Every morning.
I wake up every morning, the same sun beaming in from the window, warming my coat as I prepare myself for the day ahead. Birds sing outside, matching the beauty of those yellow rays, the smell of the grass around my house elevated by the crisp clean air of the countryside. Heaven upon the ground, my colleagues used to tell me.
Unlike me, my colleagues lived & worked in the big cities, but most in Manehatten. I lived near it, but far enough to enjoy the countryside & still make it to work on time. In these big cities, Manehatten in particular, a clear smog blanketed the entire city, the skyscrapers poking their heads out to catch some breath. The smog was caused by the engines that powered most technologies: cars, generators, even the lights that stayed on through the night to help you get home in the big city. In turn, these technologies were powered by magic, stored in large quantities & distributed freely for general or business use. In reality, these demons were bought on by ourselves. My colleagues, my team, we saw the rising state of pollution in our world & were on the verge of launching our discovery to the world. But then it happened.
We were all set up. Surrounded by dozens of newspaper ponies from across Equestria, we were nestled amongst the trees of Manehatten’s central park. The sun was shining, not a breeze in the air, not a cloud in the sky. I remember the exact speech I gave the day everything changed.
“Fillies & gentlecolts, as some of you may be aware, a dense smog is covering our cities because of our energy usage. Because of this, the team & I have been extensively researching on possible alternative energy sources. While most have been out of our reach or not even possible, one has given us hope that we can start again & clean up the streets of our beloved cities.”
Looking around, there were nods of appreciation & cheers of agreement amongst the few who had gathered that day. I motion to my partners to start setting up the device.
“Today, I wish to unveil this new technology, & indeed this new energy source, to you & to share it with our population in the hopes of a cleaner future for our children. I present to you, the future!” The blanket lifts.
The device activates immediately, collecting the energy it was designed to harvest, powering the light bulb that it was attached to.
“As you can see, this device is powering the light bulb. I can assure you, there is no generator powered by magic here.”
“Then how does it work?” At last, a question. I felt the top of my game.
“Very simply. Atop this tower is a collection of small cells that follow the sun, similar to the heads of flowers. Like flowers, the tower collects solar energy from the sun, so long as Princess Celestia keeps it up of course.”
A few chuckles here & there. This was going well.
“Using this energy, it drives a non-magical motor, generating the energy needed to power this small light bulb. At the same time, there is no waste, no pollution to leave the machine. What we have here may be extremely basic, but it’s a start.”
The press went mad. The flashes in their camera went off quicker than the land speed record. Cheers & questions filled the air. & then the clouds began to move in. Noting the change in weather conditions, we collectively looked up confused.
“The pegasi must have made a last minute change to the weather today!” My joke set off a few more chuckles. The clouds darkened & grew in volume. The laughter died that day. The moon rose up, the sky turning an eerie blood red & then, darkness, as the clouds reached their maximum thickness. That was the last anyone ever saw of the sun.
The conference was abandoned. Some ponies ran in fear, others stood still, struck in awe of the power of the eclipse, or blinded by it, I don’t know. It doesn't matter anymore. With pollution levels as high as they are, I doubt we will ever see the sun again.
All attempts at dispelling the Cloud Blanket have failed. With nothing to let the deadly gasses escape into the upper atmosphere, the pollution has ravaged the land, destroyed our eco-system & has even started to affect our neighbouring states. I don’t know what situation the world currently is in at your time but my guess is that it’s probably in an even worse situation than mine.
At this time, Celestia has ordered another fleet of airships for construction. For what purpose, I don’t know, probably more civilian ships. I've never been in a more unsure situation. I remember, in the past, I would always refer to my books for an answer. A childish solution to some ponies.
This will be my final log for Princess Celestia’s research department. I fear Nightmare Moon’s forces will be upon my doorstop at any moment. If my spells can only just keep the toxic air out of my home, I doubt I could keep her elite forces out much the same.
I miss my friends.
This is Twilight Sparkle, signing off for the last time.
-X-
The last part of the video plays over & over in my head. The sadness in her voice overpowering any other sound I heard in the clip, the single tear rolling down her face, the door bursting open to reveal a dark figure. & then, the cut to static. My night is a restless one.
I wake up, in my one room apartment. I don’t know if it’s day or night, or if either of those concepts exist anymore. I doubt anyone does. There’s no window to tell either. In the five years since the Cloud Blanket appeared, the purpose & need for windows has become irrelevant. If there is nothing to see, why would you need a pane of glass to see nothing but smog?
In preparation for my council with Princess Celestia, I was sent the video of Twilight Sparkle earlier to understand the situation, or at least why I’m even being summoned in the first place. But what situation would I have to understand? As far as I know, the Solar Airship Fleet is surviving beyond our expectations in a world of pollution. In my time as the leading scientist aboard the Solar Wave, the chief flagship of the fleet, I’ve been able to construct devices that have eased our way of life onboard these massive airships. With so many ponies living together, conditions have been akin to those of slums in the old days but with the advancements of micro-technology in recent years, things have been favourably better.
I don’t think the pollution is the thing that ponies worry about the most though. I find myself worrying at about it at times. It’s the question that is burning into everypony’s heads: Has Nightmare Moon really returned? Although it’s been five years since, nopony has truly seen her. Every story I hear in the middle of conversations is mainly rumours or speculation. Not even Princess Celestia herself has acknowledged or publicly announced her return.
The one story that is true is that of the Elements of Harmony defeating her when she first returned from the moon. The Bearers of the Elements defeated her in the abandoned Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters & returned her to Princess Luna, Celestia’s sweeter sister. How a monster could rise out from that defies my thinking. But after watching that video, how can the Elements defeat Nightmare Moon again, if they no longer have one of the Bearers?
My door buzzes to interrupt my train of thought. It buzzes again before I realise where I am. I make my way to the door, looking through the little peephole. Outside, a white unicorn in golden armour stands unimpressed in waiting. Now I’m late. I collect what I deem important for this meeting & I open the door.
“Took enough time?” His surly voice cuts through the silence. I do nothing but nod in intimidation. Despite being a unicorn myself, I’m really not the one to ask when it comes to combat spells.
In order to get to Celestia’s quarters, one must travel through the commercial section of the airship. Gives me a chance to see who’s up & about at this time so I can unwind after this meeting. The elevator that joins the Commercial Deck & the Residential Deck is separate to the elevator for the Royal Chambers, & that can only be found on Commercial. The elevator doors open & close behind us, the air filled with tension.
“So… any idea why I’ve been summoned by Princess Celestia?” What was I to say?
“It’s not my place to discuss royal matters whatsoever.” He shut me up.
Tantalising moments pass & the doors open up to the familiar scent of the Commercial Deck. Almost immediately is the recognisable smell of Pony Joe’s coffee. Despite recent events, his business has managed to stay afloat after so many sunk after the appearance of the Cloud Blanket. I suppose ponies find comfort in the familiar & the simple. Amongst all the other food vendors, a few specialist stores run through the deck. Tailors, news stands & tech suppliers are amongst the lot. One of my favourite stores on this deck is the mechanics, in particular the one owned by Scootaloo.
Unlike the Armoury Deck, where most fighter repairs happen, Scootaloo’s shop is the one place where some Wonderbolt pilots go to get a few extras or modifiers for their wings. The reason so many pilots come here out of the selection of commercial mechanics available is because Scootaloo had attempted to join the ranks of the fighter pilots. However, her age stopped her from joining a year back. “Young, but shows promise for the future” was the exact quote written on her papers. She excelled in all areas, impressing even General Spitfire. But rules are rules. Her mechanical knowledge was the area they were most interested in however, so that’s why every so often, young colts & fillies can be found admiring the fighters that are left in the hangar nearby.
Today, it was quiet, relatively speaking. The term of mechanic has expanded to accompany the ship utility repairs. At least today won’t be so quiet for her. We pass her store, Scootaloo obviously engaged with fixing whatever she had currently under her wing. We passed many more stores uneventfully, finally making it to the Royal Descent, as it’s known. Professionally, it’s the Royal Elevator but the other name comes from the only time pony folk will ever see the Princess outside of her chambers. The doors open & close, same as the elevator from before, the same tension in the air. Questions begin to roll through my mind: Did she want to question my research? Did she want my help in developing something new? Or was it something outside my expertise but wanted my opinion on?
The doors opened.
“Your highness, I have bought Flash Shot, on behalf of your request.” I stood in awe at my surroundings. In comparison to the dark & dank of the lower decks, the Royal Chambers were similar to the architecture found in Canterlot, pure white marble & flowing tapestries to covet the eyes. In the centre of the room stood Princess Celestia herself, her mane equally as flowing as the day I first set my eyes on her when I was but a colt.
“You may leave us.” The voice was still the same calmness I heard that day too. Clearly, she’s not letting the situation affect her, if it did at all. The guard left with a salute, the elevator with him. “I trust you understand my reasoning for calling you here.”
I opened my muzzle, but for no voice to come out. I swallowed audibly in embarrassment.
“It’s OK, you can speak freely.” Reassurance was another strong point of the Princess.
“Thank you, your highness but I’m sorry, I don’t really understand why I'm here. My technological advances in recent months haven’t contravened any laws that you have put into practice since the launch of the Solar Wave, I really don’t see how I could help further than creating new technologies for general use but I suppose – “ With the combined motherly stare & the grin she had on her face, my train of speech abruptly stopped. Maybe I had been running on a bit too much then.
“You received the video I sent to you, correct?” I nodded. “I wanted to speak to you about Twilight Sparkle. Before you became one of my leading scientists, Twilight was the eyes & ears of my research division after the Cloud Blanket appeared. In the five years that we've suffered darkness, she was my beacon, my hope that the light would one day return. Both of us felt we were close to discovering something that would help us in returning to the old days.”
“Discovering what though?”
“I don’t know.” She turned away facing towards the wall to her right. Confused, I looked her way. I was surprised to see a window, a single pane of glass that separated her from the outside & the deadly fumes. “I’m sorry to have to ask you of this but I feel as if I cannot trust anyone else. As my most promising researcher, you show the traits that helped me choose Twilight as my own personal pupil, all those years ago. & because of that, I feel you could succeed where both Twilight & I failed.”
“So, what are you asking me to do exactly?” I continued to gaze out of the window, as if I could catch a glimpse of something – anything!
She turned to face me again. “I want you to go to Twilight’s house, & retrieve her notebook on the Cloud Blanket.”
Immediately, alarm bells went off in my head. Leaving the interior of an airship is a duty for the mechanics when something goes wrong on the outside, hardly something for a pony like me or a regular civilian to just do. & she wanted me to go somewhere on the ground where the pollution was thickest!
“Ugh… d-did you say… go outside? As in, into The Fog?” My breathing escalated. If there’s one thing ponies of the Solar Wave fear more than Nightmare Moon herself, it’s going outside, even if for a brief moment.
“I understand that it is an odd request but it is necessary for our survival in this war.” Survival?
“I never wanted to reveal this, I don't know if you heard them yourself or not, but Nightmare Moon has returned once more. & my sovereignty is at threat because of her. As I did not give up my throne, my sister announced she would wage war until the day she was at the throne. She is the reason why the Cloud Blanket exists, as to why The Fog covers everything in Equestria, as to why we live in these airships. But the impending threat of battle is not the only problem that my citizens face.”
“Why haven't you announced this to the ponies that live beneath you aboard this very ship, or indeed to the entire fleet?” The questions continued to rattle my brain, a new one popping in with each answer given.
“For the very reason that I do not tell them the truth that hurts me every time I go over the figures!” Anger. Anger was a rare, albeit unheard of emotion amongst the Princess’ vocabulary.
“I’m sorry. I did not mean to have such an outburst.” With her eyes closed, she took a long calming breath & continued. “But it is true, at our current rate, even without war, we will not survive.”
“What do you mean ‘at our current rate’?”
“By my calculations, our food supplies are dwindling fast, & with a rising population, we only have a matter of time before we starve to death. You can check if you like but it’d make no difference. We'll still end up starving no matter the population count. At best, we have a few more months before things get really serious.”
“OK… OK, that’s good. That gives us some time, I suppose. Twilight’s home was in the outskirts of Manehatten, wasn't it?”
“Yes. Currently, we are heading in that direction, but it will be a while before we get there. I do not want to force this task upon you, but you would be doing this nation a great service.”
I stood still a long time. I thought this over, & over, & over countless times. It still made no sense to me. We were down on food supplies. How? Nightmare Moon was back. How? My head had never hurt this much before.
“I'm sorry, your highness, but I need to think this over.”
She nodded in appreciation. “Of course, a lot of information has just been handed to you. That’s a lot to process in a short amount of time. You have till we reach the Manehatten area to make your decision. As we are currently over the Baltimare area, that gives you three cycles to consider your options.”
As time has been lost after the concepts of night & day became no more, “cycles” are now the standard for telling the time. On a regular day, 'morning' till 'evening' is considered a cycle. & in turn, 'evening' to 'morning' is another cycle. In a day, there a two cycles. Princess Celestia has given me, essentially, a day & a half to decide if I'll take on her request or not. At least clocks still work.
“Promise me one thing though, Flash. Do not give this information to anyone, not even family or close friends. My guard & the Wonderbolts know of this information but I can’t risk losing the populace in anarchy should they ever find out.”
“Of course.” She nodded in response, a sad smile upon her face. She looked ready to collapse & burst into tears. I left the bright colours of the Royal Chambers, & took the elevator to the Commercial Deck, returning to the constant browns & blacks of the lower decks. Was I seriously considering taking this request on? At least my catch up with Scootaloo would keep my mind off of the topic.
-X-
“You WHAT?” Scootaloo’s shrill voice rang out through the bar, enough to attract a few unwelcome eyes.
“I really should not be telling you this, there could be some of Celestia’s guards watching here. Keep it down, you know?” I panicked looking around & keeping my voice to a minimum in the packed bar. “Do you want me to lose the Princess’ faith in me? She thinks I can save the entire Solar Fleet!”
“Ppph! I’m not getting up at that! She asked you to go outside! You've never even been outside in five years, the wind’ll probably knock you down onto your rump! Ha!” Scootaloo couldn't sound more like an adolescent right now. Her comedic side was coming out, snarky & snide at times but greatly welcomed when needed. “I can’t believe you’re agreeing to even the ‘going outside’ part!”
“The Solar Fleet needs my help, Scoots. If that means going outside into poisoned territory, than that’s what I’ve gotta do!” I slammed my hoof on the table, my anger getting the best of me.
“Easy there, fella!” I shot an apologetic glance to the barkeep. A gentle stallion but I’ve seen him remove Earth Ponies from his bar like they were nothing but bin bags.
“Careful, Tiger, or Juggernaut Joe will have you for breakfast.” Another gag from Scootaloo.
“Ha, ha.” A moment of silence followed, the air filled with the murmurs of the other patrons, all in a half-drunk state. I doubt that if any of them heard anything, they wouldn't remember any of it, not a single word. “I don’t suppose you have a spare respirator in your workshop, by any chance?”
Scootaloo took a moment more than she probably should have done. “Well, currently my own is… indisposed at the moment, but I’m borrowing an older model from a friend of mine, you could use that to survive outside for a while but…”
“…But…?”
“It’s not exactly reliable…” Cheesy grin doesn't even cut close. She gave a slight flutter of her wings in conjunction with the last word.
“Great… What’s wrong with your one anyway?”
She winked, & said “I'm still fixing it.” Of course. She saw me see her earlier.
“& your friend is cool if I borrow theirs for a while?”
“Yeah, it’s not like Rainbow Dash needs it right now!”
“But what if – wait, did you say Rainbow Dash?” Either I'm slightly drunk or I heard correctly.
“Yeah, Rainbow Dash, one of the Wonderbolt Captains. Why do you think I never jumped at the fact we could starve soon?”
