years ago! And the Manehattan Hub is the only place set up to make more. I assume that’s what you’re calling about right? Getting replacement parts?

‘Uh... yeah! That’s exactly what we’re callin’ ‘bout’, Apple Bloom said.

Alright, I can do that; just give me a sec... Need anything special? Or just the standard package?

‘Uh... the standard will be just fine, thank ya’, Apple Bloom said.

All right... well this is ready to submit, I just need your name, rank, and your chapter affiliation, and I can dispatch a team to bring it to you.

‘Uh, no no, that’s okay! Ya’ll don’t need ta send anyone ta us. We’ll come and get it!’ Apple Bloom’s eyes widened with nervousness.

You’ll... you’ll come get it?

‘Y...yeah! Ithat’s not a problem, is it?’ Apple Bloom asked.

A problem? A problem?! Hell no it’s not a problem! Oh thank the great machine, you have no idea how much time and resources this saves me, I wish everypony was like you! But no, everypony just calls up the Manehattan Relay and asks for replacement supplies. ‘Oh... what do you mean that it’ll be six weeks before you can have somepony out?! That’s insanity’, yeah, well. That’s what happens when the delivery orders stack up and all our saracens get filled up that we have to start sending Hospitallers and Templars to do the job, and even then we’re still backed up! Anyway, I love you for wanting to come and get it yourself; I still need your name, rank, and chapter affiliation. Otherwise, the chapter master is going to have my head.

Apple Bloom swallowed hard, she knew that since she didn’t even know who she was talking to, let alone the right thing to say. ‘The chapter master?’ she asked.

Yeah, he’s a real stickler for procedure, got to make sure the paper work is filed exactly right, otherwise, it’s my arse. Xerxes is kind of uptight like that, what, just because he’s descended from the founder of the Cultus Mechanius or some shit.

‘Cultus Mechanius?’ Apple Bloom asked instinctively, realising immediately that that was a poor choice of words.

The pony on screen started to become flustered at Apple Bloom’s question. ... what the... you... I... The FUCKING Cultus Mechanius! The organisation we belong to? Who you think I’m talking about? WHO IS THIS?’

‘Uh...’ Apple Bloom stuttered, looking to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo for help. They had nothing. ‘Sorry can’t tell ya!’ Apple Bloom said.

Oh... a wise guy eh? Look, I’m tracing you right now pal, we’ll see how smart you feel with internal security all over your fucking arse. Dumb bitch. A few more moments and I’ll have your sorry arse in a sling... hold on here... I’m showing you... that installation isn’t supposed to exist anymore... well, whoever you are, I’ve just dispatched a Templar strike team to your location, have a nice day.

‘Uh, what are they going to do?’ Apple Bloom asked.

Usually they just go in shooting; they let someone else sift through the ashes to figure out what was going on. Goodbye, next news on you will be when I read the after action report.

The metal masked pony’s face disappeared off the screen. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo looked at each other nervously. What had they gotten themselves into?

...

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo looked down at their desk to the clock that was sitting on it, then back up to Twilight and company. ‘That’s enough for today, it’s almost the end of the working day anyway’, Scootaloo said.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both nodded.

‘What!?’ Surprise cried out, she spread her wings and flew into the air, planting herself on the Cutie Mark Crusader’s desk. ‘You can’t stop there! You were just getting to a good part!’

The Cutie Mark Crusaders grinned at each other. ‘Glad to see we’ve got your attention, but no can do’, Sweetie Belle said. ‘FutureTec maintains an eight hour workday policy, our cover jobs are on the day shift. Nine to five and it is five minutes to five right now. If we don’t go home, we’d get in trouble with the bosses’, she said with a grin.

‘The Sales department only works first shift, we ain’t got no reason ta be here past five, otherwise ponies will start asking questions’, Apple Bloom said. ‘An’ we got this far by keepin’ our identities secret’.

‘Which means, everything you just heard in this room? Stays in this room’, Scootaloo said. ‘You can’t talk about it with anypony’.

Twilight looked to her friends. ‘Answer me one question’, Twilight requested. ‘This... Cultus Mechanius was clearly hostile towards you. What changed?’

At that moment, there was a loud bell that began to ring. ‘Well! Five O’Clock, time to go home everypony’, Sweetie Belle said. ‘You guys will need to go out first and lead Mister Happy away from the door’.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo nodded in agreement. ‘And... Uh, be careful around Mister Happy, okay? There are still a few bugs in his operating system that Sprocket hasn’t gotten out yet’.

‘Bugs?’ Applejack asked in confusion.

‘Glitches in his programming, odd personality quirks, things like that’, Scootaloo said. ‘He’s not like... going to go crazy and try and kill the entire town, or anything, we made sure of that! We specifically told Sprocket not to install any drivers for his weapons, and our repair technicians regularly check and make sure he has no ammo on him’.

‘Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for a buggy robot’, Vinyl Scratch said.

‘Mister Happy was FutureTec’s first creation!’ Apple Bloom said. ‘Even bef’er tha toaster. He’s got a special place in our hearts’.

‘And he doesn’t know you are who you are?’ Twilight asked.

‘He used to’, Scootaloo said. ‘Sprocket has had to wipe his memory a couple times’.

‘I think I would very much like to meet this Sprocket’, Twilight said.

‘Tomorrow maybe’, Apple Bloom said. ‘Fer now, it’s time ta go home’.

Apple Bloom pointed towards the door. Twilight and Company understood the message loud and clear. The group exited the room only to find that Mister Happy was nowhere to be found, the hallway was deserted thanks to the change in shift. The group began to make their way out.

‘Ah can’t believe she talked ta me like that, I’m givin’ her a talkin’ to when she gets home’, Applejack grumbled under her breath.

Twilight Sparkle, however couldn’t help but feel like they had more pressing problems.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Having parted from the rest of the group, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash and Spike headed off for home. Twilight, with Spike on her back turned down the High Street and was surprised when Rainbow Dash didn’t turn with her.

‘Rainbow? Where are you going?’ Twilight asked.

Rainbow stopped in her tracks, to be perfectly honest, she had no idea. Even though Twilight didn’t remember it, she had thrown her out. Her cloud home had been reclaimed by Cloudsdale where it was to be recycled into another part of the could city, or be made into somepony else’s home.

‘Um...’ Rainbow Dash said. ‘I didn’t know if you still wanted me...’

‘Rainbow Dash!’ Twilight cried out. ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’

Rainbow Dash took a slow, uneasy step over towards Twilight. Rainbow Dash felt a lot like Fluttershy during this, she never thought that she would be in this situation. She really didn’t know how to feel about it.

Twilight frowned. ‘Rainbow Dash... this isn’t like you’.

‘I know... I just...’ Rainbow Dash said. ‘Twilight, you know I love you, right?’

Twilight nodded her head in affirmation.

‘Well... I...’ Rainbow Dash began, then looked to Spike who was still sitting on Twilight’s back. ‘Could you...?’

‘Yeah, sure’, the baby dragon said with a nod, hopping off Twilight and jogging back over to the Library.

‘It doesn’t change the fact, you dumped me Twilight, even if you don’t remember it, and it really hurt’, Rainbow Dash said, struggling over her own words, emotions weren’t her strong suit, after all. ‘And believe you me, I’m happy that we’re back together and all... but I don’t know if I’m ready for things to just go back to the way they were... am I making sense?’

Twilight frowned and shook her head. ‘Not really... but I think I understand what you’re getting at. You want to take things slow’.

‘Yeah...’ Rainbow Dash said with a nod.

Twilight looked up at Rainbow Dash and gave her a small smile. ‘I understand, we can take things slow. But come on, Cloudsdale reclaimed your cloud house, so you’ve got to stay someplace. You can’t just stay out on the street! There’s always the guest room’.

‘Okay’, Rainbow Dash said with a small smile as she fell in behind Twilight and the two of them made their way back to the Library. Rainbow Dash bid Twilight goodnight, and went off to the guest room. Twilight trotted upstairs and laid down in bed, pulling the covers over herself. It might have only been five thirty, but it might as well have been eleven thirty. As a matter of fact, it was eleven thirty in Trotterdam, even though she hardly remembered being there, her body had clearly adjusted to the time there. She was exhausted, and closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.

...

Twilight opened her eyes and looked over to her clock, the time was... five thirty one? Twilight scowled at the clock, that couldn’t have been right.

‘I wouldn’t pay too much attention to that’, a voice from the far side of the room said. ‘It bears no relevance here’.

Twilight noticed at that point that the clock wasn’t actually ticking. Her head snapped up and turned slowly towards the voice. Standing in the corner of the room was the all too familiar stallion, grey coat, bright orange mane. His crimson eyes looking right at her, Monty Ulan didn’t take his eyes off her for a second.

Twilight searched her brain. She remembered Trotterdam, she remembered Heinrich Büchsenmacher. A smile came to her face at thoughts of the kindly schäferhund gunsmith, but her smile faded just as quickly as thoughts of Pierre La Roche returned to her just the same. Twilight realised that she was not in her bedroom at all.

‘I put the memories back’, Monty said. ‘You need them for what’s next’.

‘What’s going on?’ Twilight asked.

‘The Tribunal has met to decide upon a matter. You have been called to speak before them’, Monty said with a sigh.

‘About that? About La Roche?’ Twilight asked.

Monty merely shook his head. ‘No, that matter has been decided upon. The Tribunal is deciding what to do with me’.

Twilight blinked in confusion for a moment, Monty was quick to pick up on it and continued his explanation. ‘Me and the two others that were with me acted without the consent of the Tribunal, and for it, we are to be punished, the Tribunal just hasn’t decided yet what that punishment is’.

‘And they want to talk to me?’ Twilight asked.

‘I acted on your behalf’, Monty said with a nod. ‘The severity of the punishment will depend on what you say’.

Twilight frowned. ‘So no pressure huh?’ she said, rolling her eyes.

‘Oh no, there will be punishment; I knew that going into it. Just answer the Tribunal’s questions as honestly and truthfully as you can’, Monty said. ‘Now close your eyes’.

Twilight did as she was told, she closed her eyes. When she opened them up again she discovered that the scenery had changed to what somewhat resembled The High Court building in Canterlot. Doric columns held up the ceilings. The floors were marble, and elaborate tapestries adorned the wall. Twilight took a closer look at the tapestries, for some odd reason, no matter how much she looked at them; she could not make out what they were. ‘Monty? These tapestries... what are they?’

‘What tapestries?’ Monty asked as he trotted up. He let out a sigh and looked back towards Twilight. ‘Twilight, we’re on another plane of reality that you’re mind is not able to comprehend as it truly is. It’s approximating, take this place, this is the hall of the Tribunal, you’re imagining it as you think it should be. Probably some fancy judiciary building like you would find in Canterlot, correct?’

Twilight nodded in affirmation.

‘Regardless, I don’t see things here the way that you see them, these tapestries that you’re describing, what are they like?’ Monty asked.

‘Well... I don’t know, I’m looking at them, and I can’t make out what they’re trying to say’.

Monty looked over in the general direction that Twilight was. ‘These are the codex perficere. They’re a complete history of the entire universe. All knowledge is held in here. You can’t read them because you’re not allowed to, you’d become like Princess Celestia if you read these... except you’d be far worse’.

Monty looked back over to Twilight, giving her a worried look. ‘Come on, it’s almost time’.

...

Fluttershy pushed open the door to her home and trotted in. The sun was setting and it was going to be dark soon. The interior of her home was rather dark, too dark for her tastes. She would need to build herself a fire for light.

She went back outside and picked up a few logs of firewood and placed them in her fireplace. She took an elongated match in her teeth and struck it, setting the wood on fire and tending to it until it reached a proper position. Disposing of the match in the fireplace she took another one and struck it, this time lighting a few candles for extra light.

Fluttershy took a deep breath in, and then let it out. The atmosphere of her home was very relaxing. After running around the world with her friends looking for Twilight, Fluttershy was exhausted. She laid herself back down on her sofa, making herself as comfortable as possible. Her home began to fill with the warmth of the fire. So relaxing...

Fluttershy felt herself drifting off to sleep; she sat back up, quickly blew out the candles and allowed sleep to come.

...

Fluttershy’s dream took her to Ponyville, but it was not the Ponyville that she recognised. She was in the middle of the High Street, however, High Street had become busy and bustling, almost like that of Manehattan or Trotterdam. Ponies were everywhere, swarming around her. Police combots rolled too and fro. In the sky above her Zeppelins glided too and fro, docking at large tethers to take on passengers.

This was Ponyville?

Fluttershy looked up, in the distance she could see the mountains, but much to her shock, Canterlot was gone. Instead, the mountain had been flattened and a new city built on top of it. Zeppelins glided back and forth between metropolitan Ponyville and this new mountain city.

Ponies swarmed all around Fluttershy. She didn’t like how crowded this place was. There was a loud whistle that priced the airs. More ponies flooded. Fluttershy threw her front hooves over her ears and huddled down on the ground. Nopony noticed she was even there, save the odd one that stepped on her. Fluttershy cried out in pain, but her cries were ignored as the bustling ponies went about their way, not noticing, or not caring that they were stepping on her. She cried out as loud as she could hoping somepony would see her and stop and help.

As it turned out, someone did stop and help.

‘Are you okay?’ the kindly person asked.

Fluttershy shook her head in the negative. She looked up to see who it was. It was Mister Happy, hovering a millimetre from her face. Fluttershy screamed in panic. Throwing herself awake from the fright.

She discovered that she was in her home, and that Ponyville had not become what it was like in her dream... but the more she thought about it, the more she realised it was becoming like that.

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Applejack yawned loudly as she turned down the road towards Sweet Apple Acres. Despite the fact that the road had been paved with asphalt in the time that she had been gone, instead of the dirt road that it had been before leaving, Applejack glanced around to discover that everything else was nominally the same.

Applejack had admitted to herself that she'd been slightly on edge since the walk back from FutureTec Headquarters. There had been a lot of changes in Ponyville, and Applejack didn't like them in the least bit. Things were going too fast for her liking.

Now, Applejack, when she was younger had lived in the big city of Manehattan for a few weeks with her Aunt and Uncle Orange, because she had thought, at the time, that farm life wasn't for her so to say that she had a problem with big cities would be hypocritical and untrue. However, she had discovered on that trip that city life wasn't for her. It was okay for others, but not her. Applejack enjoyed a simple life and there was nothing...

Applejack stopped in mid-stride, something wasn't right. There were a number of strange noises coming from the farm, noises that she didn't recognise. Applejack felt her entire world shatter, she realised that Apple Bloom had done something with their farm after all.

Applejack picked up the pace, galloping at full speed towards her home, she no sooner than stepped on her property when she realised what was making the noises.

There were two giant, yet familiar looking, machines sitting on the ground with large hoses attached to a crane. The crane passed over an apple tree and the hose sucked the apples right off the branches. Applejack looked towards the other end of the machine, there were two large hoppers at the end, some of the apples, the better looking ones, were being funnelled into the left hopper, the bad ones into the one on the right. Applejack looked over back towards the front of the machine to discover two unicorn stallions in blue robes standing near the machine, supervising its work.

'WHAT ARE YA'LL DOIN' ON MAH PROPERTY?' Applejack screamed at the top of her lungs, causing the two unicorn stallions to jump in surprise. They turned around to face her, and that was when Applejack realised that she recognised the duo. The two were twins, tall, lean, crème coloured coats, crimson coloured manes. The only real way to tell the two apart was that one of them had a moustache to match his mane. 'What?' Applejack asked in confusion.

'Well lookie here, brother of mine, look who's come back to town!' said Film, the non-moustachioed member of the Flimflam brothers.

'Indeed indeed, brother of mine, Hello there miss Applejack, pleasure to see you again', added Flam.

'No it ain't!' Applejack cried out. 'Why would Ah be happy ta see any o' you two? Las' times ya'll were here, ya'll tried ta run our farm outta buisness!'

Both Flim and Flam sighed in annoyance. 'Not the case at all my dear, just not the case at all', Flam said.

'Indeed indeed', Flim said. 'Think about it for a moment Applejack. Our bet was to determine the control of the CIDER trade in Ponyville. You still would have controlled the supply of apples. If you had been smart, you would have been able to control the price you sold your apples to us for us to turn into cider'.

'Huh?' Applejack asked. 'What are ya'll talking about?'

'Apple Bloom was right, no business sense at all', Flim said.

'Ya'll goin' ta stand here and insult me all day, or are ya goin' ta explain what ya'll are doin' here?'

'Harvesting apples of course', Flam said. 'Sweet Apple Acres has been mechanised and its product has been itemised primarily for export as part of FutureTec's financial restructuring plan'.

Applejack's eyes became wider than the full moon at the statement. 'Beg pardon?' she asked.

'Simple, FutureTec agreed to absorb all of Sweet Apple Acres debt. In exchange, the Apple Family had to agree to allow the Cultus Mechanius to mechanise production, and well, that's what we're doing!' Flim said.

'Then... you...' Applejack began.

Flim and Flam nodded. 'I'm Flim, he's Flam, and we're Cultus Mechanius Brother Saracens!' Flim said.

'Wha...' Applejack said, looking blankly at the two. Flim and Flam did not get the chance to answer, the door to the control cabin of the crane opened up and the operator hopped out.

'That's all in this area, we're going to have to move the crane onto the next area... oh hey there Applejack! Good to see you!' Carrot Top said as she walked over from the crane.

Applejack looked at Carrot Top in shock; Carrot Top was wearing a set of blue robes identical to the ones that Flim and Flam were wearing. Applejack shut her eyes tightly and took off at full speed towards her house. She threw open the door and slammed it shut behind her.

'BIG MCINTOSH!?' Applejack cried out.

'Eeyup?' Big McIntosh asked as he trotted down the stairs .

'What did you do?' Applejack asked.

'FutureTec made a good deal, an' Ah took it', Big McIntosh said, understanding what she was asking. 'We were five thousand pounds in debt Applejack. FutureTec absorbed all o' it'.

'But at what cost?!' Applejack asked.

'Ten per cent of our profits', Big McIntosh said.

Applejack’s ears perked up at the statement. ‘Ten per cent?’ she asked. That wasn’t that much for absolving their debts. ‘As in, we get ta keep ninety per cent?’

‘Not exactly...’ Big McIntosh said. Applejack knew it was too good to be true, there was always a catch. ‘Another five hast ta go into an educational fund for Apple Bloom so she can’ attend tha University o’ Canterlot, and another five hast ta be devoted ta expanding tha farm. But otherwise... eighty per cent is ours ta do with what we choose, Ah also give a little extra ta Carrot Top, since she operates tha crane’.

Applejack may have had poor business sense, but even she could see that that was a good deal, her stubbornness, however, wouldn’t allow her to admit it. She stamped her hoof on the ground. ‘What does Granny Smith think ‘bout this?’

‘She don’t like it none’, Big McIntosh said. ‘But frankly? It ain’t her choice anymore, she got us in this debt, and she told me ta find a way ta get us out, so Ah got us out’.

The front door pushed open again, and light hoofsteps could be heard across the wooden floor. ‘Ah’m home!’ Apple Bloom called out as she walked into the room.

Applejack turned to Big McIntosh. ‘We’ll finish this later’, she said before turning back to Apple Bloom. ‘Apple Bloom! Ah gots a bone ta pick with ya!’ she said in a huff.

Apple Bloom swallowed hard. ‘Uh oh...’

...

‘Is this really necessary?’

‘Yes!’

Vinyl Scratch trotted down the High Street towards her home, Surprise was lying on her back, resting her chin on Vinyl’s head, and her forelegs draped around Vinyl’s neck. Vinyl Scratch couldn’t help but sigh. ‘If you weren’t being so adorable right now, I’d be annoyed’.

‘I do that!’ Surprise called out triumphantly.

‘Okay... okay!’ Vinyl said as she stopped outside her home. ‘We’re here; you have to get off now’.

‘Aww’, Surprise said in disappointment as she slid off of Vinyl’s back.

‘Yes, I know I’m sure...’ Vinyl began, however, when she looked back at Surprise she noticed that the Pegasus mare looked as if she was about to cry. ‘Surprise? What’s wrong?’

‘When we were in South Island, we hung out all the time!’ Surprise said. ‘We were bestest best friends... and now it’s all over’.

‘Aww... Surprise!’ Vinyl said, feeling a tear forming in her eye. ‘You want to stay the night?’ she asked.

Surprise nodded her head in affirmation.

‘All right!’ Vinyl said with a smile. ‘Come on in!’

‘Yay!’ Surprise said with a bright grin as the two of them trotted inside. She went and sat herself down on Vinyl Scratch’s sofa getting very comfortable before looking up at Vinyl Scratch. ‘I have a secret’, she said simply.

‘You probably shouldn’t tell me then, I don’t have a very good history of keeping secrets’, Vinyl said.

Surprise frowned. ‘But...’

‘I’m just saying’, Vinyl said. ‘You can go ahead and tell me if you want’.

Surprise looked at Vinyl nervously, as if it had taken her a while to work up the courage to get this far, Vinyl looked back at her in confusion, she pulled her goggles off her eyes and down around her neck before trotting over towards her and taking a seat on the sofa next to her. ‘Surprise? What is it?’

‘Um...’ Surprise said as her face began to turn red.

‘Surprise, come on’, Vinyl said. ‘If you have something you want to tell me, just tell me!’

Surprise nodded, and in the blink of an eye, leaned forward, interlocking her lips with Vinyl’s for a deep, passionate kiss.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Rarity sat herself down on the sofa in her home/store front. Stretching herself out to relax for a moment. She too, like the rest of her friends, was exhausted by their trip. Rarity hadn't even bothered to take off her travelling cloak, or do anything with the cheval MAE-28 submachine gun that it hid. Rarity had become accustomed to carrying the weapon on her, and was barely willing to part with it. She had yet to actually use it, but the fact that she had it on her gave her peace of mind.

Rarity's head was swimming with thoughts, most of them about the current state of things, others about how she was going to settle back into her life, IF she was going to settle back into her life. She'd been to Trotterdam, fabulous Trotterdam with all its wonders. She could only imagine what the rest of Europa was like. Fabulous cities like Seine, in the Cheval Fourth Republic, Königsberg in Bundesrepublik Schäferhund, Wien, in the Österungarischereich, Westhall in Welera, and so on and so forth, world cities known for their high culture and high society. Screw Canterlot, screw Equestria, Rarity's place was among the elite in Europa.

There was a knock at the door, Rarity rose her head and looked at it. Who could be calling at this late hour? Then, she thought, that it really wasn't that late, rather, her time abroad messing with her senses. Rarity rose from the sofa and opened the door. Almost surprised to discover who it was. 'Sweetie Belle?' she asked.

'Hi Rarity, I'm just here to bring Opal back from mum and dad's', Sweetie Belle said. Sure enough, sitting on the ground next to her was a carrying crate, containing her cat, Opalescence. Sweetie Belle opened the crate allowing the cat to walk out.

'Oh Opal-wopal! Mummy missed you ever so much!' Rarity exclaimed.

As could be expected, the ill tempered cat ignored Rarity all together, stepping inside and going to do whatever it was that cats did when they were by themselves.

'Thank you for bringing her by Sweetie Belle, I'm so tired I completely forgot!' Rarity cried out.

'No problem!' Sweetie Belle said with a smile.

'Would you like to come in for a while before going back to mum and dad’s?' Rarity asked. 'There is something I want to talk to you about'.

Sweetie Belle cocked her head to the side. 'You know we can't talk about what we did at FutureTec earlier...'

'Oh no. I know, I know!' Rarity said. 'This is another matter entirely'.

'Well, okay', Sweetie Belle said as she stepped inside. Rarity closed the door behind her and trotted back inside into the kitchen, preparing glasses of chocolate milk, one for her, the other for Sweetie Belle. She brought them out and set one in front of Sweetie Belle, adding a straw to it at the last moment. 'Thank you!' Sweetie Belle said with a smile. 'I really like your cloak, by the way'.

'Oh this?' Rarity asked, taking a look back at her royal purple cloak. 'Why thank you! I've gotten so used to wearing it, I forgot it was there completely, it's just something I threw together while sailing for Trotterdam on the Battleship Renault'.

'Battleship?' Sweetie Belle asked.

'Hm?' Rarity said in return, as she took a sip from her chocolate milk. 'Ah, well, that's sort of a long story... if you want to hear it'.

'Sure!' Sweetie Belle said eagerly. Rarity smiled at her and began recounting the details of her trip, sailing to South Island aboard the SS Canterlot, striking an iceberg and the ship sinking, how Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie's quick thinking, along with Pinkie Pie's new found tendency to carry plastic explosives with her at all times had saved them.

'Pinkie Pie is so random', Sweetie Belle commented on that part. Rarity couldn't help but nod in agreement. She recounted how she and her friends had made it to the lifeboats and got separated from the rest of the crew. In the storm, and how she had later learned that the crew of the Canterlot had been picked up by a ship operated by the Empire of the Jaguar. The Brasília. Sweetie Belle stopped her to ask about the Empire of the Jaguar, she didn't know a lot about it. Rarity apologised that she really didn't know either, other than the obvious.

She moved on to Sainte-Hélène, how She and Fluttershy had fallen in with one of the prisoners, a cheval mare by the name of Danielle Voltaire, and how she had tried to use them for escape. Rarity described her heroic save of Fluttershy, after they had discovered the truth about Danielle by bashing her over the head with a rifle. Sweetie Belle was mesmerised with interest in Rarity's story, and was disappointed when it came to an end of reuniting with Twilight on the outskirts of the city of Mün, Bundesrepublik Schäferhund.

'That was a great story!' Sweetie Belle said.

'Oh, it wasn't really anything', Rarity said modestly. 'But... what I wanted to ask you about was this', Rarity added, taking off her cloak and levitating the submachine gun out from it's place on her back, she pulled back on the bolt, ejecting a single round from the submachine gun, she caught the round in her magic, levitating it in front of Sweetie Belle. 'Is there anyone at FutureTec who would be able to make more of these?'

Sweetie Belle took a look at it for a moment, cringing slightly, but quickly focused away from it. 'Maybe?' she said. 'I don't know, FutureTec's ammo presses are set up to make 8x60mm Commonwealth and 12.7x33mm Nephite, if we can't make the ammo, We might be able to talk to one of the nephites into up-gunning your submachine gun to take 12.7x33mm Nephite', Sweetie Belle said.

'Nephites?' Rarity asked.

Sweetie Belle nodded. 'Along with our partnership with the Cultus Mechanius, FutureTec also has a partnership with the Nephites of New Maneaan to produce the weapon designs of Moses Marening'.

Rarity began to notice that Sweetie Belle started to look uncomfortable at the subject. 'Sweetie Belle? Are you all right?' she asked.

'Yeah! Of course! I'm great!' Sweetie Belle said. 'Give me the round and I'll take it to one of our techs'.

Rarity handed it over, and Sweetie Belle took the round and placed it in her bag, wincing slightly as she did. Rarity opened her mouth to ask again, if she was okay, but Sweetie Belle interrupted her.

'It was really nice spending time with you Rarity!' Sweetie Belle said. 'But I should be getting back home, see you tomorrow morning!' Sweetie Belle finished her glass of chocolate milk with one large gulp and quickly trotted out the door.

'What just happened?' Rarity asked herself.

...

Twilight blinked again, and found herself in a new room, this one filled with several ponies sitting behind several desks. She was instantly reminded of her entrance exam at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. The atmosphere of the room felt exactly like it.

‘This session of the Tribunal is called into order, co-chairs Lucent Crescent and Cirrus Cloudrunner presiding’, said a purple Pegasus pony from behind his desk. Twilight figured that this one was Cirrus Cloudrunner. She looked to the other one, an orange-ish unicorn who had not taken his eyes off her since she had come into the room. Both ponies were highly imposing and powerful in their glances.

‘Twilight Sparkle’, Cirrus Cloudrunner said, looking directly at her. ‘You have been called before the High Tribunal of the Others to speak on the behalf of, Montana Ulan, Snowy Breeze, and Tempest, for their actions in relation to the matter of Pierre La Roche, what do you have to say in the matter?’

‘Um...’ Twilight said, gulping loudly and taking a moment to collect her thoughts. ‘I was raped by Pierre La Roche. Montana Ulan and his compatriot’s actions, while having not prevented my rape, may have saved my life, and for that, I am eternally grateful to them’.

‘So then, you’re life is worth more than Pierre La Roche?’ Lucent Crescent asked. ‘You were hardly an innocent at the time, technically speaking; you still are not innocent of crime at all’.

‘I am aware, but criminal or not, there is never a time where rape is acceptable’, Twilight said with a sigh.

The members of the Tribunal pulled closely for a moment as they discussed the arguments laid before them. Twilight tried to listen in, but she wasn’t able to pick up on anything that they were saying. They spoke to each other for several moments. Twilight looked over to Monty and his friends, the Pegasus mare looked incredibly scared, and the stallion next to her, the one called Tempest did his best to comfort her.

‘The Tribunal has reached a decision’, Lucent Crescent said.

‘Montana Ulan, we have found you and your compatriots to have unjustly meddled in the affairs of the lower plane, and we have determined a punishment for each of you, are you ready to hear the sentence?’ Cirrus Cloudrunner asked.

The question was clearly a rhetorical one, Cirrus Cloudrunner would have told them even if they had said no. Monty gave a simple ‘yes’.

‘Montana Ulan, your punishment... shall be nothing’, Cirrus Cloudrunner said simply.

Twilight smiled, Monty wasn’t going to be punished for it! Monty however, did not look relived, if anything, he looked more worried, Twilight was confused as to why.

‘Snowy Breeze, Tempest, your punishment... shall be execution’, Cirrus Cloudrunner said simply.

Snowy Breeze burst into tears, Tempest held her close. Twilight’s mouth fell open.

‘No!’ Monty cried out. ‘It was my idea! Punish me! Not them!’

‘This is exactly why we are punishing them’, Lucent Crescent said. ‘Maybe that will teach you not to mettle in the affairs of the lower plane without our authorisation’.

Two other Others stepped forward, grabbing hold of Monty and pulling him away. Cirrus Cloudrunner raised a hoof towards Snowy Breeze and Tempest, who had huddled together, each of them shaking with fear. They burst into flame, letting out ear shattering screams as they slowly were removed from existence.

Twilight Sparkle shut her eyes tight from the horrible experience.

She sat up in her bed screaming. The worst part was, she hadn’t the faintest idea what she was screaming about.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

'Apple Bloom!' Applejack roared at her as she trotted into the next room. Apple Bloom swallowed hard as she nervously trotted up to Applejack.

'Y...yes Applejack?' Apple Bloom asked, trying to make herself look as innocent as possible. Clearly it doesn't working.

'Ya had no right ta speak ta me like that in front o' my friends!' Applejack snapped, stamping her hoof on the ground, in reference to the way Apple Bloom had talked down to her while at FutureTec. Apple Bloom may have been right, that Applejack, who was both illiterate and uneducated, unlike both her siblings, didn't have any business sense at all, but Applejack was far too stubborn to admit it. She took a step forward towards Apple Bloom, who instinctively cringed; she fell back onto the floor and raised her forelegs above her, shielding herself.

'Yer right! Ah'm sorry!' Apple Bloom cried out quickly. 'Please don't hurt me!'

Applejack recoiled in surprise, a bewildered look forming on her face. 'A... Apple Bloom!' Applejack cried out worriedly. 'Ah'm not gonna hurt ya! I was never gonna hurt ya! Why would ya think that?! Ah'd never ever do anything ta hurt ya!'

'Ah wouldn't be too sure o' that', Apple Bloom muttered to herself.

'Wha?' Applejack asked, she hadn't heard what Apple Bloom said.

'It's... well, ya don' get mad, like real mad, that often Applejack... but when ya do... it's real scary', Apple Bloom said, slowly moving her forelegs away from her head, but not putting them down all the way.

'Oh Apple Bloom', Applejack said, a look of worry forming on her face, she sat down next to the filly, doing her best to not scare her while comforting her at the same time. 'Ah'm sorry, Ah was mad, but tha' don't mean Ah got any right ta terrify ya. Ya may have done some grownin' up lately, what with this whole FutureTec thingy, but Ah'm still bigger an' stronger than ya, and while we're not goin' ta agree on things, heck. We're probably gonna disagree on everything, Ah still love ya Apple Bloom, an' Ah'm never gonna hurt ya'.

Apple Bloom lowered her forelegs to the ground, Applejack smiled at her and raised her forelegs up to give her sister a hug, Apple Bloom flinched, springing up to her hooves, she looked at her sister nervously. 'Ah... Ah... gotta go ta bed! Ah'm tired an' Ah gotta get up early tomorrow!' Apple Bloom cried out as an excuse. 'G'night!' she cried out before galloping away up the stairs.

Applejack was dumbstruck by what just happened. She didn't even realise that it was only about six o'clock and far too early for Apple Bloom to be going to bed.

Something had clearly happened to Apple Bloom while she was gone, Applejack knew that plain as day, and she didn't need to have no fancy education to see that.

…

Vinyl Scratch didn't know what to think of the situation she was in. In fact, she was barely aware of what was going on to begin with. What she did know was that Surprise was kissing her, the entire world seemed to have melted away around her.

Vinyl Scratch was enjoying it. She had never thought of Surprise in a romantic way before, because she always acted like she was a little kid, but, Vinyl Scratch had to admit. Surprise was kissing her, and she liked it.

Vinyl Scratch raised her foreleg and set it on Surprise's shoulder; she stopped being the one subjected to the kiss. She started to kiss back. Surprise's forelegs wrapped around Vinyl Scratch, pulling the unicorn mare closer, Vinyl responded in kind, holding onto the pegasus tightly. They shifted positions on the sofa, Vinyl leaned back on the sofa, allowing Surprise to lay on top of her. Their kiss broke, and Surprise moved her lips to Vinyl's neck, kissing her gently, and then beginning to move slowly down. Vinyl Scratch moaned with pleasure, Surprise knew what she was doing.

Surprise had almost reached her most sensitive spot in between her hind legs when Vinyl Scratch cried out. 'Surprise! Stop!'

Surprise was caught off guard by this and fell back, landing on her arse on Vinyl Scratch's floor.

'Vinyl?' she asked, a worried look forming in her eyes. She was afraid she'd done something wrong.

Vinyl Scratch looked down at Surprise sadly. ‘I... I can’t. I can’t do this’, she said.

‘Why?’ Surprise asked.

Vinyl Scratch looked away, over towards the window, pondering what to say.

‘You... you... don’t... like me, do you?’ Surprise said, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

‘That’s not it, that’s not it at all’, Vinyl Scratch said she looked back towards Surprise; she got off the sofa and sat down on the floor next to surprise, taking her hooves in hers. ‘Surprise, you’re my best friend, you really are, and I care about you deeply, I really do! In this world, you got a new chance at life, and someone in your hooves... deserves only the very very best!’ Vinyl said with a small smile.

Surprise began to smile slightly back at her, Vinyl’s smile, however, faded and she looked back down towards the ground. ‘That isn’t me’, Vinyl added sadly. Surprise’s smile faded.

‘Vinyl...’ Surprise began, but Vinyl was quick to interrupt her.

‘Surprise, you deserve the very best, and it’s not me’, she repeated again. ‘If we do this? I’m just going to hurt you, just like I did to Octavia Auditore, just like I did to Ditzy Doo. I can’t do that, not to you, you mean way too much to me’.

Tears started to stream down Vinyl Scratch’s face, she released her hold on Surprise to wipe them away. Surprise leaned forward and gave her friend a hug. ‘Shh... it’s okay, it’s okay’, she said softly.

‘Hey...’ Vinyl said with a sniffle. ‘That’s my line!’

Surprise said nothing; instead, she continued to hug Vinyl Scratch, gently rubbing her back until she stopped crying. ‘I really mean that much to you?’

‘Yeah’, Vinyl said with a nod. ‘Yeah you do’.

Surprise smiled brightly at her. ‘Well then, let’s not make it complicated! We can just be best friends who occasionally make out! We don’t need to be like... marefriend-marefriend, I mean, what would you say is the biggest cause for you hurting someone you get into a relationship with?’

Vinyl frowned. ‘I get eyes for another pony, and I can’t always help myself...’

‘Exactly, so we shouldn’t worry about it!’ Surprise said. ‘I mean, there might be occasions where I’d want to make out with Pinkie Pie too’.

‘Pinkie Pie is pretty hot’, Vinyl said with a nod.

‘So come on, don’t worry about it too much’, Surprise said with a smile. ‘I love you, and I know you love me too, and that’s all that matters’.

Vinyl Scratch looked at Surprise and raised an eyebrow. ‘When did you get so smart?’

‘I’ve always been smart’, Surprise said with a smile. ‘Most ponies just haven’t been able to notice because I’ve been bat-shit crazy most of my life!’

‘Well I can’t argue with that’, Vinyl said. ‘I’m okay with this if you are Surprise’, Vinyl added with a smile.

Surprise didn’t say anything, however, a small, mischievous grin formed on her face; she spread her wings and pounced on Vinyl Scratch.

Next door, Bon Bon looked up from the magazine that she was reading. Lyra, who was sitting on the sofa practicing her lyre too, stopped and they listened in.

‘Tell me that’s not...’ Bon Bon asked.

‘Oh I think it is’, Lyra added. ‘Just ignore it; Vinyl Scratch has to get tired eventually’.

‘Remind me to speak to somepony at FutureTec about getting that wall soundproofed tomorrow’, Bon Bon said as she went back to her magazine.

‘Will do, love’, Lyra said, and then went back to her lyre.

...

Twilight Sparkle looked at her clock. It was midnight; she’d been asleep for a couple of hours by the time she had woken up from her nightmare. As with most dreams, she had completely forgotten it. That wasn’t out of the ordinary or anything; most ponies were unable to recall dreams. Whatever it was, it had gotten Twilight worked up, but she calmed down enough to be able to go back to sleep, she laid back down on her bed and closed her eyes. Soon enough, she was fast asleep.

...

Twilight opened her eyes. She was in the Tribunal room. Somepony, or something had pulled her back here. ‘Monty?’ she asked.

‘Not quite’, said a voice from behind her. Twilight turned around. The two Other stallions that had Monty’s friends executed were standing behind her, Lucent Crescent and Cirrus Cloudrunner.

‘Have more to gloat about?’ Twilight snapped at them. ‘You clearly got what you wanted already, you want more!?’

‘You think we WANTED that?’ Lucent Crescent snapped back at her.

Cirrus Cloudrunner raised his hoof to quiet his compatriot. ‘We took no pleasure in doing what we did’.

‘Oh so it makes up for the fact that you killed them?’ Twilight said. ‘You’re no better than La Roche!’

‘La Roche is a different matter entirely’, Cirrus Cloudrunner said. ‘And their not dead’.

‘I... what?’ Twilight asked.

‘If you should ever, somehow, find yourself in Cloudsdale, you might just run into them, actually. We just made everyone think we killed them, they’re actually quite lively’, Lucent Crescent said with a grin.

‘Believe it or not, we too, actually think that something needs to be done about the royals in Equestria. Not necessarily as extreme as what Montana Ulan proposes, but something does need to be done’, Cirrus Cloudrunner.

‘So then... why don’t you if that’s what you think?’ Twilight asked in confusion.

‘Because the rest of the Tribunal opposes taking any action in the lower plane wholeheartedly, we’re in the minority; most of the Tribunal belong to a reactionary faction. They pushed for the execution of Tempest and Snowy, we may be co-chairs, but we have only as much say as the two of us’, Lucent Crescent.

‘So then... what happened?’ Twilight asked.

‘Instead of killing them, we descended them’, Cirrus said. ‘They were reincarnated on the lower plane, where they’ll live out their lives in ignorance of their Other heritage’.

‘I see...’ Twilight said.

‘Like we said’, Lucent said. ‘We agree, something needs to be done in Equestria, but the Tribunal is majority rule, and the majority rules that we take no action. Montana Ulan doesn’t like this, the Tribunal has to keep him under their control somehow, and this was the way, he has enough popular support to take a small army of us, go down there, and kill both Princesses in one fell swoop. The Tribunal is afraid of upsetting the balance of power, and thus, will do nothing’.

‘They’ve insured that Montana Ulan won’t do just that, they can’t kill him because he’s too popular, but he won’t try anything else because he doesn’t want anyone else to get hurt because of him’, Cirrus added. ‘Sorry Twilight Sparkle, but unless something changes in the Tribunal, you’re on your own’.

‘Why are you telling me this? I’m just going to forget when I wake up anyway, what’s the point?’ Twilight asked.

‘Because’, Lucent added. ‘We’re not like the Royals. We’re not monsters, we’re just a people that have lost their way, and we’re trying to find it again’.

‘And because, you deserve to know’, Cirrus said. ‘Good luck, Twilight Sparkle, you will need it’.

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Twilight opened her eyes and found that she was lying in bed once more, she was groggy, and felt like she hadn't slept in days, she rolled over in her bed and took a look at her alarm clock. Six thirty in the morning. She had slept for thirteen hours. Why was she so tired? Twilight yawned, stretching her forelegs above her head and stumbling out of bed. Tired or not, she'd just slept for thirteen hours. It was time to get up. Nopony was meant to sleep that much.

Twilight stumbled around in the darkness with her eyes closed, it was dark in her room, so there really was no difference, and she stumbled into the bathroom and turned on her shower. She stuck her hoof out into the running water, allowing it a moment to warm up before stepping inside.

The warm water ran over her body, it felt delightful, still not really enough to wake her up, but still, it was enjoyable. She hadn't bothered to turn on any lights, and she kept her eyes shut as she felt around for her shampoo. This was much harder than she thought it was going to be, she opened her eyes to discover that nothing had changed. The darkness was still dark; she shut her eyes again, allowing them to rest as she continued to feel around.

She felt her leg brush up against the bottle, this was it. She focused her magic on it and squeezed some of it onto a brush, and began to scrub herself clean. She had never really realised how relaxing the darkness could be. She'd be okay with it if this became a regular occurrence. Despite the fact it was extremely inefficient.

She finished up as the water started to become cold, she had used all the hot water, but it would probably be fine, Rainbow Dash and Spike probably wouldn't be waking up for another few hours.

Twilight felt her way out of the shower, the lights still out, she didn't want to turn them on because she'd gotten used to the dark. She felt around for a towel, and upon locating one, wrapped it around her and exited the washroom.

To her surprise, she bumped into Rainbow Dash, on her way out, Rainbow Dash let out a loud yawn, and still looked half asleep.

'Oh... good morning Rainbow', Twilight said in mild surprise.

Rainbow Dash yawned loudly. 'Mornin'' she said sleepily, trotting into the washroom, stepping into the shower and turning on the water. 'COLD!' She cried out in shock.

Twilight chuckled nervously. 'Oops...' if Rainbow Dash had been half asleep for, she was awake now. Twilight trotted into her bedroom, taking her mane brush in her magic and brushing her hair into it's normal shape. Her simple mane style was easy to replicate day in and day out. Twilight had to wonder how much time somepony like Rarity spent in the morning to style their mane. Once satisfied with her work, she went down stairs and poured herself a bowl of cereal. Rainbow Dash came down not long after her. Twilight looked up at her and gave her an apologetic look for using all of the hot water.

Rainbow Dash said nothing, but smiled in return and too sat down to a bowl of cereal.

'Why are you up so early?' Twilight asked.

'FutureTec', Rainbow Dash said simply.

Of course, how could Twilight have forgotten? They were going back over to FutureTec Headquarters to listen to the Cutie Mark Crusaders tell the rest of their story. Twilight didn't know why, but that event, even though it had only been about thirteen and a half hours ago, felt like it had occurred several days prior. 'When are we meeting everypony?'

'Seven thirty over at the bridge leading to Whitetail Wood', Rainbow Dash said. 'The bosses said that they'd meet us early so that we wouldn't run out of time like we did yesterday'.

The bosses, such a quaint term, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had requested that they not talk about them in their true role in the company, but they would respect it. Spike eventually came down stairs, grabbing some breakfast for him, soon enough they were out the door and headed off for the bridge. Along the way, they ran into Vinyl Scratch and Surprise, and the odd sight of Surprise laying on Vinyl's back and her forelegs draped around her neck.

'How did I get roped into this?' Vinyl Scratch asked.

'I asked really really nicely and batted my eyelashes', Surprise said with a smile and rapidly batted her eye lashes at Vinyl again.

'That's not going to work all the time', Vinyl said.

'Yeah, sure it's not', Surprise said in an odd cheerful sarcasm.

They greeted Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Spike and trotted off as a group towards the bridge together. Meeting up with Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. Apple Bloom and Applejack trotted up a few minutes later. Next was Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, several minutes after that.

Last but not least was Whirlwind, who looked incredibly distracted from what was going on.

'Jeez Whirlwind, do I need to start making you fly laps again?' Rainbow Dash said with a smirk.

Whirlwind looked up in confusion for a moment. Then he started registering what she was saying. 'Oh... uh, sorry, I didn't sleep very well last night'.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that statement. 'I didn't sleep very well either, I woke up a couple times during the night; did you have bad dreams?'

'I don't recall dreams', Whirlwind said simply. Twilight gave him that, she didn't recall dreams either.

Apple Bloom got everypony's attention, climbing up on a rock, waving at everypony. 'Howdy everypony, when we get ta FutureTec, stick close ta us', Apple Bloom waved, jumping off the rock and trotting off into Whitetail Wood.

The group came up to the building that held the elevator to FutureTec Headquarters. Two Combots were hanging out outside the doors, guarding them from unauthorised entry.

'Halt!' One of the Combots said. 'Entry is not permitted at this time! Please come back later'.

'Executive override Apple-47', Apple Bloom said without stopping.

The Combots started making a clicking noise. 'Thank you! Have a nice day!' One of them said. The other Combot opened up the door for them and they all trotted inside, where they entered the elevator, heading down to the headquarters itself. They opened up the door and headed inside, to the Crusader's office.

The Crusaders sat themselves down in their chair where they smiled at the group before them. 'We'll get to right where we left you all hanging', Scootaloo said.

'It's a great story', Sweetie Belle said.

'After speakin' with the Cultus Mechanius Brother Templar, we kinda panicked, and we realised that there was something that we needed ta do'.

…

The Cutie Mark Crusaders struggled to pull a severely damaged combot into the front hallway of EPMB.

‘You sure this is gonna work?’ Scootaloo asked with a grunt.

‘No, but we ain’t got any better ideas!’ Apple Bloom said. ‘There’s... unngh... a bunch o’ these things lyin’ around since the battle!’

The Crusaders finished pulling the single combot into the hallway. Their plan was to drag as many as they could to block off the hallway, if somepony was coming in here, they weren’t just going to sit by and let them take it.

Hazard lights began to flash, steam began to hiss, The Cutie Mark Crusader’s hearts leapt in terror as the door bolt locked into place. Metal grinded against metal as the huge door to EPMB slid back, rolling to the right. Standing outside were six ponies wearing metal masks and red robes. Each of them had a large claw like device sticking out of their backs, each of them holding a number of heavy weapons. There were also a number of unicorns wearing blue robes and levitating pistols by their heads not too far behind.

‘What? Fillies?’ One of the metal masked ponies asked.

‘Stay back!’ Apple Bloom cried out. ‘Ah know how ta use this!’ she added, hoping her bluff was good enough.

‘You’re three fillies with half pile of twisted scrap metal’, the leader of the metal masked ponies said. ‘What can you do against a Cultus Mechanius Brother Templar assault section?’

Apple Bloom didn’t really have a good answer to that, She had to improvise, and so she did the first thing to pop into her mind, she looked at the combot and turned around and gave it a kick.

The combot went wild, its submachine gun burst into operation, and spraying bullets into the air. Likewise, its grenade launcher fired off, sending shots of high explosives into the crowd of Cultus Mechanius Templars, knocking them all to the ground and injuring most of the Saracens that had come with them.

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened, she looked over to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, they hadn’t meant to hurt them. When the combot ceased firing, they all ran over to where the group lay, all of them, even the metal armoured ones lay bleeding on the ground.

‘Beaten... by a bunch of fillies...’ the leader said. ‘How embarrassing...’

‘We’re willin’ ta call a cease fire ta get ya some help,’ Apple Bloom asked. ‘Ya’ll gonna take it?’

‘Doesn’t seem like we’ve much of a choice’, the leader said. ‘We accept’.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It had been ten minutes since Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had gone to fetch Doctor Nightly and Nurse Redheart to tend to the wounds of the Cultus Mechanius Templars, Apple Bloom had opted to stay behind to watch them, she sat next to the broken combot, ready to give the robot another kick should the Templars try anything funny. They sat in almost complete silence, with the exception of the groans from the wounded support Saracens. The Templars were completely silent, though, Apple Bloom figured that probably had something to do with the helmets they wore muffling the noise.

‘Little Filly?’ The templar leader asked. Apple Bloom turned and looked directly at him, but she said nothing. ‘Could you come here, and take off my helmet? Please?’

Apple Bloom considered the request for a moment; she got up and trotted over to him. She figured that it wasn’t in his best interests to hurt her. After all, should anything happen to her, Doctor Nightly and Nurse Redheart wouldn’t help them, and they’d bleed to death. Apple Bloom stopped a few centimetres away from the leader and looked him over. She pulled down the hood of his cloak. Noticing instantly how to take the helmet off, she pressed at the release tabs with her hoof. The helmet hissed loudly and then opened up with a small pop before falling off completely.

Apple Bloom gasped and took a step back when she looked at the leader’s face. He was an earth pony stallion, this much, she had already known, his coat was a dark crème colour, and his mane a light chestnut, but his eyes... his eyes stood out. They were unlike anything Apple Bloom had ever seen. For one, they were pitch black, and instead of normal irises, there were small red dots in the middle of them.

That was when Apple Bloom realised, they weren’t real. ‘What’s wrong with yer eyes?’ she asked.

‘I was born blind’, the leader said simply. ‘As was my father before me, and his father, and his, blindness has long been a history in my family’, the leader said with a cough. ‘I lived the first eight years of my life completely blind. When I was old enough, I had these implants put in. Can you imagine what it was like seeing for the first time? The first thing I saw was my father. I was terribly frightened of him, until I realised that he was my father, I am who I am because of the Cult’s technology, anywhere else, I would still be wondering around in the dark’.

‘Who are ya?’ Apple Bloom asked.

‘I am Chapter Master Xerxes of the Manehattan Cultus Mechanius’, Xerxes said. ‘When one of my Templars told me that he had discovered that the Everfree Plains Missile Base was still operational, I had to come and see it for myself, more importantly, we had to secure it before Archimedes came to take it for himself’.

‘Who’s Archimedes?’ Apple Bloom asked.

‘Long story...’ Xerxes said with a cough. ‘Too long...’

Apple Bloom’s ears perked up, the sound of hoof steps approached. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Doctor Nightly, Nurse Redheart and Nurse Tenderheart, along with several other members of the hospital’s staff rounded the corner with stretchers. Nurse Redheart and Nurse Tenderheart snapped to work, completely ignoring anything that wasn’t the injured.

‘Tenderheart, help me get them out of these suits! They’re too heavy to move them in’, one of the other unicorn doctors, a caramel coloured one with a light brown mane that Apple Bloom didn’t know the name of said.

The only one who didn’t seem to be focused on his work was Doctor Nightly, he was more concerned with the open door to EPMB, he slowly walked towards it, past Apple Bloom, whose protests to leave it alone fell on deaf ears.

‘Why do I feel like I’ve been here before?’ Doctor Nightly asked. The black unicorn’s amber eyes peering over the inside of the Missile Base

‘Doctor Nightly!’ Nurse Redheart called to him. ‘We need your help over here!’

Doctor Nightly snapped out of it, he shook his head and went back over, kneeling before Xerxes. ‘I’m Doctor Nightly, and I’m here to help you’.

‘Uh huh’, Xerxes said.

...

‘Doctor Nightly proved to be a bit of an issue in the early days’, Scootaloo said as she leaned back in the chair. ‘After he and his staff took Xerxes and his group to the hospital, he plied us with questions about EPMB’.

‘We kept to our story that we didn’t know anything about it’, Sweetie Belle said. ‘Just that we were out playing in Whitetail Wood, and happened to come across the cave, and we found the Templars like that’.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders had the full group’s attention. Part of the story that they had mentioned had specifically caught the attention of Vinyl Scratch. ‘Did this Xerxes tell you any more about this Archimedes pony?’ she asked.

‘Xerxes? Nope’, Apple Bloom said. ‘All he said was that it was a long story’.

‘None of the templars would tell us anything about him’, Sweetie Belle added. ‘One of the Saracens though...’

...

‘Archimedes? What do you want to know about him for?’ One of the Saracens, a unicorn by the name of Neon Lights asked. Her coat was a bright cyan, her mane was cobalt blue, almost matching her Saracen robes, and her eyes were a bright orange.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were sitting in the hospital room which contained all of the Cultus Mechanius Saracens, in a private ward sectioned off from the rest of the hospital; Doctor Nightly didn’t want anyone wandering in with questions about these new ponies. He’d gone to the police and asked for several uniformed officers to keep access restricted. For once in their lives, the isolation didn’t extend to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

‘We heard Xerxes talking about him, sounds like he doesn’t like him’, Scootaloo said.

‘Heh’, Neon chuckled. ‘Kid, nopony likes Archimedes, and for good reason, he’s ‘in charge’ of the Fillydelphia chapter of the Cultus Mechanius, he calls himself chapter master, whether he should be is a matter of opinion’.

‘What happened?’ Sweetie Belle asked.

‘I really shouldn’t get into it’, Neon said. ‘We’re not supposed to talk about it with outsiders, suffice it to say, Archimedes isn’t too popular, and it wouldn’t be wise to go around asking questions about him, got it?’

The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked disappointedly at Neon, however she refused to budge, and eventually they gave up and left Neon alone, and reconvened outside in the hallway. ‘You think this Archimedes pony is important?’ Scootaloo asked.

Apple Bloom nodded her head in affirmation. ‘Xerxes said he’d wanna come take EPMB fer himself’.

‘He can’t do that! We found it first!’ Sweetie Belle cried out.

‘Exactly, that’s why we ain’t gonna let nopony take it away from us, not Archimedes, not Xerxes, not nopony’, Apple Bloom said. ‘Ah got an idea’.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo snuck out of the hospital through an open window and made their way back to Whitetail Wood, entering the cave and making their way into EPMB. The door was still open from when Xerxes and his templars tried to take it; the trio trotted inside and shut the door behind them. ‘Ah know Ah saw somethin’ in here befer’, she said as they made their way back to the control room, where they had left the piles of books, Apple Bloom dug through them looking for a specific one. ‘Both Xerxes and Archimedes wanna use EPMB fer something or another, who knows what? That ain’t important, we’re gonna... oh, wait no, that’s the wrong book... we’re gonna use it fer somethin’ that they ain’t’.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other in confusion. ‘What are we going to do?’

‘Easy!’ Apple Bloom said, as she finally found the book that she was looking for. The minifacturing plant, and you! ‘We’re gonna make things! Things the ponies of Equestria will want! We’ll get popular support, and then tha Cultus Mechanius will be subject ta our terms, not theirs!’

‘But we’re just kids!’ Scootaloo argued.

‘Exactly why we can’t let anypony know it’s us that’s doin’ it, they ain’t gonna take us seriously otherwise!’ Apple Bloom said. ‘Ah can already hear Applejack now... “Yer just fillies, what do ya’ll know about runnin’ a business?”’

‘But we DON’T know anything about running a business!’ Sweetie Belle said.

‘We’re gonna learn!’ Apple Bloom said, pulling out another book and sliding it over towards Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. ‘Same way we learned how ta works all the other stuff here’.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle leaned over the book. ‘Macroeconomics: so easy a foal could understand?’ Scootaloo questioned.

‘Come on guys, we ain’t ever backed down from anythin’ before, have we?’ Apple Bloom asked.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other and shook their heads in the negative.

‘Exactly! So why would we start now?!’ Apple Bloom asked. ‘What do ya’ll say? Cutie Mark Crusader Business fillies?!’ she asked again, extending a foreleg forward.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at each other. ‘Cutie Mark Crusader Business fillies’, Sweetie Belle said, putting her hoof in.

Scootaloo looked at the two of them for a moment and smiled. She put her hoof in as well. ‘Cutie Mark Crusader Business fillies’, she added.

Apple Bloom smiled widely. ‘Great! Now, that we’re business fillies, what are we gonna call our business?’

‘Well, I overheard some of the Saracens talking about how the Cultus Mechanius mostly works in manufacturing technology, if we’re going to compete with them, we should have something to do with technologies’, Sweetie Belle said. ‘What about... the New Technologies Company?’

‘That’s stupid’, Scootaloo said. ‘It needs to sound cool! We need to get ponies on our side! We’re not just selling them technology... we’re selling them the future! What about something like, The Future Corporation?’

‘That doesn’t sound cool’, Sweetie Belle said back, rolling her eyes slightly.

‘Wait! Ah got it!’ Apple Bloom said. ‘We’re gonna be making technologies of the future... so how about FutureTec?’

‘It’s short...’ Sweetie Belle said.

‘It’s to the point...’ Scootaloo added.

‘It’s perfect!’ Apple Bloom said with a grin.

‘All right’, Scootaloo said, returning Apple Bloom’s grin. ‘Looks like FutureTec it is then’.

Stop! You are reading the fourth story in the Ashes to Ashes series which in turn is a sequel series to the All Good Things and Bonds of Eternity Series. PLEASE look at the table of contents and read the series in order.

FAILURE TO READ THE PREVIOUS STORIES WITH RESULT IN YOU BEING EXTREMELY CONFUSED, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

REPEATEDLY.

Epilogue

Epilogue

'So there ya'll have it, that's the story of the founding of FutureTec', Apple Bloom said.

Twilight and company sat quietly, in awe of the Cutie Mark Crusader's story. Twilight herself wasn't even sure if she believed it in the slightest.

'Tha' can't be it!' Applejack cried out. 'What happened ta Ponyville?'

The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at each other and grinned widely. 'Simple, we conned Xerxes! We told him we represented some ponies behind the scenes', Scootaloo said. 'We told him that we had a lot more than that single broken combot, which really was true though we didn't find out until later when we found Emerald Sparkle's reserve force, we told him it was in his best interest not to mess with us'.

'He agreed, and made a telephone call to some place called Vermilion Mesa, that's when he came to us and asked if our bosses would be willing to enter a partnership', Sweetie Belle added.

'What's at Vermillion Mesa?' Twilight asked, having never heard of such a place.

'The central authority for the entire Cultus Mechanius', Apple Bloom said. 'They ain't used ta having somepony around with technology like them, and the combots really scared them'.

'Doesn't that worry you more?' Rarity asked. 'If they see a threat...'

'We're all friends here', Apple Bloom said. 'And they're more worried about Fillydelphia than FutureTec'.

'So then', Twilight Sparkle said, rising from her seat and to her hooves. 'That begs the question, what's wrong with this Archimedes and Fillydelphia?'

Apple Bloom opened her mouth to answer, however, at that exact moment, the lights went dead, and a few seconds later, red emergency lights began to light up, giving the entire room an eerie red glow. Apple Bloom tapped at an intercom with her hoof. 'Station two, report in', she said.

She got no response.

'Station three, report in', she said. Again, there was no response. 'That ain't good'.

'Nope', Vinyl Scratch said, her saddlebags flipping open and levitating her revolver out, snapping open the breech and sliding in six rounds. Twilight did the same, pulling hers out and checking to see that it was in proper order.

Much to the surprise of the others, Rarity threw off her cloak and pulled out her cheval MAE-28 submachine gun. Pulling the trigger back slightly to release the safety catch.

'You... still have that?' Fluttershy asked nervously.

'The way the world is right now?' Rarity asked. 'I never leave home without it'.

'All right', Vinyl Scratch said. 'Let's see what's going on out there', she said as she trotted over to the door and pushed it open.