Dashpoint: New Equestria

Twilight examined Rainbow Dash back inside her house. All the lights were turned off, besides the one hanging over them. She ran many tests on rainbow Dash, and examined her carefully.

"This is impossible," Twilight said, looking through the results of Rainbow Dash's tests. "You're fully healed, after breaking practically every bone in your body!"

"It might have been the Sonic Rainboom combined with me being struck by lightning." Rainbow Dash chuckled. Twilight flipped through a different stack of papers that were sitting on her desk.

"That doesn't mean it's possible. It doesn't even make logical sense! Besides, there's something else," Twilight looked through the stack of paper with disbelief. "You seem to be giving off a signal. It's like a type of background radiation, invisible to most scanning. So far, I've run about seven different scans. Only two are signalling that they found something. Infrared and Ultraviolet rays are the only two that showed up. Well, you can see it with certain 3-D glasses." Twilight walked towards a closet filled with random clutter. She came back moments later, carrying a large black light. She placed it down in front of Rainbow Dash, and turned it on.

"Hah! You see that?" Twilight was pointing to the strange blurriness that was floating around Rainbow Dash. Whenever Rainbow Dash moved, she could see the blurriness following her.

"What is this?" Twilight turned back towards her.

"I already said, it's like background radiation. I've run one more test, looked through some old books, and watched a couple of episodes of Doctor Whooves, and discovered what it may be." Twilight pulled up a white board. "Okay, imagine this is your universe," Twilight then proceeded to draw a large circle. "Now, imagine this the universe you're in right now." she drew another circle, and began coloring in the space in between the two. "Now imagine this is the stuff in between, or the Void. History wasn't just changed," Twilight turned back toward Rainbow Dash.

"Whatever was changed, had to happen! So, by changing the future, a second reality was created, to stop your reality from being erased. That's why Time Travel is dangerous. Unless you use a spell that makes it last for like a minute, you would either rip a hole in the Space Time Continuum or create another reality, to support the paradox. Do you follow any of this?" the question caught Rainbow Dash by surprise.

"Yes..... no." Twilight put her hoof to her face.

"Somepony changed the past and created a second universe! What's not to get?"

"But, how does this 'background radiation' come in?" Twilight suddenly remembered the point of showing Rainbow Dash all of this.

"You see, when you create another universe, you actually travel through the Void, into that universe, hence the background radiation. You picked it up after you passed through the Void." Twilight had finished her presentation and turned off the black light. She put the board away, and turned the lights back on. Rainbow Dash was free to move again.

"There's something else." Rainbow Dash started. "While I was unconscious, I had strange dreams. I was dreaming about some things in the past that happened in this reality."

"Your memories are realigning. They're changing from your previous world, to this world. Soon, you won't remember anything about your other world." Twilight began walking towards the door. "Come on. I think it's time I revisited some old acquaintances." Rainbow Dash followed Twilight out the door.

* * *

A lone mare sat atop the roof of a crumbling city. She sharpened her knife, humming to herself. Her smile stretched across her face. Her mane was straight and her coat was a grayish pink. She looked down upon the oblivious ponies walking back and forth, down the narrow streets. In silence, she would stalk her prey. When she spots her next victim, she descends the building, continuing to watch it carefully. When she lands on the ground, she strikes. The prey can never see it coming. Her knife plunges into them, and they fall down. Anypony who witnesses the murder runs, hoping they aren't next. She tears the body to pieces, and flees the scene, with a sack containing the pieces of the body.

That was how her life would be. There were never any worries. Now, she was stuck in a dimly lit room. Held by the government, ever since she nuked Manehatten. She continued to hum, but she would not smile. She never smiled. In her memories, she would see herself smile, but that was just a memory. She chose to remember her life that way, when in reality it was a lie. She was chained to the wall, and stuck in a straight jacket. Large ponies in suits would come in from time to time to run tests.

When she was let out, she was kept under constant surveillance, and was not allowed to remove her straight jacket. They would take her to a room, where they would make her construct weapons for the Solar Empire. Afterwards, she would return to her room, and the cycle would go on everyday. Her time would come. She would hope to die soon.

* * *

Rainbow Dash was led to the train station. Twilight brought her aboard, and they sat down. A few minutes passed, and the train began to move. Rainbow Dash left the town of Ponyville, to wherever Twilight was taking her. The train rattled quietly as it moved across the rusty rails. Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight, who was still staring out the window.

"Twilight," Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight's head did not move. "Where are we going?" Twilight answered, without turning.

"Manehatten. There's somepony I need to talk to." Rainbow Dash remembered the dream she had. In one of them, she saw a rocket hit Manehatten. There was a huge explosion, and that was it.

"Wait, I thought Manehatten was destroyed." Twilight's head slowly turned, and her eyes met Rainbow Dash's.

"How could you possibly know that? That happened seven years ago." Rainbow never told her about the details of her dream.

"It was one of the things I saw in my dream. From the look of the explosion, I thought it must have destroyed the whole city." Twilight sighed again, turning back towards the window.

"Rainbow Dash," Twilight said quietly. Rainbow Dash looked up at her. "In your world, are my parents still alive?" when Twilight turned towards her, Rainbow Dash saw that Twilight had been crying.

"Yes," Rainbow Dash said. "And your brother. In my world, there is no war, or apocalypse, nor is there any hate." the two princesses rule Equestria together, not battling for tyranny." Twilight stopped crying,and chuckled.

"Your world sounds like fun," the train ride was pretty quiet for the rest of the journey. Rainbow Dash looked out the window, to see the devastation the war had brought upon the land. There were hardly any villages, the ground was covered in ash, and bones.

The train ride was a half an hour long. When it stopped, Rainbow Dash stared in disbelief at the city of Manehatten. It was a living, thriving city, even when there was all that devastation in between. Twilight led her to a large building. There were bright purple letters that sat on the side of the building. Sparkle Casino.

"God, tell me you don't own a casino." Rainbow Dash groaned.

"A mares gotta make a living somehow," Twilight replied, as they approached the door. "Come on, we need to get to the roof. She's waiting up there."

'Who's she?' Rainbow Dash thought to herself. As they walked up the stairs of the casino, Rainbow Dash was feeling chatty.

"Twilight, what happened when Nightmare Moon returned?" Twilight stopped walking for a second. She hesitated before answering.

"She swore to bring with her an Eternal Night," Twilight said, continuing to walk. "Celestia had to stop her, but was no longer in control of these things, called the Elements of Harmony. I don't know what they are, or why she was no longer able to use them, but Nightmare Moon's power was strong. She plunged all of Northern Europe into the sea. Rumor has it, that's where her base is, but nopony has ever made it there alive. Her forces patrol most of Europe, and Western Africa."

"As for Celestia, most of the Solar Empire are patrolled around Canterlot, and the cities surrounding, within a 1000 mile radius. She's in Canterlot, sitting around while thousands of her scouts are dying daily. Right now though, I think she's somewhere in Celestia's Crossing."

* * *

"Hello? Can anypony hear me?" a voice calls into a communicator. "This is Sergeant Frostwing. They found us. My whole team is dead, and now they're after me." soft hoofbeats came from behind him. "I'm somewhere is Celestia's Crossing, but the Empire wants me dead." the soldier cocked his pistol, and prepared for the fight. "I have information for Commander Rarity of the Twelfth Sigma Unit."

"Hello?........ yes, I know what they're planning......... No, there is nopony left. I know I'm going to die. Please, take this information." the rubble began to shake around him. "Ah shit, they found me!" the soldier ran. He dared not look back. He knew the Empire was on his tail. He fired some shots at them, but was only able to kill three, out of the thirteen that were chasing him. His gun clicked, and he threw it aside. "Fuck! It's Celestia! Twelfth Sigma Unit, take this information: The Empire is planning to attack the New Lunar Republic! The final battle is going to be right here! Commander Rarity, if you get this message, give the reports to Lieutenant Firestorm, he'll know what to do!"

As he ran, a bullet knocked the communicator out of Frostwing's hoof. He had no weapon, no means of escape, he had one more throwing knife, which he used on one of the soldiers. He knew he would die, but he kept on running. Most of the soldiers that shot at him would miss. That was because Celestia wasn't the one shooting. She reached for a soldier's gun and managed to hit Frostwing in the leg. He tumbled to the floor, and shouted in pain. The soldiers slowly approached him, followed by Celestia.

"Who are you, and who are you with?" she asked, using her horn to bring him to her face. Frostwing did not answer. "I would answer if I were you, unless you're fine with not having a mouth to speak with." Frostwing was very weak, but he still had enough strength in his arm to smack her in the face.

"I'll tell you nothing you bitch!" he shouted. Rather than kill him, Celestia simply stared at him. After a few moments, she turned to one of her guards.

"His name is Sergeant Silas Frostwing. He is with the Twelfth Sigma Resistance Unit. The only other surviving member of the team, was a Commander Rarity. Their mission was to infiltrate the Headquarters and steal valuable information, which he was able to get to Rarity." Celestia turned back towards Frostwing with a smile. He had a look of confusion and horror. Celestia laughed. "I know the most advanced magic in the world, I'm sure that includes Mind Reading spells." Frostwing looked down. "You there, find this... Rarity, and make her know the real meaning of pain." the soldier nodded and one by one, they began to leave.

"And what of this one?" one of the soldiers asked, pointing to Frostwing. "Should we kill him?" Celestia grabbed him by the neck.

"An example must be made for all who rise against me." she flew him up to the ceiling of the crumbling building, and wrapped his neck around one of the cables hanging down. "Don't worry, your neck will break before the electricity manages to stop your heart." she charged the cable, and dropped the Sergeant. He began to scream in agony, as the electricity traveled through his body. Then, after the cable had reached it's maximum length, he stopped falling. After a sudden Crack!, the Sergeant hung lifeless, his head hanging to one side, and his eyes still open.

* * *

After approaching the top of the casino, Rainbow Dash stared at the shadow of a figure. Instead of move, the figure just stared at Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Twilight slowly approached the figure, who began to walk towards her. Soon, it came into the light. Rainbow Dash was staring at another familiar face. Though she was a cyborg, and covered with a lot of metal, Rainbow Dash still recognized the mare to be Applejack.

"Hey, Applejack," Twilight said. "I'm ready to accept your request." Applejack wasn't much bigger, but being covered in metal made her look more burly. She sounded exactly the same as she always did.

"What made ya change yer mind?" she asked. Twilight smiled.

"I found us another member." she gestured her hooves at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash tried as hard as she could to not let Applejack know where she was from.

"What's up?" Rainbow Dash said. Applejack nodded slowly.

"She may look weak but trust me, I've seen how strong she is." Twilight may have been lying when she said that. "We have the world's best hacker in this group too. You think you can break into the Empire's mainframe?" Applejack sighed.

"How many times do Ah have to tell ya? Ah'm not gonna cause more trouble. Ah just want this war to be over!"

"The war is over! Everypony lost. The world just doesn't know it yet. Besides, just because you're in Celestia's right pocket, doesn't mean you have to do everything she says!" Rainbow Dash was thinking of what to say. Then, she remembered the dream she had. If Applejack did have access to certain government things, she may know about the nuke.

"Hey, do you know anything about the nuke that landed here a few years ago?" Rainbow Dash asked. Applejack hesitated for a moment, before pressing a button on her shoulder. It brought a holographic projection, filled with government files.

"There's something there, but it's beyond even my clearance." Twilight was becoming irritated.

"Think you can hack it?" she smiled. Applejack sighed before pulling up a holographic keyboard. After a few minutes of keys clacking, there was a ding.

"Got it. There's something in a laboratory called M.A.R.E. Labs, why?" Rainbow Dash smiled.

"I think I found somepony who may be able to help us." Applejack clacked a few more keys and finally, she found a location.

"Here it is, M.A.R.E. labs, located about 10 miles away. We can't take a train, because it's in the middle of the Devastation." Twilight sighed.

"You ready for a trek into the most dangerous place in Equestria?" she asked. Rainbow Dash smiled.

"I'm always ready," she said. "Let's get going!"