The Cave of Time's Shadow

by Jetfire4

Rating: teen
Tags: Sad, Adventure, Tragedy
Length: 5448

The Frozen North: a wasteland full of surprises. Bitwise, a government pony, will experience one such surprise as he is plunged into a world of darkness beneath its surface; a surprise that could change his life forever.

Bitwise, an Equestrian diplomat, had been waiting far too long for this moment. Far too long had he brushed it off with excuses and work. Far too long had he stared into her eyes and not mustered the strength to utter the words.
Far too long had he delayed proposing to her.
He had just received two tickets aboard an airship. An airship which takes its passengers up into the desolate wasteland that is the Frozen North to view an awe inspiring sight: an aurora. This, he knew, was the time and the place for the question.
But, when things go horribly wrong, will Bitwise be able to get back the moment? Will he be able to stay with her?

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-07-02 13:00:01 UTC

Humble Beginnings

Bitwise, a small grey foal, slowly opened his eyes. The moning light coming in through his curtains gently pushed him to get up. He yawned, brushing his blue mane out of his cyan eyes and flattening it beneath his horn, making sure that the light blue streak that occupied the middle of it was situated perfectly – just the way his mother liked. His eyes were still heavy and barely open. That changed, though, when he remembered his plan from the night before.

His eyes shot open and he got out of bed, careful not to disturb his mother who was laying beside him, sleeping heavily after a long night’s work, as well as his baby brother who was cuddling in her forelegs. He quickly wrapped a white scarf around his neck – a scarf that he never left without – and quietly exited the room to go and get his friends.

Bitwise’s favorite thing to do was play with his friends. He would often bring them down into the basement and have imaginary adventures. The basement was big and very dark – a perfect place for the minds of children to run wild. In the darkness, they had journeyed from the highest peaks to the lowest valleys, and fought dragons and goblins for the glory of Equestria. Sometimes they would be pirates, out on a vast sea bringing down ships in the service of foreign nations. Bitwise was always elected to be captain, as his friends could in no way command a crew. The foal always took the position with pride.

Today was no different: he gathered up his friends, who lived conveniently in the same drawer, and proceeded to take them to the basement.

“Oh, you guys are going to love the adventure we are going to have today!” Bitwise said. “I thought about it all night!”

He then proceeded to pick up one of his friends – a spoon by the name of Senior Spoon – and talk in a silly accent that slurred the ‘s’s.

“Oh, I bet, Bitwisssse! Your adventuresssssss are alwaysssssss fun!” Bitwise smiled, then picked up a table knife by the name of King Cutlery and spoke in a very aristocratic accent.

“Mmmmmm yes, quite quite. Your ideas are to die for, sir.”

Finally, he picked up his friend that he held most dear: a fork with the prongs bent sharply back, creating the illusion of a flowing mane, simply named Fork, who unlike his other two friends, was a girl. She embodied his dream girl with a flowing mane and eyes so blue you could swim in them. Bitwise couldn’t do girl voices very well, so, to compensate, he spoke flirtatiously slow to create the sense of a feminine body.

“You are so smart Bitwise, it is hard to think of a time when we didn’t have fun.” He then brought Fork close to his face and lightly tapped it on his cheek, symbolizing a kiss. He blushed, then made his horn flare to life, grabbing all of his friends in his telekinetic grip.

With his friends in hoof he ran over to the entrance to the basement. To his surprise, somepony had put a big red sign in front of the door. Normally, there is just a gate guarding the basement’s steps, so this was an odd sight to Bitwise. It had words on it, but he couldn’t read, so he simply moved it out of the way. The gate had bars with large enough gaps between them for Bitwise to slide through. He did so effortlessly, then proceeded down the steps.

Bitwise didn’t like the steps – they creaked and made noises that gave him the notion that they were going to give way. If he could skip the steps and just start playing with his friends, he would without question. But, unfortunately for him, he did not know any sort of magic that might give him that capability, so he had to endure the creaking and the insecurity of the stairs - he had to be brave. He could be brave for his friends, and he knew he could. The foal had countless times lead his friends into battle with dragons, and he could most certainly descend the stairs. With deep breaths he pushed onward and downward into the dark abyss.

After an eternity of going down the stairs, Bitwise started to make out a shape in the distance: an ending. The floor was in sight. He quickened his steps then, out of sheer joy, pranced onto the solid ground.

“YAY!” He screamed. “Now we can begin! Ok, the adventure goes like this-”

A voice, distant and blurred by echoes, came down on Bitwise. It was the voice of a seemingly angry stallion. “Hey, who moved the sign?”

Bitwise’s heart sank. “Not again.” He whispered.

He heard rattling as the stallion unlocked the gate, and one thought ran through Bitwise’s head: hide. He quickly looked left and right, desperately scanning for any nook or cranny in which he might fit in. There were none. Good ones, anyway. There was a barrel that was large enough for him to hide behind, but was out in the open. A loud squeak of the gate opening sounded, there was no time to look for a better hiding place. Bitwise started to hear the squeaks of the stallion descending the stairs. He quickly jumped behind the barrel and clung to it – trying to eliminate the possibility of him being seen.

The creaking stopped. Bitwise stopped breathing.

“Alright, come out from behind the barrel!” shouted the stallion. Bitwise continued to cling to his hiding place. “I can see your tail, now come out from there, now!” Bitwise looked down to see that his tail was indeed out in the open. In defeat, the foal emerged from behind the barrel, ears and head drooping. “Bitwise? Aw no, why are you down here? Didn’t you learn the last time you took your sorry ass down here?”

Then another voice was heard coming from the entrance.

“Hey Balthazar, is that the whore’s son again?”

“Yeah” the stallion shouted back. “We’re on our way up now. Come along, Bitwise.” The foal complied, following the stallion up the creaky stairs, friends in grip and head hanging low in regret for his action.

As they approached the top, the stallion quickly shoved Bitwise against the wall beside the stairwell, keeping Bitwise pinned with his foreleg. Bitwise squirmed.

“Let me go!” He shouted.

The stallion leaned his head in close.

“Listen, boy. If I ever, and I mean ever, catch you down here again so help me Celestia I will lock you up! This is a cellar, not a playground for you to fantasize about Celestia knows what! Do you understand me, boy?!”

Bitwise looked into the stallion’s angry eyes. “I am not afraid of you! I don’t care if I’m locked up!”

“Oh?” The stallion said in surprise. “Well, what about your tramp of a mother, hmm? What if she were locked up instead?”

For a second, Bitwise was going to give him the go ahead and test the sincerity of his words. But then he thought about what he was going to say: would he be willing to lock his mother up because of a thing he did?

He hung his head. “Alright, sir, I won’t do it again.”

“Good. Now get out of here.” Said the stallion, releasing his hold on Bitwise. The foal sprinted out of the cellar and made for home. Once the stallion was out of sight, Bitwise stopped to catch his breath and looked up. Above him stood Canterlot Tower – a symbol of inspiration to him. The tower glistened in the morning sun and shone so bright that Bitwise almost needed to cover his eyes from its majesty. It humbled him to know that such things as raising the sun were done within its halls, and he wished to help with such incredible tasks. That is where he wanted to be.

He held his friends out in front of him. “One day, friends.” He said. “One day, it is going to be me up there. Up there at the Princess’ side.” He knew he could do it if he tried hard enough. With his neighborhood at the base of the tower, he had to have a fighting chance at making it to the top.

“Bitwise!” A voice called. The foal looked to the side to see his mother standing outside their house – an apartment complex – holding his baby brother in one foreleg. “Bitwise! Come inside please!” Bitwise obeyed, taking one more look at the tower, then went to his mother.

His mother stood out in this neighborhood; a beautiful snow-white unicorn with a creamy-red mane that flowed down the left side of her face. She had a radiant smile that made Bitwise feel at home and safe.

Despite her beauty, she was frowned upon for reasons that eluded Bitwise, as she was constantly called ‘whore’, ‘skank’, ‘slut’, and other words that, though Bitwise did not know their meaning, were equally hurtful. She also looked a bit different today; something was wrong with her face. It seemed like there was a purple tint on the left side.

Bitwise questioned it. “Mommy, why is your face purple?”

Her smile disappeared. “Never mind, Bitwise. I was, um, playing with some colors and some got on my face.”

Bitwise looked at her quizzically. “That’s a weird place to play with colors, mommy!” Bitwise exclaimed.

His mother chuckled. “Come inside, I have something to tell you.” She then opened the wooden door to their abode. Bitwise hopped in and his mother followed, closing the door and leaving them in a low lit hallway.

Their room was on the first floor. Bitwise thought it was because his mother was afraid of heights. In fact, it was the first door on the left, right beside the entrance. Bitwise opened the door to reveal their room – a simple, colorless space with a table, sink, bathtub and a window on the far side. Bitwise sat in the middle of the room on top of his bed – a few blankets on the floor. His mother followed and sat beside him.

The snow-white mare flared her horn to life, creating a small flame hovering in the air. Slowly, she moved the flame over to the corner of the room where a small white candle stood. The candle lit effortlessly, leaving the room lit and Bitwise’s eyes wide with wonder.

“Where did you get a candle? It’s beautiful!” Bitwise said in sheer fascination with the flame.

His mother laughed. “Isn’t it? I bought it just for today.”

“Why? What’s so special about today?” Bitwise said, trying to play as if he had never been caught in the cellar.

“Well, I also bought these.” She said as her horn once again came to life and floated a small stack of books over to them.

“Books! You actually got books!”

“Yes I did, just for you, Bitwise. I want to read a story to you.” She then set many of the books down, leaving what was arguably the largest one in her telekinetic grip. “This, Bitwise, is a story book. It has hundreds of legends, myths, and fairy tales to read.”

“But mommy, I can’t read!” Bitwise interrupted.

“That’s Ok, you’ll learn in time. For now, I will read to you. Would you like that?” Bitwise nodded. “Alright, lets open it up.” She opened the book to a mark she had placed. Bitwise couldn’t read the title, but there was a sketch of a tall tower with several smaller towers connected to it at its base. It immediately sparked Bitwise’s fascination. His mother cleared her throat and began reading.

“The Poem of Castle Inveara and the King

Once there was a kingdom, vast and pure,

And through the ages, it did endure.

But a king took rule so long ago,

And condemned the kingdom to darkness and woe.

For one morning a light did shine through his door -

A beautiful light in which he alone wished to adore.

From the highest advisors to the lowest knights,

He ordered them all to bring back the light.

On a trail he sent them, never to return

For reasons that he could not seem to discern.

A plan, a second act, came to his mind;

“Build me a castle that with the light will bind,

Whose tallest tower will scrape the sky with its roof

And allow me to hold the light in my hoof.”

For years his subjects worked on the citadel,

And with all their work, they followed his orders well.

Across the land the tower shone its bright aura

And spread the light’s power, in the name of Inveara.

When the tower was at last complete,

The king sent himself to the light, anxious to meet.

When he arrived, so excited, the king ran to it

And there a great travesty did he commit.

Stone walls embraced the kingdom all ‘round

Leaving it in the darkness under the earth”

“The last one didn’t rhyme!” Shouted Bitwise.

“It’s for emphasis, Bitwise. The writer wanted to make the reader focus on what happened.”

“But I don’t get it. Why did walls come over the kingdom? Why is it in darkness? Is it underground?”

“Well, that I don’t know. But what I do know is that the light did not want to be touched. We can’t all have what we want, Bitwise, and sometimes life doesn’t go our way. We just have to get up in the morning and keep going.” She paused. “Now, what did you do today?”

“What do you mean?” Asked Bitwise.

“You know what I mean. What did you do today?”

Bitwise sighed. “I went into the basement.”

“Bitwise, we’ve talked about this before. You are not supposed to be down there.”

“But mommy! I want to be down there with my friends!”

“I know” she said. “But remember the king, Bitwise. He wanted the light and ended up bringing his kingdom to disaster. We can’t always have what we want, no matter how tempting.”

Bitwise hung his head. “I’m sorry, mommy.” He said quietly.

“It’s ok, Bitwise.” She said in a comforting voice. “Also, remember this: life goes on. You may have upset some ponies today, but that won’t stop you from living, right?” Bitwise shook his head in affirmation. “Just keep on moving through the situations you get into, and you’ll go far.”

Bitwise smiled. “Thanks, Mommy.”

She rubbed her nose on his cheek. “No, Bitwise. Thank you for being you. You’ll go far in this world.” They then sat in the warm light of the candle in silence.

7 Years Later

This is it. Bitwise thought to himself as he boarded the train. It is time to get to Canterlot tower! The train was packed with others who shared similar aspirations, and he struggled to find a seat. Scanning the train, he found an available spot next to an orange unicorn with rather unique mane – dark grey that flowed gently over the face, but the back was braided up and hung down into his lap. Bitwise hadn’t seen this kind of mane before, but did not question it and sat down next to the orange stallion.

“Hi there.” Bitwise said in a friendly tone. The stallion looked at him for a second, smiled, then looked back at the seat in front of him. “My name is Bitwise, what’s yours?”

This time, the stallion looked at him and softly uttered “Rattail.”

Bitwise almost burst out laughing at the relation between his name and mane, but held it in, trying desperately not to show his amusement. “Nice to meet you Rattail.” Then they sat in silence as others boarded the train and hunted for available seats. After a couple minutes, Bitwise thought to break the silence. “So, what’s your special talent?”

Rattail looked at him. “You mean my Cutie mark?”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Oh.” Rattail said quietly. “Mine is a calculator, nothing too special.”

This guy must be a genius Bitwise thought.

“Well, what’s yours, if it has nothing to do with that scarf you’re wearing, anyway.” Rattail said.

Bitwise chuckled. “Nah, it’s completely different.”

“Oh.” Rattail said in embarrassment.

“Yeah, mine is actually kind of hard to visualize, and I don’t know entirely what it means. But basically it is a scroll and quill. On the scroll are two squiggly brackets, and in between those is a delta symbol. You know, the triangle. Or, at least I thought it was a delta symbol. It could just be a triangle for all I know.”

A look of perplexity passed over Rattail’s face. “Where did you get such a cutie mark?”

“Well, I got it at school, the first time I used a computer, but I have no idea what that has to do with a scroll with those markings.”

“From that description...” He paused, contemplating the possible meaning the mark held. "I don't know either."

“Everyone on this train, all eyes on me!” came a masculine shout from the front of the cart. The train then started to move, beginning with a sudden jolt of the engine coming to life. “You are now basic cadets in Equestria’s finest military!” continued the stallion. “You will not speak unless spoken to! You will not eat unless told to do so! You will not move unless told to do so! Now, when I, or one of my comrades, addresses you, you are to respond with one of the following statements: ‘Sir or Ma’am, basic cadet, your name, Sir or Ma’am’, ‘Sir or Ma’am, yes Sir or Ma’am’. ‘Sir or Ma’am, no Sir or Ma’am’. Do you understand?”

“Sir, yes sir!” shouted all the passengers.

This is going to be a long four years Bitwise thought as the train carried him, Rattail, and all the other cadets to the Canterlot Royal Service Academy, deep in the mountains behind the capitol city.

20 years later

Over the years, Bitwise developed a strong dislike of trains. He could not put his hoof on why, but they had become his least favorite form of travel. Maybe he had become accustomed to air or nautical travel and just preferred them to this. He knew he could have taken an airship, and would have taken one had he a choice, but sadly, one of his superiors detested air travel, and the unicorn had to make sure that the train would suffice for her safe transport.

The ride was terrible and turbulent; the high winds knocked the carts back and forth, almost to the point of falling off the tracks. The rocking made him ever more eager to arrive at the Crystal Empire. Although, a small thought had taken hold in his mind: that the Empire were destroyed and his trip would be for not. He tried to brush it off, keep positive, but it held a firm place in his thoughts and irritated him to no end. The only thing that brought him comfort and suppressed the idea was the way Celestia had talked to him when she assigned him this task. He dwelled over how calmly she had said it, how confident her tone was. He prayed that she was right.

The Frozen North was an eyesore at best – nothing but high, white dunes and ice shooting up from beneath the sea of snow. When the sunlight hit the land (which was a rare occurrence due to the cloud cover) the snow could easily blind a pony with its brilliant glare. Snow and hail pelted the windows, making loud cracks with each strike and actually scouring furrows into the smooth surface. The only positive thing about the North for Bitwise would be the Crystal Mountains, as their towering peaks would be a sight to see. But, unfortunately, they couldn’t make up for the less than optimal conditions for Bitwise that day.

 Other than the sounds of the elements outside beathing against the exterior of the train, the cart in which Bitwise resided was silent and private. In fact, he was the only passenger on the train. He laid comfortably on a bench and had his back to the window, attempting to read a book through the loud strikes of the hail.

He found it difficult to maintain focus on the book. Though the hail was indeed distracting for Bitwise, the content of the book made immersion nearly impossible. The book held abstract ideas that flew over Bitwise’s head, and he did not enjoy it. Titled “On Similarities and the Distance Between Them”, the book seemed like a complex bundle of mathematical and quantum terminology that made absolutely no sense to him. Chapter after chapter of things such as cross-polytopes, tesseracts, chaos theory and phase space left Bitwise very confused. Though he would have preferred to read something with a little more English and a little less theory, this book was special. This book was written by his special somepony.

The only reason he was reading the book was because the stallion wished to support her. She, a pink earth pony, had a blonde mane that fell over her forehead, only to then curl up just above her eyes. In it was a deep blue, almost purple Cornflower that she wore proudly wherever she went. She had a tail that acted similarly, cresting up and falling into swirls near its end. Her cutie mark, an hourglass, accurately depicted her fascination with time – where it was, was not, and did not exist. With a name cleverly taken from an early episode of Doctor Whooves, Romana put Bitwise in a sense of awe through her every aspect.

The one thing he admired most, though, were her eyes. They weren’t the deep blue eyes that he had dreamed of in the embodied fork, but rather a deep green that glistened in the sun. Bitwise never pictured himself liking green eyes – blue was his color – but had to make an exception for these beauties. If they were in a conversation, he would often lose track of what she was saying by simply making eye contact. These eyes were caring and held such emotion that Bitwise had to step aside from his idea of a perfect girl. Romana was better than perfect.

The hail pelting the train started to lighten up as Bitwise remembered the day they met: the summer sun celebration in Ponyville years ago, just after the Nightmare Moon incident. He had been assigned to oversee Twilight’s journey from afar, trying to get to the castle in which Nightmare resided and take out any hostiles before she arrived. His brother, a teen at the time, pushed him to talk to her on that sunny day. They have been dating ever since.

Only dating, though Bitwise wanted otherwise. He sighed as the thought of marriage entered his mind once again. He constantly kicked himself for not asking her sooner, but he was either too busy or the moment was not special enough. He knew in his heart the moment was coming soon, though.

The hail stopped its aggression on the train, leaving the cart in silence. Finally, some peace and quiet Bitwise thought as he turned around to look out the window. What he saw shocked him. Off in the distance was a large, blue hemisphere that glistened in the falling snow.

“The Empire!” Bitwise shouted as he refrained from practically leaping with joy. It was not destroyed, and it seemed that, from afar at least, there was still life in the empire. Despite it being gone for nearly 1000 years, the city still flickered with light, almost like a beacon in the frozen wasteland that surrounded it.

A single observation blew his excitement away; Why is it over there? The train should be traveling toward it. If the train isn’t going toward it, then where is it going? Not a moment later, the train start to shake violently, answering Bitwise’s question. Crashing!

A large impact caused him to fly off his seat. He landed on all fours, as his training had prepared him for ‘exciting’ rides like this. Another bump followed by the cart quickly sliding from under his feet caused Bitwise to fall over – he wasn’t expecting a jolt like that. He got up, though it felt as if the floor itself were trying to bring him down.

He glanced out the window long enough to notice one thing: the Empire was no longer in view. The train, or his cart at least, was sliding on ice. That was, at least, until Bitwise saw the snowdrift out the window. The large white dune quickly approached the vehicle.

The train slammed into its side. The impact immediately broke the window on Bitwise’s cart and sent a large pile of snow into the cart, but also sent him flying snout-first into the oncoming snow.

The impact could have easily knocked any untrained civilian out cold. Bitwise was, once again, saved by his training. From being knocked out, at least. His training, unfortunately, couldn’t really stop the pain of the blow; it felt like running into a brick wall, as the snow was incredibly packed down.

Slightly dazed from the impact, Bitwise got up and decided to asses the situation from the outside. He walked toward the doorway to his cart and opened it, felling little tingles all across his body. He ignored them, as it was probably just his body’s way of recovering, and continued toward the door, opening it to the outside.

The wind shot in with a force that almost tore Bitwise’s scarf off his neck. The snow was blinding, and the cold was nearly unbearable. Eyes squinted, Bitwise continued into the wasteland. Looking at the train from the outside revealed that he had it lucky. The train was almost completely consumed by the dune, leaving only his cart, the several carts behind it and the engine, far in the front, showing amid the large pile of snow.

Bitwise started to get woozy and the tingles across his body had started to sting. He looked down to see his fur had gone red. He was covered in his own blood.

“Damn it, glass!” he shouted as he started to wobble back and forth. He fell over, hitting the snow and ice beneath him with a thud. Within moments, everything went black.

He saw nothing for a seemingly long while, surrounded by a black abyss.

Is this what dying feels like? He thought to himself.

“Am I alone?” He said, not expecting a response, but rather to bring him comfort. “Huh? Is this what dying feels like? Am I alone?” He quickly became angry. “HUH? AM I ALONE? AM I? AM I?” He let his voice ring out into the darkness, and let silence surround him. The silence answered his question – he understood what it meant: yes, you are condemned. He conceded to the realization. “But I want to see my special somepony again. I can’t be done! I want to see Romana!” He begged. “I want to see her flowing blonde mane with her blue flower, her pink fur, and her beautiful, beautiful eyes.”

Then, he heard it; ominous and quiet, a voice crept out of the darkness. “Bitwise... Bitwise, I’m here.” The voice was filled with familiarity. It surrounded Bitwise and he couldn’t tell where it was coming from. He spun his head from left to right, trying to hone in on the source.

“Romana? Romana is that you? Where are you?” He shouted into the darkness. Then, slowly approaching out of the darkness, was his pink mare. Her head was hanging down and her mane was covering her face – a form that she did not usually take. “Romana!” Bitwise said. “I am so glad to see you!” She said nothing and continued to walk toward him. “Romana, are you OK?” Still nothing. “Romana! Talk to me!” Bitwise yelled.

Romana stopped, now only feet away from him. She quickly jumped up and put her forelegs on his shoulders. She whipped her head and sent her mane up and out of her face to reveal something that shocked Bitwise to the core: a grotesque mutilation of the face of his lover with empty, bleeding eye sockets.

“GET ME MY EYES BACK!” She started to shake him violently. “GET THEM BACK! GET THEM BACK, NOW!”

Bitwise woke with a scream. He was panting and large drops of sweat were scattered across his face and chest. He didn’t know where he was at first, but quickly figured it out; it was a small, white room lit by fluorescent lights that made a consistent, annoying buzz. He was lying in a bed and covered in several blankets. Machines lay around him, one of them making a consistent ‘beep’. An IV was planted just above his hoof, covered in tape where the needle pierced a bare patch of his skin.

I’m in a hospital. He thought.

“I’m alive.” He said, comforting himself. “I’m alive.”

A familiar voice responded to him. “Yes you are. You never cease to amaze, Bitwise.” Bitwise turned to the left, feeling sharp stabs of pain, to see none other than Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

“Princess Cadence? How did you get here! The train crashed! The train you wanted to take crashed!”

“I did take the train, Bitwise. Though I also had to hike in the snow a bit.” She giggled. “But that is beside the point. I am here to thank you, Bitwise. Thank you so much for getting on the train in the first place. Without you, the conductor wouldn’t have known to stop my train before it was derailed. Thank you.”

Bitwise was flattered; he didn’t normally get thanked for his services. “Oh, it is my pleasure, Princess. You really do not need to thank me.”

“No, Bitwise, I do need to thank you.” She said in a more serious tone. “You risked your life, almost bled to death in the snow, and you expect no thanks?” She giggled once more. “Bitwise, you deserve so much more than a simple thank you. You deserve this.” Her horn then flared to life and brought two envelopes over to him in her magic grip. “These are tickets for you and one other pony. They are to allow you aboard a vessel that is sure to make up for any hardships that you may be feeling now.” She paused as she gently let the envelopes down on his lap. “Thank you, Bitwise. Thank you.” The princess then got up and quietly left the room.

Bitwise looked down at the two envelopes on his lap, now admiring their complexity. Fancy designs in gold leaf were done up all around the exterior, and a rose was fastened neatly where a seal would be.

He picked one up with his magic. Looking around the envelope, he then noticed some of the shimmering of the gold take shape into four words. Three were larger than the fourth, which was placed below them, and read “The Aurora’s Calling”.

The fourth word, being smaller, was harder to see and he had to draw the envelope closer. When the word came into focus, he blushed. It was his name. He picked up the other envelope to see that, in the exact same place, was another name: ‘Romana’.The princess had just given him an opportunity of a lifetime: to propose.

2 Years Before the Train Crash

X-32 Operations Form

Operation Name: [REDACTED]

Lead Pony: Valence

Purpose: Archeological Dig

Assistance Requested: Financial

                Request: Approved

                Limitation: [DATA EXPUNGED]

Limitation: [DATA EXPUNGED]

Limitation: [DATA EXPUNGED]

Limitation: [DATA EXPUNGED]

Limitation: [DATA EXPUNGED]

Team size: 4 as of 5/23/76 (5 as original slate)

                Names: Valence; [DELETED]; Firefly; Ruby Moon; Trigger;

Expected date of departure: TBD

Location: Crystal Mountains; Exact location TBD

Expected duration: 2 years (+ or -)

Expected outcome: To find and utilize ‘Def Orbem Potentia’, or [REDACTED] in our tongue. Outcome may also lead to further understanding of the secrets pertaining to the disappearance of [REDACTED].

Notes:

My Dearest Valence,

This is quite a marvel you have brought to my attention. I can honestly say that I was completely unaware of the possible complexity of the situation at hoof. You have my full support, as well as that of the military. It is in my utmost confidence that you will succeed in finding them again.

Record Everything,

Bring them back,

Find their power.

-C

As approved by: Princess Celestia

As Confirmed by: Bitwise