The Steam Age

“How did this happen?!” Twilight cried out, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

“She was never a violent mare, she was an inventor, an artist, not a mare who kills or fights! How could they do this to her?!” She looked into Rarity’s eyes, only to meet her eyes full of disgust.

“Twilight, I think you are overreacting, we can’t always choose our fate, she became a commander and is very happy with it! Why you are showing such disgrace disgusts me. Now, calm down and I’ll show you to the dining area and we will continue discussing what will happen if we don’t win the war!” Rarity fumed, her face showing that she was doing her best to contain her anger. Finally she calmed down she got off the stool and started leading her to the food. As they started the walk to the dining area Rarity noticed how Twilight was somehow, different.

“Whatever happened to your wing braces darling?”

“Huh?”

“Your wing braces are missing.” Twilight looked at her with confusion.

“The metal braces that protect your wings and make them stronger darling, all winged creatures use them. Oh! They could be the next fashion statement! Either way, I remember yours were a stunning platinum, or was it gold, or…” She trailed off, listing the names of metals. Twilight sighed and continued looking around, it was amazing that somepony could build technology this advanced, suddenly, she smelled food, and it was getting closer. Right when they entered the dining area Twilight’s stomach let out an enormous growl. She quickly used her wings to cover her belly, muffling the noise.

“Hmhm, looks like somepony worked up an appetite.” Rarity giggled and showed her to a seat.

“Now you wait here while I get you some food, its not healthy for you to walk that much after you passed out, and you seem rather weak, so you just rest up, ok?” Twilight suddenly realised how weak she felt, not only from being unconscious, but from hunger also. As Rarity walked off to get food, she looked out the window, it was late the sun was starting to set in the calm sky. How can there be a war, when everything looks so calm? She shook off the thought when Rarity came back, plates of food in her telekinetic grasp. She licked her lips and dug in to the feast before her. But a hoof stopped her after she just started eating.

“Don’t eat so fast! It’ll give you a stomach ache, now take small bites and don’t stuff yourself.” Rarity sternly replied, Twilight realised that she was a Princess, and needed to act like one, so she took a small piece and slowly chewed it. Rarity smiled and went to attending her own food. When they finished eating (should I mention that it was daffodile sandwiches with potato soup?) Rarity once again stood up, picked up the plates and walked off. Twilight looked down at the table, it was made of metal. So were the stools, except they were padded with leather. She stared at the leather, realizing that she might be sitting on one of Applejack’s cattle. When Rarity returned, another pony was next to her. It was yellow, with a spiked royal blue and honey yellow mane. Her goggles were set behind her horn. She wore jeans and a tool strap. But what amazed Twilight the most was her right leg, it’s made of metal! its a mechanical leg that works just as good as the real thing! She looked at it with her mouth agape, eyes wide with wonder.

“Your highness, without any disrespect, but why are you staring at my leg?” The commander looked at her, her face angled slightly away from the princess, but still facing her in some way.

“Oh, uh, well, it’s just that how did you build that? How does it work so well? I mean, when you make a metal leg, it never moves, but yours is even better than a real leg! It’s a feat of science!” Twilight’s eyes were bigger than a plate by now.

“Uh, I built it when I lost my leg in a combat mission, back when the war had just started and I was a complete rookie. How could you forget?” Commander Sky scrunched up her face. She shook it off and started a new conversation.

“Listen, I need to speak with you in private, so will you walk with me?”  Electric said, avoiding eye contact from Rarity, but she didn’t notice. As the entered the hallway, Twilight noticed that she had wing braces.

“Aren’t you a unicorn?”

“A crystal unicorn, as for the wing braces-” She opened her wings to show,

“These are made of leather, but if I am charged with a lot of magic, my soul will manifest into a pair of wings.” She lit up a spell and the leather changed into feathers made of a light blue aura.

“But this is not the reason I brought you here Twilight, the reason you are here is because I had summoned you, I need your help to save Equestria, for I fear we are losing, and that will cost us very dearly.” She solemnly replied.

“So it wasn’t a glitch in the hologram spell, that was you?”

“Yes, and once I tried telling you in a dream, but you could tell Luna was not there for me to send you the message clearly.” Twilight stood next to her, eyes full of distrust.

“How could you do this? Why didn’t you ask the me from this dimension?” She looked away eyes filled with tears.

“She went missing three years, we never found her, and just when we got close to finding a clue, the inevitable happened.”

“What?” Twilight whispered, barely a breath on the word.

“The gates of Tartarus opened, releasing the hellish beasts inside, along with the ‘Dark Horse’, the monsters that no pony ever heard of or saw, those who see one, get obliterated.” Sky’s eyes glazed over, remembering the loved ones she lost to them. She looked back to her.

“This is why I need you, you are the only one who knows how to save us. Can you find it in yourself to lend a hoof?”She looked ahead, eyes on the horizon. As Twilight calculated the events following each action, she knew what she had to do.

“Can I see all of my friends?” She neede facts, a claim, some evidence to get her moving on to her theory.

“Are you sure? Things are different, and I’m not so sure if each reaction to seeing you will be positive.”

“I’m sure, these are my friends, and I know that no matter what happens, or happened, we will always be together.” Clarity showed in her eyes. Sky on the other hand, avoided eye contact from her. She pulled out a notepad and wrote something in it. She then turned to Twilight and showed her the pad.

“This is a list of your friends, you will go and visit each of them, then mark one of these checks, understood?” She managed to say all of that without eye contact. Twilight nodded.

“But what do I need to mark them as in the boxes?”

“In time, you’ll know.” Sky looked away again, but when she spoke Twilight realised that the only emotion she showed, was sadness. Why was she so sad? Quickly she shook it off and continued walking with Electric Sky.

“May we head back? I’m getting awfully thirsty.” Sky made a small laugh and helped Twilight walk back, seeing that her energy was waning quickly. The commander quickly opened one of her wings and used it to hold Twilight steady. They walked, or rather stumbled back to the dining hall and sat down. The commander left again, this time to get them some coffee. When she returned, Twilight was asleep. She lightly tapped her on the shoulder and set the cup of coffee down. Sky sat down and sipped her coffee, and flinched when she realized it was too hot. Twilight later woke up and drank her coffee.

“So when are we going to visit one of my friends?” She asked after taking a sip, this time adding more sugar.

“Tomorrow, I have managed to get ahold of Rainbow Dash, we will meet her at Airship Sunset.”

“‘Airship Sunset’?” She asked.

“A port for airships, well known for its strong defence and amazing coffee.” Twilight cocked her head at the last statement, and Sky shook it off. They chatted about technology and went to bed. When they finished, each stood up, and Sky bowed. Twilight looked at her and realized she also had to bow. Awkwardly she bowed and walked off to what Rarity told her earlier would be her quarters for now. She wandered that halls and asked a few soldiers until she finally found the room. It was fairly simple, a metal room with a desk and a bed. There was a lamp next to the bed and a window over the desk, the purple cloth covering the view of the night sky. Twilight took in the room and… took a pillow to the face and fell into a deep sleep.

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“What are you going to do when the fire swallows you all little pony? Are you going to sant in the ruins of the world, Or will you do something?” A figure in the shadows laughed, singing a mad song.

“The world ended without my musical angel, Will yours too?” The figure cackled, a shadow spinning, Twilight looked around desperately for the figure that was speaking. She appeared to be floating in a dark room.

“She was my angel of music, and she did this to me!” A pony floated from the shadows, wearing a mask, he tore it off, revealing a disfigured face.

“Don’t let the world disappear pony, For I will be here writing my songs of Hell!” He shouted, and the world faded, Twilight screaming the entire time.