Sleeping in the Light

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Epilogue: 90 Years Prior
Chapter 1
Chapter 4
Chapter 19

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

True to her own intuition, Kelso was already regretting her decision to bring Pinkie Pie along; she would simply not shut up! Pinkie Pie had fortunately stopped talking directly to her, and was now riding along with her head out the window, oohing and ahhing at everything that they passed. It was almost like she’d never been in a big city before.

Kelso had taken to browsing the internet over her PIP as a distraction, preferring to allow the car’s autopilot to drive for her. They’d be at their destination soon enough, the sooner the better. The sooner she got back with the food, the sooner Pinkie Pie would be out of her hair.

Then, a thought occurred to her. She really wasn’t being very fair to Pinkie Pie. Sure, the earth pony mare was loud, and obnoxious, but she had to have some redeeming qualities, right?

‘Pinkie Pie?’ Kelso asked.

‘Yes?’ Pinkie Pie said as she pulled her head back inside the car and glanced over at her host, grinning widely and fluttering her eyes rapidly.

‘Uh...’ Kelso said. Oh what a great plan this was, start up a conversation and have nothing to talk about. ‘So, what do you do for a living?’

‘Oh! Well I’m a baker by trade, though I can pretty much cook anything!’ Pinkie Pie said with a smile. ‘Though I do have a lot of hobbies, including party planning, chemistry, making plastic explosives, decorating...’

‘Wait... hold on’, Kelso said, raising a hoof to stop her. ‘What was that?’

‘Decorating...?’ Pinkie Pie said in confusion.

‘No, before that, Kelso elaborated.

‘Party planning...?’ Pinkie Pie asked, not sure what Kelso was getting at.

Kelso opened her mouth to speak, but then stopped as her car pulled to the kerb outside of the Māo Xióng takeout restaurant that Viola frequented most often, though Kelso had never actually been here herself, she was taking a chance, Viola had really wanted those spring rolls, and Kelso would be getting them. Kelso looked up at the restaurant expectantly. Food was in her sights, and she opened the door and stepped out of the car and onto the kerb, shutting the door behind her and peeking back in through the window. ‘Stay right here, I’ll be back in a moment’, Kelso said as she trotted along the sidewalk and pushed open the glass door, a little bell ringing to let the owner know that someone had entered.

The restaurant was small, to be sure. Of course, it was a takeout place, how much space did you really need? As she looked around the place, Kelso noticed that the restaurant was decorated with paraphernalia from the Peking Republic. Good, the owner wasn't a communist. Though, Kelso was pretty sure that if he was a communist, he wouldn't own a takeout restaurant. The Māo Xióng owner was standing behind the counter with a bag of food in front of him. The Māo Xióng were a large, bear like people with black and white alternating fur. It was almost comical, because the owner looked to be incredibly uncomfortable; he barely fit in his own restaurant. The Māo Xióng species were much larger than ponies, and because of their large size, it made manoeuvring around difficult.

'Miss Kelso?' he asked in a thick accent.

Kelso nodded, and brought up the holographic display on her PIP. Since it was linked to the internet, she could debit her bank account directly and use it to pay for her food... at least, in theory.

'Cash only!' the owner snapped at her.

Right, this was one of those places. To be fair, there were only a few restaurants that she went to that didn't accept debiting of an account as payment. Kelso reached into her overcoat and pulled out her wallet, opening it up and removed a ten Equestrian Pound banknote and placed it on the counter.

'Thank you', the owner said insincerely as he took the money and pushed the bag towards her. Kelso took the bag and turned around and headed out. Unfortunately it seemed that not being a communist was his only redeeming quality. Kelso took one last look at the Peking Republic flag before leaving.

Unfortunately for the state of the world, the Peking Republic was not the governing body of the Māo Xióng people or, at least, not all of them. Fifty years ago or so, the Māo Xióng people were in the middle of a nasty civil war between the nationalists of the Peking Republic, and communist rebels. Things took a turn for the worse, and after a series of major defeats, the nationalist forces were pushed into a retreat to the only safe place they could go to, a place known as the Kowloon peninsula. With the communists right on their tails, the nationalist faction blew up most of the peninsula, causing it to sink right into the ocean, leaving only a fourth of the land that had once been the peninsula left.

To be fair, the newly created Kowloon Island, was still relatively large, you could have built three or four cities the size of Ponyville on the island and still have enough room for farmland to feed the population of all of them, but while Kowloon Island was large, it was nowhere near the size of the territory that had been controlled by the Peking Republic on the mainland. The victorious communists established a new government, the Māo Xióng People's Republic, with its so called ‘government’ friendly with the long time Equestrian Republic enemy, the Unified Præsidium of Socialist Republics.

Now, you want to talk about bad eggs? Then one needs to look no further than the Præsidium. Founded around the same time as the Equestrian Republic, the Præsidium arose after a popular revolt overthrew the Autocratic Czar Alexandre of the Cossack Confederation, the revolution of the east to match the Equestrian revolt against the princesses here in the west. The Republic of course, had been excited to hear of it, thinking that the Cossacks would be making the transition to democracy like they had. However, they did the furthest thing from. The Præsidium, with all its talk of equality and the unification of the workers, was nothing short of a hegemonic, totalitarian state. The Communist Party controls every aspect of the average Præsidium citizen's life, there is no freedom, there is no individual thought. There is only the party, and the state.

Kelso shuddered, and was thankful that she was Equestrian. She had not noticed that she had gotten back into the car, Kelso had been lost in her train of thought, and Pinkie Pie was sitting in the passenger seat to her left, looking at her expectantly, but waiting patiently for her to finish her thoughts before speaking.

'Hi...' Kelso said, giving Pinkie Pie a nervous looking wave.

'Hi!' Pinkie Pie said with a bright smile. 'What did you get!?'

'Oh... well', Kelso said, as she opened the bag to show Pinkie Pie the contents. 'I've got fried rice, of course... and...' Kelso stopped as she looked in the bag; she noticed that Viola's spring rolls were missing. Kelso frowned in annoyance, it was probably just an honest mistake, but the Māo Xióng owner had already been rude to her once today. She unbuckled her seat restraints and opened the car door to get back out. 'Hold this for me', Kelso said, handing the bag to Pinkie Pie as she headed back inside.

Pinkie Pie took a look in the bag at the large carton of fried rice. It smelled delicious, and Pinkie Pie's hunger was starting to get to her... just a bite couldn't hurt, she reasoned to herself as she opened the carton. The wonderful aroma of the fried rice filled her nostrils, she took a bite, and her mouth exploded. It was so wonderful! Another bite couldn't hurt, she reasoned, and before she had knew it. Pinkie Pie had eaten the entire carton of fried rice.

'Oops', Pinkie Pie said to herself as she discovered what she had done. It had been a large carton, it was supposed to feed four people, and she had just woofed it down without a second thought. Suddenly, the door to the restaurant flashed open, and Pinkie Pie watched as Kelso stormed angrily out of it.

'You better make sure you've got your taxes in order pal!' Kelso shouted angrily. 'I know you pay your workers under the table, so don't be surprised when the entire PPS Fraud Squad descends on you tomorrow morning!'

Pinkie Pie's jaw dropped open and she watched as Kelso slam the door shut behind her, the Māo Xióng owner continuing to yell at her in the gibberish that was the Māo Xióng spoken tongue. Kelso threw open the car door and sat back inside. She started up the car, bringing up a holographic control panel and pressing her hooves down on it, accelerating the car off down the road.

'What happened?' Pinkie Pie asked.

Kelso grumbled under her breath for a moment before replying. 'Greedy bastard! So I go back inside and let him know that I ordered spring rolls and that I think he forgot them... well he says that they weren't on the ticket, and if I want them, that I have to pay for them. Well I already paid for them on my original order! Which I tried to explain calmly to him; long story short, I have a bit of a temper, so when he accused me of trying to cheat him to get free food, I did not respond very well', Kelso said, finishing up her explanation and setting the car on autopilot. 'Well it's not so bad, Viola may be disappointed but at least we have the fried rice...' Kelso stopped herself as she looked over to Pinkie Pie, and discovered the empty carton sitting on the seat.

'I'm sorry', Pinkie Pie said, giving her an apologetic, and nervous looking smile. 'It was really good'.

Kelso sighed and opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a stomach gurgling. Kelso was shocked, it wasn't hers; it was Pinkie Pie's. 'Oh don't tell me that you're still hungry!' Kelso cried out.

Pinkie Pie offered her another nervous grin and a small chuckle. Indeed she was. Kelso let out a loud sigh, Pinkie Pie was going to eat through her entire bank account, she could already tell. Kelso looked along the street and spotted a suitable substitute for Māo Xióng take out, a restaurant and arcade by the name of Port Pizza. That would have to do.

Kelso pulled into the parking lot, picking a spot and opening the car door. 'Come on', she said to Pinkie Pie as she stepped out. 'We might as well wait inside; this is going to take a while'.

Pinkie Pie nodded as she unbuttoned her seat restraints and stepped outside, following Kelso towards the door. 'Hey... Kelso? I'm really sorry', Pinkie Pie said apologetically.

'It's all right', Kelso said, offering Pinkie Pie a small smile. 'Was the fried rice good?'

'It was only the most delicious thing I've ever eaten!' Pinkie Pie said excitedly. 'So good in fact...'

'I don't want to hear any more!' Kelso said, interrupting the pink pony. She was already hungry enough as it is. Thoughts of food consumed Kelso's mind, so much so in fact that Kelso had not noticed that Pinkie Pie had referred to her by name, even though Kelso hadn't told her what it was.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Port Pizza occupied a special niche in the Ponyville food market. The emphasis here was more on the arcade than it was the Pizza. Which wasn’t that much of a problem, it was a place for foals to have fun, and they certainly were having lots of it.

Port Pizza had been around for a while; Kelso had come here a couple times when she was young, usually for birthday parties or some situation similar to that. True to its name, Port Pizza was decorated in a pirate/high seas theme. There was a mural of a different famous ship from history on each wall. The one Kelso happened to be looking at, on the northern wall, was of the Equestrian paddle steamer SS Canterlot, the ship was uniquely designed for its large paddlewheel attached to the stern, and the single tall smokestack in the middeck, it had the distinction of being one of the first Equestrian steamships, built during the years before the fall of the Old Monarchy as a token show of progressivism. The SS Canterlot was a ship that sank after sailing through rough weather nearly a hundred years ago while en route to the country of the Kangaroos, the Commonwealth of South Island. The sinking of the SS Canterlot was made famous by the fact that there were no casualties. All fifty crew members, and nine passengers aboard the ship had made it off safely, not to mention, that one of the passengers just happened to be Princess Luna the Mad herself.

The SS Canterlot was regarded as one of the worst shipping accidents in Equestrian history, while there had been no loss of life, when the ship sank, it took about a hundred thousand Equestrian Pounds worth of goods right to the bottom. That was adjusted for inflation, of course. Kelso looked over to Pinkie Pie, and couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. The obnoxious pink pony was staring intensely at the mural of the SS Canterlot, almost as if she was engaged in a deep philosophical discussion of it with herself. Kelso was about to ask what she was thinking about when she stopped herself.

Asking Pinkie Pie what she was thinking about was a horrible idea. If the obnoxious pink pony opened her mouth, it would not close again. Having just saved herself from certain doom, Kelso looked back up at the line that they were standing in and frowned, it was still rather long, and to her complete expectation, this was going to take a while. ‘Pinkie Pie?’ Kelso asked.

Pinkie Pie snapped out of her trance and looked up at Kelso. ‘Huh? Oh! What’s up Kelso?’ she asked.

‘We’re going to be here for a while, there’s an empty table over there you can sit down at, you don’t need to wait in line with me’, Kelso said as she stuck out her hoof and pointed at the empty table.

Pinkie Pie looked over at the table and nodded her head. ‘Okay, I’ll wait over there!’ she said cheerfully as she stepped out of line and trotted to the table and took a seat. Pinkie Pie looked out at the rows of arcade machines, her gaze lost in the shining lights of the holographic control panels, they were all so pretty! What caught her attention most, though were the foals that were playing the games. They all looked so happy! Their bright smiling faces made the pink party pony feel great. Before she knew it, Pinkie Pie was humming a song.

‘There's one thing that makes me happy, and makes my whole life worthwhile, and that's when I talk to my friends and get them to smile!’

Pinkie Pie remembered the words to that song like were written on the back of her hoof. She had made up plenty of songs over the years; most of them were impromptu compositions with next to no planning. She’d have an idea for one in the middle of the night and she’d start humming something that sounded good. That song, stuck with her though, it had always been her favourite.

Come on everypony smile, smile, smile! Fill my heart up with sunshine, sunshine! All I really need's a smile, smile, smile! From these happy friends of mine!

‘Pinkie Pie?’ a voice asked her.

Pinkie Pie looked up in surprise to discover that Kelso was standing over her, expertly balancing two large boxes of Pizza on her back. ‘Oh hey!’ Pinkie Pie said with a smile. She didn’t know how, but she had completely lost track of time.

‘Everything alright?’ Kelso asked. ‘You looked like you were entranced’.

‘Oh’, Pinkie Pie said with an embarrassed grin as she rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. ‘I was just watching the foals play... they all look so happy, it just... fills my heart up with sunshine!’ she admitted.

Kelso let out a sigh and shook her head. ‘Could you possibly get any more obnoxious?’ she asked as she took one of the boxes of Pizza and set it on the table.

‘Is that a challenge?’ Pinkie Pie said with a mischievous grin.

‘No!’ Kelso cried out. ‘No it is not!’

Pinkie Pie let out an obnoxious giggle, snorting every so often, before letting out a hiccup.

‘I give up! I give up!’ Kelso cried out as she set the second box of Pizza on the table. Pinkie Pie merely grinned at her. Kelso now knew for certain, Pinkie Pie was clearly evil. She rolled her eyes sarcastically at herself before turning to Pinkie Pie. ‘I didn’t know what you liked, so I just got two large cheese pizzas, want a slice before we head out?’ she asked.

‘Oh... no thank you!’ Pinkie Pie said. ‘I’m not hungry anymore!’

‘What?’ Kelso asked, giving the pink pony a deadpanned look. Pinkie Pie merely shrugged as she got up from the table and picked up the Pizzas for Kelso.

‘I’ll carry these!’ Pinkie Pie said with a smile as she trotted out towards the door. They headed outside and got back to Kelso’s car. Pinkie Pie set the pizzas in the back seat as Kelso started the car back up, getting into the far left lane and driving on towards home.

‘Where do you live at? I can go ahead and take you home’, Kelso said.

‘Ponyville’, Pinkie Pie said.

Kelso deadpanned Pinkie Pie, giving her a look of contempt. She was about to make a number of rude sarcastic comments, but decided against it. ‘What street do you live on?’ Kelso asked tactfully.

‘Um...’ Pinkie Pie said as she struggled to remember. Kelso could already tell that this was a waste of time, she set the car’s autopilot to head back to her and Viola’s flat and waved Pinkie Pie off.

‘It’s fine, you can stay the night with me and my roommate, and tomorrow morning, we’ll head down to the PPS Headquarters and look up for full record, and if we don’t find anything in our systems, we can always check the National Health Service registry’, Kelso said.

Pinkie Pie’s jaw widened into a bright smile, so wide in fact that Kelso had to do a double take, a pony’s jaw shouldn’t be able to move like that! ‘Thank you so much! You won’t regret it!’ Pinkie Pie said.

‘Oh I already am’, Kelso muttered under her breath.

...

They pulled up outside of Kelso and Viola’s flat not too long after, Kelso returned to her usual parking spot and stepped out of the car. Pinkie Pie reached back and grabbed the Pizzas out of the back seat before following Kelso inside. They trotted up the stairs and Kelso pushed open the door to the flat.

‘About time!’ they heard a voice call out to them. ‘I was about to call down to headquarters and have them send uniforms out looking for you!’

Kelso smiled as she looked to Viola Auditore, who was sitting on the sofa reading an eBook on the holographic display of her PIP. The holographic field over Viola’s eyes faded as she stood up and trotted over to her, just as Pinkie Pie trotted inside and placed the Pizza boxes on the kitchen counter.

‘Who’s this?’ Viola asked as she looked at the pink pony before her, and then glanced down at the Pizza boxes. ‘And what happened to Māo Xióng take out?’

‘Long story’, Kelso said with a frown. ‘This is Pinkie Pie, I found her sleeping on my car, she doesn’t know where she lives, so she’s going to stay the night here, and we’ll take her down to headquarters tomorrow morning and check her NHS records to find where she lives’.

‘Hello!’ Pinkie Pie said with a wave.

‘Why didn’t you just check your PIP?’ Viola asked as opened a Pizza box and pulled a slice out.

‘I did! That was the first thing I tried! She doesn’t have a record, not with us, not with Manehattan, or Fillydelphia, or Canton!’ Kelso explained.

‘Heh, it’s sad when the moral of the story is breaking a law at least once so the police can help you when you need it’, Viola said with a smirk as she chomped down on her Pizza. ‘Hmm! Hey this is good!’

Kelso’s mouth began to water, she pulled of a slice of Pizza and was about to take her first bite, when she notice Pinkie Pie looking at their oven. ‘It doesn’t work, it’s broken’, she said.

Pinkie Pie ignored her and opened it up, sticking her head inside.

‘Hey! What are you doing!?’ Kelso cried out.

‘Fixed it!’ Pinkie Pie called out as she pulled her head out of the oven, shutting the door and turning it on. The oven kicked to life and began to warm up, causing Kelso’s mouth to fall open. Pinkie Pie turned around and smiled warmly at the two mares. ‘The regulo-thingymaggiger wasn’t on all the way!’

‘The what?’ Kelso asked.

‘Honey can we keep her?’ Viola asked with a playful smirk.

Kelso looked at Viola and offered her a serious looking frown. ‘Absolutely not!’

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Pinkie Pie’s breakfast had been nothing short of delicious, Kelso felt energised and ready to tackle not only today’s caseload, but tomorrow’s as well. Pinkie Pie was really something else.

By the time the car containing Viola, Kelso, and Pinkie Pie pulled into the parking lot of the PPS headquarters at the intersection of Twilight Sparkle Street and Parliamentary Drive in down town Ponyville at 0800, the time when normal detectives (not DC Hopely, who always came in to work far earlier than she needed to) got in. Hopefully, Hopely would have that information that Kelso had requested by now.

They stopped by the front desk to register Pinkie Pie as a visitor, filling out the necessary paperwork that was needed to clear her for entry. Kelso frowned as she filled it out, every time she heard someone say that they were moving towards a paperless society, it felt like they were handing her another stack of papers to fill out, arguing of course, that it didn’t really count as paper, because it was the synthetic holopaper. No one had actually said this to Kelso, of course, but they were all thinking it. The uniformed constable at the desk, a canary yellow pegasus mare wearing dark sunglasses took the forms and passed over a visitors badge for Pinkie Pie to wear.

Pinkie Pie threaded her head through the visitors badge necklace, and rejoined Kelso and Viola near the lift. Viola scanned her PIP through the security scanner at the lift and the trio rode it up to the fifth floor which housed the inner sanctum of the Serious and Organised Crime Group on one half of the floor, and the Criminal Investigations Department on the other half.

In these days, however, there really wasn’t much difference between the two. Organised crime in Ponyville had fallen to pieces four months ago, after the city’s major crime boss; an elderly earth pony stallion by the name of Kirsk Zazz had been killed in a shootout with the police. His criminal enterprise had fallen into chaos, allowing for the Serious and Organised Crime Group to stamp out the organisation completely. That was not to say that organised crime was a thing of the past in Ponyville, this was a major city after all. They were just in a lull period for now. It wouldn’t be long before someone else came along to try to forge the next great criminal empire. Until then, headquarters had tasked CID’s spill over workload, mostly traffic and the occasional murder cases, to SOCG.

Kelso looked up as they rounded the corner to the rows of desks that belonged to their department and smiled. DC Hopely was at her desk, punching away at the holographic control panel with her hooves. She bid Viola goodbye, and motioned for Pinkie Pie to follow her over.

DC Hopely looked up as she noticed Kelso approaching. She brushed a hoof at her two tone teal and emerald mane, pulling it back out of her soft orange eyes. ‘Sorry Kelso, don’t have anything for you just yet’, she said with a frown.

‘What? I called you to check two hours ago!’ Kelso cried out in disbelief.

‘It’s the Police Internationale records, those always take forever to come back’, Hopely said with a shrug. ‘If it makes you feel any better, I’m running a search of the name through the NHS records right now. Nothing under the name of Pinkie Pie... hold on, there a record here under a Pinkamena Pie... it’s a long shot I know...’

‘Oh! That’s me!’ Pinkie Pie interrupted cheerfully. ‘Pinkamena is my birth name! Pinkamena Diane Pie! That’s me!’

‘Right’, Hopely said with a nod as she opened up the NHS record and took a look at it. ‘Hold on...’ Hopely said as she took a closer look. ‘That can’t be right...’

Hopely took a look at the screen for a moment, before printing the record out and closing the window. Kelso raised an eyebrow at Hopely in confusion. ‘What’s going on Hopely?’

‘Detective Sergeant? Can I see you over at the printer for a moment? I’d like a word in private’, Hopely said as she rose from her seat and headed over to the printer, motioning for Kelso to follow.

Kelso frowned, and turned to Pinkie Pie and offered her an apologetic smile. ‘Sorry, can you wait here for a moment?’ she asked. Pinkie Pie nodded in affirmation, and Kelso trotted over towards Hopely, who was staring at the holopaper that she had just printed out. ‘What’s up Hopely?’ Kelso asked as she walked up next to her.

‘You’re not going to believe this one Sarge’, Hopely said with a frown. ‘But there is only one Pinkamena Diane Pie in the NHS system... and it lists date of birth in Year 20 before the Republic... and date of death in Year 55 of the Republic. Kelso, your friend has been dead for forty five years’.

Kelso looked at Hopely with shock, that couldn’t be right! She glanced over to Pinkie Pie; the obnoxious pink pony couldn’t have been any older than twenty two. Pinkie Pie noticed that Kelso was looking over at her, and waved at her excitedly. Kelso offered Pinkie Pie a nervous smile and waved back, and then turned to Hopely. ‘You’re wrong, you have to be’, Kelso said flatly.

Hopely shook her head. ‘It’s worse, look at the file photo. This was taken in Year 2 of the Republic, when the NHS was founded’, Hopely said as she pushed the file over towards Kelso. Kelso fumbled with it as she tried to bring it up to her face by folding her ankle around it. The image of Pinkie Pie was exactly identical to how she looked today. The image had been taken when Pinkie Pie was twenty two. Kelso set the file back down and turned to look at Pinkie Pie.

‘Hey Pinkie Pie!’ Kelso called out to her. ‘How old are you?’

‘Me?’ Pinkie Pie asked, looking up from Hopely’s computer terminal, which she had taken to looking at because of the pretty holographic lights. ‘I’m twenty two!’ Pinkie Pie said simply.

‘Thank you!’ Kelso said, forcing a smile.

‘You’re welcome!’ Pinkie Pie said brightly before looking back down at the holographic terminal.

Kelso looked back to Hopely with worry. ‘Hopely... if this record is accurate... and Pinkamena Diane Pie has been dead for the last fifty years... then who the hell is that!?’

‘I don’t know’, Hopely said with a frown. ‘What I do know is this... we are going to need to be very, very careful with what we do from here’.

Kelso nodded her head in agreement, and looked back over to Pinkie Pie. ‘How long until you get the information back from Apple Bloom?’ she asked.

‘It should have come in while we were talking’, Hopely said.

‘Okay... good, I’ve got a plan’, Kelso said as she tapped at her PIP from its place on her ear. ‘Viola, it’s Kelso, I don’t have a lot of time to explain, I just need you to trust me, I’m sending Pinkie Pie into your office, just keep her talking, doesn’t matter what it’s about. It shouldn’t be too hard’.

‘Oh I can’t wait to hear the explanation on this one Kelso’, Viola’s voice came back over the communications channel.

‘Oh it’s certainly a good one’, Kelso said with a frown as she and Hopely trotted back over to the desk. ‘Hey Pinkie Pie, Viola wants to talk to you in her office’, Kelso said as she pointed over to the door that belonged to the DCI’s room.

‘Oh! Okay! Well I’ll see you later then!’ Pinkie Pie said with a smile as she trotted off down the rows of desks and opened the door into Viola’s office, closing it behind her.

Hopely went right to work, logging back onto her computer terminal and pulling up the files. ‘Okay, let’s see what we’ve got here’, Hopely said as she scanned over the files. All of them came to the same conclusions. Pinkie Pie had not been alive in the last fifty years. Kelso and Hopely had to wonder now. Since the evidence was overwhelming, who could this possibly be? Was she a descendant of the original Pinkie Pie? Or maybe she was a chance look-a-like? Neither of those made sense, Pinkie Pie was just as much under the impression that she was Pinkie Pie as they were.

Unless, of course, she was lying; either that or maybe she was delusional. They really couldn’t tell for certain, they didn’t have enough information on her mindset. Hopely looked through the files, and noticed that there was a new one that had just come in.

‘Hold on, this is interesting... it’s an advisory from FutureTec!’ Hopely said as she opened it up.

‘What’s it say?’ Kelso asked.

‘Warning advisory... blah blah... basically, it’s saying that a psychiatric patient has escaped from a FutureTec research centre in the Ghastly Gorge Industrial Complex. “The patient, named Sugar Plum, is a sufferer of paranoid schizophrenia, and is delusional and extremely dangerous, PPS constables are advised not to approach without armed backup”... and there is an attached NHS file’, Hopely said as she pulled up the file. Pinkie Pie’s picture appeared before them.

Kelso looked at Hopely in shock, it seems that they had their answer. Pinkie Pie wasn’t Pinkie Pie, but a deranged psych patient from a FutureTec run treatment centre.

‘Kelso, this file is fake!’ Hopely proclaimed. ‘I ran facial recognition through the NHS database ten minutes ago with the picture that you gave me and this file didn’t show up’.

‘Are you sure?’ Kelso asked.

‘Positive’ Hopely said. ‘Something isn’t right here and FutureTec is at the middle of it. Why am I not surprised?’

Kelso nodded her head in agreement. ‘I need to make a call’.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

‘Station BRIGHTHOUSE, how can I... oh, DS Kelso, what a pleasant surprise!’

Kelso gave the holographic figure of the unicorn mare before her a small smile. ‘Hello Sparky, how’s the new job working out for you?’ she asked.

‘Oh it’s just fine, not a lot I can talk about though, FutureTec’s not ready to make the announcements yet’, Sparky said with a shrug. ‘What can I do for you Detective Sergeant?’

Kelso had only met Sparky Starlight a few times during her life, all of them, however had significant impact, the Serious and Organised Crime Group’s last major case could never have been brought to court without her. Sparky was a senior systems analyst at FutureTec and in charge of Station BRIGHTHOUSE, at the Whitetail Industrial Complex, one of their many research centres with projects that were almost all military contracts.

Kelso remembered their first meeting well, FutureTec had sacrificed the lives of the six crew members aboard the Discovery One space craft on the first manned mission to the gas giant Tartarus, in order to study a mysterious deep space artefact of unknown origin, known simply as the Tetrahedron, and not even giving them a clue what they were getting into. Worse still, they tried to cover up any wrong doing, Sparky was able to get evidence of the cover up, and Viola and Kelso had used it to bring down the masterminds of the conspiracy, several high ranking executives at FutureTec, along with the former Chief of the Republican Navy, Vice Admiral Firestar. All of whom were now serving time in various prisons, and they were going to be there for a long time.

‘I need a favour, we just got an advisory from FutureTec about an escaped psych patient from the Ghastly Gorge Industrial Complex... you know anything about that?’ Kelso asked.

Sparky’s hologram nodded in agreement. ‘Yeah, we got one too, something about a paranoid schizophrenic called Sugar Plum? I haven’t had an opportunity to look at records closely yet...’

‘Don’t bother’, Kelso interrupted. ‘They’re fake’.

‘What?’ Sparky asked, raising an eyebrow at the detective. ‘How do you know?’

‘The one that they’re calling Sugar Plum? She’s here at the PPS Headquarters’, Kelso said.

‘You have her in custody?’ Sparky asked.

‘Not exactly, she’s here as a visitor’, Kelso said. ‘I found her lying asleep on my car yesterday evening, she didn’t know how to get to where she lived, so Viola and I took her in for the night. I had Hopely run her NHS records before we got the advisory from FutureTec. “Sugar Plum’s” record didn’t show up before that. It’s fake’.

Sparky looked blankly at Kelso. The look quickly turning to a frown. ‘This is bad Ana’, she said eventually.

Kelso nodded her head in agreement. ‘We had all hoped that FutureTec’s dirty tricks ended with the Discovery Project, no such luck, unfortunately’, Kelso said with a frown.

‘So who is she really?’ Sparky asked as her hologram began to pace back and forth with nervousness.

‘A mare by the name of Pinkie Pie’, Kelso said simply.

‘What?’ Sparky cried out, ceasing her pacing and snapping to attention. ‘Kelso! That was the name of one of my grandmother’s friends! Pinkie Pie has been dead for fifty years!’ she proclaimed.

‘I know’, Kelso said with a nod. ‘Hopely pulled her NHS records and confirmed it, yet here she is. She’s in Viola’s office right now’.

Sparky nodded in understanding, biting her lip and looking down at the ground in thought. ‘I’ve got an idea, I’m going to grab Dizzy Doo, and we’ll be down there in an hour or so, find out what Pinkie Pie knows. I’ll see you when I get there’.

‘What’s the plan?’ Kelso asked.

‘I’d prefer not to say over public telecomm’, Sparky said. ‘It’s... not exactly legal though’.

‘That’s okay... whatever FutureTec is doing can’t possibly be legal either’, Kelso said with a frown. ‘Sparky, we’re the only ones who really know the full extent of FutureTec’s treachery, who knows what all sorts of nasty stuff they’ve got their hooves in?’

Sparky nodded her head in agreement. ‘Why do you think I still work here? Got to have a whistleblower somewhere, right? I’ll see you when I see you’, Sparky said. She reached out and pressed at a button on her terminal that was not visible to Kelso, and her holographic imaged faded into the æther.

Kelso frowned. She liked this situation even less and less with every passing minute. Kelso, Viola, Sparky, and the rest of their friends had made a conscious decision to keep certain details from the public, the artefact that FutureTec wanted to study, the tetrahedron, being one of them. As far as the public knew, FutureTec was still the benevolent proprietary megacorporation that was the driving force behind Equestria’s industrialisation over the last one hundred years. This was unsettling to say the least.

Kelso tapped at her PIP, opening up the short range channel to Viola’s office. ‘Guv, can you take Pinkie Pie into interview two? I need to talk to her’.

...

Pinkie Pie tried to make herself as comfortable as possible in the chair that she sat in the PPS interview room. Kelso had wanted to talk to her in private, or at least, that was what Viola Auditore had said. Pinkie Pie wasn’t really concerned; this was probably just part of a routine, after all.

She had enjoyed her chat with Viola, before coming in here; the two of them had talked about what Pinkie Pie did as a baker. Pinkie Pie had done most of the talking, but that was okay. Pinkie Pie really did love to talk after all!

Suddenly the door opened, and she watched as Kelso came inside and closed the door behind her. ‘Shouldn’t there be a mirror?’ Pinkie Pie asked, pointing towards the wall across from her.

‘Pardon?’ Kelso asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘You know! Like in movies and television and stuff! Police always have mirrors where people on the other side can watch, but the people on the inside of the room can’t see them!’ Pinkie Pie said. ‘This room doesn’t have one!’

Kelso blinked for a moment, staring at Pinkie Pie, before eventually shaking her head. ‘Yeah, we don’t actually have those, that’s just on TV’, Kelso said as she took a seat at the table, across from Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie looked incredibly disappointed for a moment at Kelso’s revelation, but quickly rebounded to her normal cheerful demeanour. ‘So! What’s up? Viola said that you wanted to ask me some questions?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

Kelso nodded her head in affirmation and she touched a small holographic panel in the table’s corner to record their conversation. ‘Correct, routine questions, shouldn’t take more than a few minutes... first, could you please state your full name, for the record?’ Kelso asked.

‘Pinkamena Diane Pie’, Pinkie Pie said.

‘What year were you born in?’ Kelso asked.

‘983 Reign of Celestia!’ Pinkie Pie said with a bright smile. ‘Oh, wait, we’re not supposed to use the old calendar anymore... Year 20 before the Republic!’ Pinkie Pie said with an embarrassed smile as she corrected herself.

‘Okay...’ Kelso said. ‘What year is it currently?’

‘Year 2 of the Republic! Because I’m twenty two!’ Pinkie Pie proclaimed.

‘Well, that’s two questions down...’ Kelso said. ‘Tell me, Pinkie Pie, who is the Prime Minister?’

‘Twilight Sparkle is the Prime Minister! Duh, everypony knows that! Er... I mean, everybody knows that!’ Pinkie Pie said as she corrected herself once more. ‘Sorry, Twilight says that we should stop using the word ‘everypony’, because not everybody is an everypony! Um... I mean... Not everypony is a body... no, not everybody is a pony!’ Pinkie Pie added as she continued to trip over her words.

Kelso could tell, that Pinkie Pie was starting to get nervous, she didn’t know if Pinkie Pie was bad at tests, but the way she was acting, it was a safe bet. ‘Pinkie Pie, this isn’t a test, just relax, these are only routine questions’, Kelso said.

‘Okay! Sorry again!’ Pinkie Pie said as she rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof in embarrassment.

‘One last question, you told me the last thing you remember was skipping through a field of flowers last night... what did you do right before that?’ Kelso asked.

Pinkie Pie closed her eyes and thought about it for a moment. ‘Oh! I remember now! I was at the new hospital building that they built in that new part of Ponyville!’ Pinkie Pie proclaimed.

‘What were you doing there?’ Kelso asked.

‘Regular physical examination, or so said the doctors, they wanted to take samples for the new NHS records, blood, spit, and hair!’ Pinkie Pie said. ‘I remember asking the doctor who was examining me if it was going to hurt, he said no, but I was going to feel a slight prick. He took the blood sample... and then the spit... and then he plucked out one of my hairs! Next thing I know, I’m bouncing around in that field!’

‘I see...’ Kelso said. ‘Well thank you Pinkie Pie, this has been... informative’.

‘Oh you’re welcome!’ Pinkie Pie said with a bright smile.

Kelso smiled at her as she rose from her seat. ‘I’ll be right back, wait for me here, please’, Kelso said politely.

Pinkie Pie nodded her head rapidly as Kelso headed out of the room closing the door behind her, hoping that her answers helped her out as much as they possibly could.

Kelso, however, was left with far more questions than answers.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

‘She’s not a clone! You can’t clone people!’ DC Hopely said, stamping her hoof on the ground in annoyance.

‘Well then you explain it Hopely! I don’t see you coming up with any better ideas!’ Kelso snapped back at her.

Kelso, Hopely, and Viola were standing in the lift headed down to the first floor, they were expecting visitors that they needed to check in. They had left Pinkie Pie in the interview room where she would be safe, for now. Kelso had taken the opportunity to recount to her colleagues the things that Pinkie Pie had said. Everything that Pinkie Pie had said indicated, at least, in Kelso’s opinion, that the obnoxious pink mare was not the original. It didn’t leave a lot of options.

The lift door opened and they trotted outside to discover two unicorn mares filling out paper work at the front desk. Kelso smiled, Sparky had gotten here earlier than expected.

Sparky Starlight was pale blue coated mare, her mane a two tone violet and yellow, her eyes were cyan, and she was clad in an orange FutureTec issued utility vest and micro information processor snapped to her leg, and she appeared exactly as Kelso had seen her on the other occasions that they had met. Kelso could only imagine Sparky’s wardrobe at her home, figuring that it had to be filled completely with identical utility vests.

Standing next to her was Dizzy Doo, a violet coated mare with a blonde mane, who was much shorter than Sparky was. Her shorter stature put an emphasis on her seemingly large amber eyes, though; they were really the same size as everyone else’s in the room. Like Sparky, Dizzy Doo appeared exactly identical to the time in which she had last seen her.

Dizzy Doo was a nephite, a monotheistic religious group from out west who worshiped a single god, appropriately called ‘God’. Because of their outsider status for the entirety of their existence, nephites were survivalists by nature, and they were well trained fighters and sharpshooters. It was said that getting into a fight with a nephite was the worst possible life choice that one could ever make. A ten year old nephite filly could take a fully grown draught pony in a bar fight, and win. Though nephites were not aggressive by nature, in fact, far from it, they had a saying. ‘Never start a fight, always finish it’. Dizzy was wearing the same riot vest that she always did. Apparently, this was traditional dress for them; legend stated that the nephites found these vests, embroidered with the string ‘CO19’ on the chest pocket, in a warehouse on the edge of Canterlot Province some two hundred years before the Republic was founded.

Sparky slid the pads of paper forward towards the uniformed constable at the desk, and the two mares donned their visitor badges before noticing Kelso, Hopely, and Viola trotting over towards them. ‘Hopely, Kelso, DCI Auditore’, Sparky said with a respectful nod.

‘Hey Spark’, Hopely said with a smile, giving the unicorn mare a hug. ‘Good to see you again, and same to you Dizzy’, she added as she broke her hug with Sparky and gave one to Dizzy as well.

‘Hey Hopely’, Dizzy said with a smile.

‘Follow us, please’, Kelso said, waving them along down the hallway towards the server housing for the Crusader. She scanned them in, and waited for the door to shut so that they could speak freely. Much to Kelso’s chagrin, she discovered that Otto was sitting in his chair asleep, his head resting on the opened holographic keyboard. She trotted up to the schäferhund and gave him a tap on the shoulder.

Otto’s eyes popped open and he looked over towards Kelso, snapping his head up upon realising that she was standing over him. ‘I wasn’t sleeping!’ He cried out. ‘I was merely resting my eyes!’

‘Shut up Otto’, Kelso said with a sigh. ‘Go take a walk, try not to maul anything on your way out the door’.

Otto frowned at the detective sergeant before him as he rose from his seat in a huff. ‘I will have you know, while we are carnivorous, the stomachs of my race can digest your leafy foodstuffs, it is merely not our preferred diet, I will shall go find a pub and spend the next several hours drinking beer, let me know if you need me’, Otto added sarcastically as she scanned through the door and left the ponies to themselves.

Kelso brushed off Otto’s remarks completely and turned to the unicorn mare behind her. ‘So, Sparky, what’s this plan that you’ve come up with?’ she asked

‘You still have her upstairs?’ Sparky asked in reference to Pinkie Pie, pointing up towards the ceiling.

Kelso nodded. ‘Based on what she told me when I interviewed her? I think she’s a clone’, Kelso said, and quickly recounted the tale that Pinkie Pie had given her.

Sparky shook her head. ‘She’s not a clone, you can’t clone people’, Sparky said simply.

‘Ha! Told you!’ Hopely said, in a vain attempt to not sound like she was rubbing it in Kelso’s face.

‘Well... okay it’s not entirely true, you CAN clone people’, Sparky said. ‘But there’s no point, for a clone to develop properly, you’d have to start from a zygote and work your way up naturally. The clone wouldn’t have the memories of the original, and they’d end up a completely different person, because our experiences shape who we are. It doesn’t make sense to clone people! We can clone organs, and they’re designed to mature rapidly to be used on demand, you can’t do that with a person, they’re too complex!’

Hopely nodded her head in understanding. ‘Right, if you could clone a person, and rapidly mature them to the age of twenty two... they still wouldn’t be able to walk, or talk, or even eat on their own’.

‘Exactly, worse still, everything develops at different rates, a rapidly matured clone wouldn’t last very long, and they’d have about twelve to twenty four hours before suffering from metabolic cascade failure!’ Sparky explained.

‘Meta-what?’ Kelso asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

‘Science speak for everything stops working’, Sparky said. ‘Pinkie Pie isn’t a clone’.

‘You’ll forgive me for interrupting’, Viola said, with a small cough. ‘But it really doesn’t matter what Pinkie Pie is or isn’t right now. What does matter is what we’re going to do; FutureTec wants her, which means that we need to have a plan’.

Sparky nodded her head in agreement. ‘I’ve had an idea about that, we need to find out what FutureTec is up to, and if we’ve learned anything about FutureTec, the quicker we figure it out the better’, Sparky said as she began to pace around the room in thought.

‘So what’s the plan Spark? We hide her from FutureTec?’ Dizzy asked.

‘No... no we’re going to wait until it’s dark out, and then we’re going to call up Ghastly Gorge Industrial Complex and report that the PPS has “Sugar Plum” in custody, they’ll want her delivered as soon they hear about it, and so we take her to them’, Sparky said.

‘What?!’ Kelso cried out in shock. ‘FutureTec’s number one priority is recovering Pinkie Pie, and your plan is to give her over to them!? What the hell is wrong with you Sparky!?’

Sparky raised a hoof to shush Kelso, shaking her head in the negative. ‘Ana, please, I have absolutely no intentions to give Pinkie Pie to FutureTec, there’s a reason why we’re waiting until night, GGIC will be minimally staffed, most of the workers will have gone home, there will be a few night workers, mostly scientists, and dozen security guards, nothing that we can’t handle, we’ll over power whoever we meet who tries to take Pinkie Pie, and we’ll use their security access to figure out what they want with her’, Sparky explained.

It was a risky plan, to be sure, but bull rushing FutureTec was probably their best shot, if Kelso had learned anything from going up against FutureTec in the past, it was that you needed to be quick, and aggressive, because there was only going to be one chance to get it done before FutureTec buttoned everything up tightly, and out of their reach. ‘You mentioned that your plan is going to be illegal? What exactly did you mean by that?’ Kelso asked, remembering the conversation from earlier.

‘Obviously, we can’t take anyone we don’t trust, so... Dizzy and I will be impersonating uniformed constables’, Sparky said as she opened her saddlebag and levitated something else out of it. ‘PPS might also have a problem with me carrying this around’, she said as she held it up. It was a revolver.

‘Are even legally able to possess that?’ Kelso asked with a frown.

‘Yes, I am actually’, Sparky said with a smirk. ‘This belonged to my grandmother. It’s an Emerald Ordinance No.4 Revolver manufactured in Year 35 before the Republic in South Island for the Welaran Commonwealth. Since it was manufactured before the founding of the Republic, and the ammunition for it is no longer commercially available, it is not required for me to register this with the PPS’.

‘Come now, Kelso, you should have expected Sparky of all people to do her homework’, Dizzy said, with a smirk. ‘There’s just one thing though... what are we going to tell Pinkie Pie?’

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Kelso rode the lift back up to the fifth floor in solitude; she was struggling to think of what to say to Pinkie Pie. As the lift reached her floor, she was still unsure of what to say. She couldn't tell Pinkie Pie the truth, could she? How would she react?

Sorry Pinkie Pie, we just learned that you're not really you, and the real Pinkie Pie has been dead for fifty years? We've known for quite a while, just thought you should know? That was going to go over well, Kelso could tell now. The lift opened up to the fifth floor, and Kelso stepped out. The world began to slow, every step felt like it took an hour, by the time that Kelso reached the interview room, it felt like it was time to call up FutureTec and report that they had 'Sugar Plum' in custody.

Kelso reached out and pushed open the door. This was it, she needed something to say, Kelso closed her eyes and took a deep breath and stepped inside. Pinkie Pie was sitting patiently at the table, waiting for Kelso to return. She looked up at Kelso and offered her a bright smile, waving madly at the detective sergeant as she trotted inside and closing the door behind her. 'Hey Kelso! What's going on?' Pinkie Pie asked.

Here was it. Kelso needed to say something. She offered Pinkie Pie a smile, and sat down at the table. 'Hi Pinkie Pie... how are you?' Kelso asked.

'I'm super! A little disappointed with the lack of a mirror, but that's okay', Pinkie Pie said with a shrug.

Kelso let out a sigh and shook her head. Pinkie Pie must have really liked those see through mirrors. 'Pinkie Pie... there is something I want to talk to you about', she said, nervously adjusting her fedora.

'Yeah?' Pinkie Pie asked.

'What do you know about FutureTec?' Kelso asked.

'OH! I know lots about them! My friends Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo founded the company a couple years ago! A lot of ponies around town think that they're just kids, but they're really smart, even if they never got their cutie marks! Why do you ask?'

Kelso froze, she recognised those names. Apple Bloom, the founder of AppleTec, Sweetie Belle, the traditional pop sensation at the time of the founding of the Republic, and Scootaloo, Equestria’s second Prime Minister, but the founders of FutureTec? That was something that she had never heard before.

No one actually knew who founded FutureTec, as far as anyone knew, they just sort of popped up out of nowhere one day. For the early years of the Republic, FutureTec seemed to run itself. It wasn’t until Year 8 of the Republic that FutureTec was given a public face, when an earth pony stallion, called Sprocket, was named chief executive officer, and even then, nobody knew who named him. No one questioned it, no one fought it, like everything else that came from FutureTec, it was just accepted as a fact of life.

‘Kelso?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

Kelso shook her head, refocusing on the matter before her. ‘We’re... going on a trip; we’ll be going to a FutureTec facility in a few hours’.

‘A trip!? OH I love trips!’ Pinkie Pie said with a bright smile.

‘Yeah... Pinkie Pie, listen... when we get there... I want you to know that we have your best interests at heart... and when we get there, well, it might not look like it. I guess I’m asking you to trust me’, Kelso said, as she nervously rubbed the back of her neck.

Pinkie Pie smiled at her. ‘I trust you Kelso’, she said simply.

‘That was fast...’ Kelso said in surprise, raising an eyebrow at the pink pony before her.

‘I know I can trust you, for two reasons! First off, you’re a police mare, it’s your job to do what’s best, and second off, because you’re my friend!’ Pinkie Pie said, smiling brightly.

Kelso felt a tear form in her eye. Pinkie Pie was tugging at her heartstrings, she offered the obnoxious pink pony, her friend, a small smile, and felt incredibly guilty that they were about to use her as live bait.

...

It was that time, Kelso had just called it into FutureTec that they had ‘Sugar Plum’, and they made arrangements to bring her to the Ghastly Gorge Industrial Complex. They would be taking a single prisoner transport truck over, and meeting with a Doctor Belle Fontaine, head of Station SPECTRE, whatever that was.

Kelso had asked Sparky if she knew anything about Station SPECTRE, unfortunately Sparky had nothing to say about it. All that she knew was that it was at GGIC, and nothing more. Apparently, FutureTec employees received several emails a month asking them not to discuss Station SPECTRE while on the job. Sparky theorised that Station SPECTRE probably worked on a military contract, and considering that the rest of the Ghastly Gorge Industrial Complex was devoted to medical research, it probably had something to do with treating psychological trauma to military Special Forces personnel, or, so was the popular theory. They were basically reduced to guessing.

They weren’t expecting must resistance; GGIC was a remote installation, most of the security that was stationed at the industrial complex would be assigned to the perimeter, along with all of the good equipment that one would expect to see in the hooves of FutureTec private security. Sparky was pretty sure that the most that they would have to deal inside with would be rent-a-cop level security. The focus here was keeping people out, not in.

Or, at least, so Sparky figured.

To be fair, Sparky had never been to the GGIC before, only people who worked there, or were on a list of approved visitors were allowed in. Kelso was just glad that they were on that approved visitors list. Viola had parked a transport truck out in front of the building, and Kelso had brought Pinkie Pie downstairs to load her up. The two mares stepped outside, and discovered that Sparky and Dizzy were already outside dressed as uniformed constables.

Kelso stared at them for a moment, and began to smirk. She was unable to contain herself, and began to giggle. The two of them looked ridiculous!

‘Is there a problem, Detective Sergeant Kelso?’ Sparky asked with annoyance.

‘Heh... yeah... your hats!’ Kelso said, doing her best to keep from breaking out into laughter. Dizzy and Sparky were wearing custodian helmets, and they looked ridiculous. ‘I don’t know if anyone told you... but only stallions wear those’.

Sparky looked at Kelso with annoyance before using her telekinesis to levitate a baton up to eye level. ‘Be careful, Kelso, I have this now, and I am not afraid to use it on you!’ Sparky seethed.

Pinkie Pie looked up, tilting her head from side to side as she looked at the false police mares before her. ‘OH!’ she cried out. ‘Are we going to a costume party!? I love costume parties! I also love parties in general! I throw the best parties you know. When we get there, I’ll have to see how they do on the Pinkie Pie scale of spectacular parties!’

No one even bothered to argue or explain otherwise, Sparky and Dizzy opened up the back door to the truck and climbed inside, Pinkie Pie happily bounced towards the door after them, leaping inside in a rather dramatic fashion. With Viola in the driver’s seat, that left only Kelso and Hopely, who would be going ahead of the truck to make sure that FutureTec didn’t try anything funny on the way in. ‘Am I driving or you?’ Kelso asked.

‘I can do it’, Hopely said with a shrug as she waved for Kelso to follow. They walked through the parking lot towards a space near the far end.

‘You know, Hopely? I don’t think I’ve ever seen your car’, Kelso said as she trotted along side.

‘Hmm?’ Hopely said, looking up at Kelso. ‘Oh, I don’t have a car’.

‘What? Then what do you...?’ Kelso began, but then stopped as they reached the space on the end, discovering a small two wheeled vehicle, arranged in line with each other, with a spare wheel attached to the side, occupying the parking spot. ‘You drive a motor cycle?’

‘Yes I do’, Hopely said with a nod as she climbed on top of it, placing her forelegs on the handlebars up front and lying on her stomach across the seat. The motorcycle sputtered to life and a holographic canopy materialised around her. Hopely tapped at a few buttons and suddenly, a third wheel popped out from the side of the motor cycle, revealing a side seat. ‘Go ahead, take a seat’, Hopely said, nodding towards it.

Kelso nodded her head and sat down on the seat. Her own holographic canopy materialised around her, and Kelso had to admit, the instant sidecar was more than a little cool.

Kelso glanced around the holographic canopy that surrounded her. Ingenious design really, holograms were solid enough to hold the passenger in after all. ‘I’ll admit, this is pretty cool’, Kelso said.

‘Why thank you Sarge’, Hopely said with a small smile as she punched in the coordinates for the bike’s autopilot.

That was when Kelso noticed it, built into the side of the motorcycle was a cleverly concealed grenade launcher of at least twenty five millimetre calibre. Her eyes widened with shock as she looked at it. ‘How do you have that?!’ she cried out.

‘Have what?’ Hopely asked, feigning ignorance.

‘Don’t get cute, Hopely’, Kelso said with a frown. ‘That thing is illegal in the Republic... and not just the Republic, every jurisdiction in the world!’

‘Not every jurisdiction!’ Hopely countered. ‘They’re not illegal in the Changeling Regime’.

‘Yes... but that’s only because the Changeling Regime doesn’t have laws’, Kelso stated matter of factly.

‘Semantics’, Hopely said as the motorcycle’s engine revved and they pulled out of the space and onto Parliamentary Drive. The truck followed behind them, and before they knew it, they were on the expressway headed out of town.

Next stop, Ghastly Gorge.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The road became windy as they descended out of the Ponyville metropolitan area and into Ghastly Gorge, the vehicles of Kelso and Company's convoy automatically slowed for the conditions. Not even an autopilot could go fast here. Most roads in the Ponyville area were perpendicular lines that could be travelled in any direction for a very long time before meeting a curve, or necessary turn. This was not the case here.

Ghastly Gorge was a desolate place, difficult to get in to, difficult to get out of; the bleak canyon was the perfect place to put a top secret research facility where you didn't want anyone else to know what you were doing.

From her spot in the holographic side car on Hopely's motorcycle, Kelso was able to see the GGIC off in the distance. The building itself was a small one, but that was not surprising, that was just the part of the complex that could be seen. Most of the complex, like all other FutureTec installations, would be underground.

The building itself was situated on a small island in the middle of the gorge, and the road itself was practically at the level of the river, and as it flowed, water occasionally splashed up onto it. Up the river about a kilometre was a hydroelectric power station that controlled the flow of water throughout the river. It seemed that in an emergency, the dam could let out a couple decalitres of water and cut off the Ghastly Gorge Industrial Complex from the rest of the world by flooding the road.

Indeed this was the perfect place for a secret research station that you didn't want anyone to know what was going on that.

The road began to straighten, and their descent steepened as they closed in on the facility. The road straddled the river, and it continued to flow on both sides of them as they approached the facility. Kelso looked up at a large posted sign as they passed. 'Warning: Restricted Area. Unauthorised persons will be prosecuted'.

Kelso was sceptical. This was the GGIC; after all, security was more likely to shoot unauthorised persons than anything else. Hopely took the motorcycle off of autopilot and began to slow as they reached the security gatehouse, coming to a complete stop in front of the gate.

A rough looking earth pony stallion wearing dark sunglasses stared at them intensely, or so it seemed, at least, he was after all wearing sunglasses after it was dark out, which was more than a little odd. The holographic canopy around Hopely faded away as she sat up and looked at the security guard. 'PPS Convoy returning the missing patient, Sugar Plum', Hopely said.

'I will need to see credentials', the guard said.

Hopely nodded, bringing up the holographic display of her PIP and broadcasting her badge signal. The guard took a look at his holographic terminal, nodding his head and opening the gate for Hopely, Kelso, and the others in the truck.

Hopely sat back down, and the holographic canopy re-materialised and she drove forward. The truck followed behind them, and they pulled into the parking lot outside the GGIC. The motorcycle's side car de-materialised, and Kelso rose to her hooves. The engine died, and Hopely climbed off the bike as the truck pulled up next to them.

'Cold out tonight', Hopely said with a frown. 'Wish I'd worn a hat'.

Kelso nodded her head in agreement. 'Colder than it should be for a late summer's evening', she said as they trotted to the back of the truck and opened it up. Sparky and Dizzy stumbled out of the back of the truck and onto the pavement before them. Pinkie Pie hopped out after them, humming softly as she followed. They joined with Viola and headed up to the entrance.

Kelso felt uneasy, she was worried about Pinkie Pie. The pink pony, her friend, had no idea what was about to happen. She pushed open the front door to the facility and stepped inside.

The room was mostly empty, four white walls, with a receptionist's desk on the eastern wall, and a lift along the northern. The room was similar in size and shape to the entrance lobby to the Whitetail Industrial Complex, of which Sparky and Kelso were most familiar with. Standing in the room was a unicorn mare with a pristine white coat, and fiery orange hair. Her silvery eyes were hidden behind a pair of glasses. She was wearing a white doctor's coat that was far too big for her, and she had a FutureTec issue Micro Information Processor attached to her left leg. She was flanked by two very large and generic looking earth pony security guards, both of whom were wearing dark Sunglasses.

'Doctor Fontaine?' Kelso asked.

'Yes', the unicorn said in a pseudo-cheval accent. 'Doctor Belle Fontaine', she repeated with a nod as she trotted towards them, looking them over, noticing Pinkie Pie immediately and examining her fully. 'Oh it is so good to see you again! We wish that you hadn't run off, we were worried!'

Pinkie Pie looked at Doctor Fontaine in confusion. 'I'm sorry, do I know you? I know a lot of people... but I've never met anyone that looks quite like you'.

'Well, that would be because we've never met face to face', Doctor Fontaine said with a smile. 'I've been in charge of your treatment, but I, unfortunately, have had to remain as a passive observer... that'll be changing now, you, and I will be getting to know each other quite well'.

Pinkie Pie looked at each of the others in confusion as Doctor Fontaine put her foreleg around the pink pony, smiling oddly at the mare before turning to the security guards. 'Take care of the Police', she ordered.

Doctor Fontaine did not even have the opportunity to finish her sentence before Dizzy and Sparky had their guns out. Dizzy leapt forward at the first guard, catching him off balance and bashing him over the head with the grip of her pistol. When the second guard moved to help him, Sparky responded by cracking him in the shins with her baton, continuing her swing and smashing him in the face. Sparky leapt at him, trying to tackle him to the ground.

The stallion did not go down however; he struggled to shake Sparky off of him, by jerking back and forth. 'Would any of you real police mares like to help!?' Sparky cried out.

'Nah, you've got it, just keep beating on him!' Viola called out with a smirk.

Ignoring her, Hopely and Kelso charged forward, tackling the earth pony stallion to the ground, allowing Sparky to knock him cold by bashing him in the back of the head with her baton.

The first stallion, was having even less luck, Dizzy delivered a powerful kick to his flank, sending him flying into the northern wall and knocking him cold. Doctor Fontaine watched with awe, her mouth fell open and she began to look around rather nervously. 'Uh... I do believe that this is all a misunderstanding' she said, trying her hardest to talk her way out of the mess she had just made for herself.

Pinkie Pie brushed the doctor off her and trotted over to the second security guard, giving him a complete once over. She pulled the sunglasses off his face and turned back to look at the doctor. 'Well doctor, I guess this means...' Pinkie Pie began as she put the sunglasses over her eyes. 'That they just got administered fifty CCs of pain!' Pinkie Pie turned her head back and let out a cry of 'YEEEEEEAHHHH!' and began to flail her arms wildly as if she was playing the drums.

'What is she doing?' Hopely asked.

'I have no idea', Kelso said raising an eyebrow.

Doctor Fontaine bolted towards the front door, only to be met by Viola, who extended a foreleg, tripping the doctor up and sending her face planting into the ground, smashing her glasses to pieces. Doctor Fontaine struggled to get back to her hooves, but Viola was quick to counter her. 'Here's how it works, Doctor, give me your MIP, and I don't send you to gaol for a very, very long time'.

Doctor Fontaine pressed the button on the back of her MIP, snapping open the locking mechanism and allowing it to fall off at Viola's hooves.

'Good', Viola said as she picked it up and attached it to her own leg. 'Get out of here, and you even think of telling the guard at the gate what happened? We'll find you'.

Doctor Fontaine skittered across the floor, throwing open the door and running through the parking lot like there was no tomorrow, getting in her car and leaving the premises.

'So?' Viola asked as she held up Fontaine's MIP. 'Who wants to figure out what the devils are up to?'

…

Using Fontaine's MIP, they were able to get access to the lift; their first stop was the security office. Sparky was able to sabotage the security cameras, erasing all the footage from tonight, and keeping them from recording until tomorrow. A count of the MIP Tracker signals around the facility showed minimal contacts. In fact, the only one they could see was Doctor Fontaine's, which, of course, was now in Viola's possession. Their best bet for information was going to be on the fifth sub level, the main server housing, along with the other facilities for Station SPECTRE. With Doctor Fontaine's high level clearance, they should have no problem making their way there.

As they rode the lift down to the fifth sub level, they couldn't help but feel as if the place was unnaturally empty, and then they understood why.

When they reached the fifth sub level, they discovered a sign warning off anyone who wasn't supposed to be here. 'Warning, hazardous, proceed only with supervisor clearance and above, and at your own peril'.

'Ominous', Viola said as she read the sign.

'Everything looks fine to me', Sparky said as she held out her own MIP, waving it around to sample the air. 'Not detecting anything hazardous to our health...'

'As if turning around was an option anyway', Kelso said as she stepped out of the lift and turned down the hallway. At the far end of the room, something caught her eye, something out of place, and she immediately was drawn to it.

Before she knew it, Kelso was heading towards it. Not giving a second thought about the course of action. The rest of the group fell in behind her, taking a brisk pace just to keep up.

Pinkie Pie stopped in her tracks, she looked around nervously at the hallway. 'I think we should go back!' Pinkie Pie called out.

Kelso stopped and turned to look at Pinkie Pie. 'What? Go back? Why?' she asked.

'I've got a really, REALLY bad feeling', Pinkie Pie said nervously. A look of genuine distress had appeared on the pink pony’s face.

'Come on Pinkie, we're the only ones here!' Kelso said, and continued on her way down the hall. Pinkie Pie, however begrudgingly continued to follow.

At the end of the hallway, Kelso discovered that it opened into a small room. The door was open, and sitting on the ground in the room was an earth pony mare. Her coat was navy blue, and her mane was pitch black, but what Kelso was most interested in was the mare's eyes. There were strips of white cloth tied over them.

Kelso walked into the room and kneeled down next to the mare. Pinkie Pie began to grow more visibly nervous. 'Kelso!' Pinkie hissed at her.

Kelso did not reply, and neither did anyone else in their party, because they were all wondering the same thing. Who was this mare? Why where her eyes covered? The mare did not move at all, she did not seem to even be aware that they were there. Before Kelso knew it, she was reaching up to pull the coverings off the mare's eyes, she didn't know why she was doing it; she just was.

Suddenly, Kelso felt a hoof strike across her face.

'Do not touch the bindings', the navy blue mare said.

Kelso stumbled back in surprise, the mare was not only awake, she was very aware of what was going on. 'I'm sorry... I... I don't know what came over me', Kelso said apologetically.

The mare did not reply, instead she just continued to face towards Kelso, she could not tell, but she was very sure that the mare was staring at her. 'Duty based, the desire to help overrides all others, the simple mare with few needs, very well attuned sense of right and wrong. Police mare, Detective Sergeant, Ana Kelso', the mare said, rattling off a perfect psychological description of Kelso.

'How... how do you know that?' Kelso asked, shocked by the mare's statement.

'You're an open book', the mare said simply, offering her an odd smile.

'Who are you?' Kelso asked.

'I am nameless, unknowable. I am patient, prisoner, slave, words so different, all the same here', the mare said simply. 'Could leave, would be very easy, guards pathetic, nowhere to go, so here I remain, my torment is theirs'.

'Kelso!' Pinkie Pie cried out, pushing her way past the rest of the group and into the room, catching the mare's attention.

'Ah, the two faced mare, proponent of many masks, also nameless, believes to be more than what is possible, incorrect, unaware of the truth. Curious, prisoner to the falsehood', the mare said simply.

'Kelso!' Pinkie Pie said again, this time beginning to panic. 'We really should go!'

'What's the rush?' the mare asked, looking directly at Pinkie Pie and giving her a sadistic grin. 'You do not know yourself, but I know you, you wear the name and face of Pinkie Pie, but you are not her. You are a falsehood'.

'You know who she is?' Kelso asked, raising an eyebrow at the mare before her.

'I do', the mare said as she rose to her hooves. 'I will show you'.

She raised her foreleg towards Pinkie Pie and began to concentrate. Pinkie Pie froze, her face filled with fear, the rest of the group watching in awe, as if they were entranced, unable to do anything to stop what was occurring before their eyes. Pinkie Pie's face began to twitch, and she cried out in pain. She clutched at her head and fell to the floor, crying out, begging for the pain to stop.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie burst, a flash of green fire, and the pink mare was gone. In her place, lying on the floor clutching its head was a black, insect like creature, with solid bright blue eyes, and sharp teeth, gossamer wings and a jagged horn.

Kelso's mouth fell open. Pinkie Pie... was a changeling.

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Kelso could only watch helplessly as the changeling before her struggled with pain. It was clutching its head, crying out in a series of low clicking noises. Changeling drones were unable to speak as ponies did in their true forms, this one could not communicate in a way that they could understand, but Kelso could tell that it was in pain.

'Stop it!' Kelso cried out. 'You're hurting her!'

The Unknowable Mare turned towards Kelso. Though her eyes were covered, Kelso could tell that she was looking directly at her. 'Very well', she said, and let out deep breath.

The changeling stopped shaking, and it sat up and looked around at them, it opened its mouth to speak, but instead of words, a series of low hums and clicks came instead. The changeling jumped in confusion and It instinctively looked down at its legs and jumped again. A distressed look fell upon the changelings face. Lying on the ground next to it were the sunglasses that Pinkie Pie had taken off the security guard, and it could see its own reflection in them. It began to panic and shake with fear and confusion.

That was when Kelso realised; the changeling did not know it was a changeling. Somehow, some way, it had legitimately believed itself to have been Pinkie Pie. Kelso leaned down next to it and placed her hoof on its shoulder, its rough carapace felt smooth and alien to her. The feel of the changeling's body was disconcerting, but she ignored the discomfort and spoke to it in a soft, reassuring voice. 'Hey, shh, its okay, you're safe! It's me, it’s Kelso, and you remember what I told you? Don’t you?'

The changeling's distress began to fade as it looked up at Kelso, and offered her a small smile. The changeling burst into green fire again, causing Kelso to jump back in surprise. The fire did not hurt her, in fact, she didn't feel anything at all, and it wasn't even warm.

'Oh Kelso!' Pinkie Pie called out as she threw herself around her, the familiar feel of a pony's coat brushing up against her. The changeling had returned to its pony form. Kelso closed her arms around the obnoxious pink pony and gave her a tight hug.

'It's alright, I've got you', Kelso said, gently stroking Pinkie Pie's mane.

'I don't know how...' Pinkie Pie whispered. 'I don't know how I became a changeling...'

'You were always one of them, face dancer!' the Unknowable Mare cried out. 'You are a falsehood, Pinkamena Diane Pie is dead!'.

Pinkie Pie turned towards the blindfolded mare. 'You... you're lying! You can't possibly know that! How could you know that!?' She asked nervously. Almost as if she was afraid to know the answer.

'I know you better than you know yourself', the mare said. 'I am unknowable, however, you are not. The strands tell your story, and they do not lie'.

Sparky and the rest of their friends began to stir, their entrancement of watching the situation had been broken. Sparky entered the room, seemingly in deep thought as she pondered the words of this so called unknowable mare. 'The samples that the NHS took!' Sparky cried out as everyone turned towards her. 'Kelso, you were thinking cloning, when you should have been thinking genetic memory!'

'Genetic memory?' Kelso asked, raising an eyebrow at Sparky.

'Yeah, it's an idea that the memories of our ancestors are self contained in our DNA. If FutureTec has been doing research into memory and the structure of our brains... if they've found a way to decompile genetic memory and get access to it...' Sparky began, her voice trailing off. The Unknowable Mare began to nod in affirmation.

'The strands tell a story, a complete and perfect story, there is no lying, no deception, and no cheating', the Unknowable Mare said simply. ‘Would you like to see what has been done?’

Sparky nodded her head in affirmation.

‘Follow’, the Unknowable Mare said as she trotted out of the room.

...

The Unknowable Mare led the way down the corridor towards what should have been the central server housing, the layout of the GGIC was nearly identical to the Whitetail Industrial Complex, with one major detail different. The central server housing was not the central server housing. Instead, it was an empty room with a single computer core in the middle of it. Not unlike the PPS’s Crusader housing.

‘Someone is here!’ a voice whispered.

‘Oh yeah?! What do they want?’ whispered another.

‘Maybe, you should ask them, darling!’ said a third.

Both Sparky and Kelso looked at the Unknowable Mare oddly, but she said nothing, and merely pointed at the computer core in the centre of the room. Sparky and Kelso looked at each other and offered a small shrug before stepping up to it.

A hologram of a unicorn mare appeared before them. ‘Hello!’ she cried out, louder than was probably necessary, causing both Kelso and Sparky to jump. Pinkie Pie, who was stumbling along at the back of the room looked up in surprise. She recognised the voice that had just spoken.

‘Twilight?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

‘Yes that’s me!’ the unicorn hologram said with a smile. ‘Twilight Sparkle, Prime Minister of the Equestrian Republic, at your service!’

‘Oh fer cryin’... don’ bore tha new comers, will ya Twi?’ another voice said as a second holographic image, this time of an earth pony mare wearing a Stetson hat and had her mane and tail tied back. ‘Is always Republic this, and Republic that with ya these days...’

Pinkie Pie trotted up closer. ‘Applejack?’ she asked, looking in confusion.

Suddenly, three more holograms appeared before them, giving a grand total of five.

‘Who are you all huh? What do you want with us!?’ said one of the new comers, the image of the aggressive looking pegasus mare with a shoulder length mane.

‘Rainbow Dash?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

‘Oh leave them alone you ruffian!’ called another in a regal sounding voice, as the image of a prim and proper unicorn mare with thick, luscious curls in her mane pushed her way to the front.

‘Rarity?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

The holograms before them did not seem to take particular notice of Pinkie Pie; instead, they were more interested in the others before them. Only one other of the holograms even seemed to recognise her, a pegasus mare with a mane that almost reached her hooves, but she did not say anything, and she did not step forward.

‘Fluttershy...’ Pinkie Pie said softly. The hologram of the meek pegasus mare merely nodded her head in agreement.

‘Meet the pyrrhic victories’, the Unknowable Mare said with a huff as she walked forward, passing through each of the holograms and disrupting their figures. ‘The Turing Project! The creation of a false mind, gaze upon their failures! They are just as much falsehood as the pink one!’

‘Ohhhh... not her again!’ the Rarity hologram said with a pout. ‘Can’t she just leave us alone?’

‘I’ll take care of her for us!’ the Rainbow Dash hologram said with a snarl, making a short kicking motion with her foreleg.

Sparky blinked for a moment, taking in what the Unknowable Mare had just said. ‘They’re AIs?’ she asked.

The Unknowable Mare nodded her head in affirmation. ‘The creation of a mind... long, time consuming, they wished for a direct path, so an idea occurred to the masters, why return to the beginning? Why not build off something else? And so they did, the face dancers were the key’, the Mare said, pointing at Pinkie Pie.

‘I’m not sure I understand...’ Kelso said with a frown. Much of what the Unknowable Mare said was cryptic and unclear. ‘How do the changelings fit in?’

‘The face dancers are the key! Twist and turn, tumbler falls into place’, the Unknowable Mare said.

‘I’ve got it!’ Dizzy said as a smile appeared on her face. ‘They had to start with something, but you couldn’t clone the subjects because they’d be unstable! Just like Sparky said!’

The Unknowable Mare nodded. ‘The face dancers twist and turn to their own music, their execution is flawless, perfect. Using the knowledge from the strands, they recreate the lost ones, these five, met their fate at the abyss, and became as they are now, warped caricatures of what they once were’.

‘Who are you calling a carica... thingy! You...’ the Rainbow Dash hologram began, before being interrupted by the Twilight Sparkle one.

‘Rainbow Dash, please be civil, this is a new age for Equestria! The Republic...’

‘Shut up about the Republic!’ the Applejack hologram cried out. ‘Republic this, and Republic that! Though Ah guess it’s all ya got, huh? What with no family or anything’, she said harshly.

The Twilight Sparkle hologram turned to the Applejack on her left, and began to cry. ‘It’s... it’s not my fault! You understand me!? It’s not my fault! It was me, or Shining Armour! He didn’t give me a choice! He wanted to put himself and Cadence back on the throne! Don’t you understand!? I had to kill them! I had no other choice!’ the Twilight Sparkle hologram cried out as she began to curl up into a ball. ‘It was them or me! Them or me!’

Dizzy gently nudged Sparky, pulling her attention towards her. ‘I think it’s a good thing that Amarilla isn’t here to see this; she would find it very... disturbing’, she said quietly.

‘So do I’, Sparky said with a nod.

Kelso frowned as she looked over the bickering holograms, and then to Pinkie Pie. As she thought about the situation, one question kept coming back to her mind. ‘Why them?’ she asked. ‘FutureTec could have picked anyone to bring back for this... Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy I can understand, being the first and fourth Prime Ministers of the Republic and all...’

The Fluttershy hologram looked up at Kelso in surprise, but continued to say nothing.

‘But why them?’ Kelso continued ‘Why not Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, or Scootaloo? Or maybe even Big McIntosh, or Steelwing, or Solisberry, or any of the other major figures from Republican History? Why them?’

The Unknowable Mare was silent for a moment before giving an answer. ‘Come, I shall show you’.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

To say that Kelso was weary of the so called Unknowable Mare was something of an understatement. They all were, to deny it was as the Unknowable Mare herself had put: ‘a falsehood’. The Unknowable Mare was by no means trustworthy. If anything she was downright sadistic and malicious, she had already taken pleasure in causing Pinkie Pie mental anguish. Maybe one could even go as far to say that she was malevolent.

However, things were not quite so simple. The Unknowable Mare, while pretentious, and deplorable also happened to dislike FutureTec just as much, or if not more than Kelso or any other member of their party. She knew what was going on, and she was more than willing to share that information with them. Why that was, neither Kelso, nor Sparky could say, but what they did know was this: they had an opportunity that would not come again to learn the full extent of FutureTec’s plans. It was not one that they could afford to pass up… even if it meant spending time with the most malicious and dangerous pony that they had ever known.

The Unknowable Mare was not like them. She was different, alien to them, her abilities and her demeanour set her apart. This was, perhaps, why she deemed herself unknowable.

If anything, Kelso was worried about the Unknowable Mare’s abilities. Her telepathy was strong; one of the first things that she had said to her was that her mind was an open book. Surely, the Unknowable Mare knew that Kelso found her deplorable, negative emotions were harder to hide, and the Unknowable Mare was the best at routing them out. She had to know, but if she did, she did not make it clear that she did. It was very possible that she didn’t care. If her telepathic abilities were as strong as she claimed, and Kelso had every reason to believe that they were, then the Unknowable Mare had to have known that Kelso needed the knowledge that she had. If anything, the association with the Unknowable Mare was a necessary evil.

The Unknowable Mare led the way down the corridor and into a small room on the far side of the complex. Much like the AI Core, the room was empty except for a small device in the centre of the room. There were pylons arranged in the shape of a six pointed star, with a seventh in the middle of the arrangement. Blue lines were painted on the floor connecting each of the pylons, and more paint in the shape of a circle had been placed around them.

‘What the hell is that?’ Kelso asked.

‘The psionic resonator’, Viola said as she read off of Doctor Fontaine’s MIP. ‘A device designed to amplify psychic abilities for the direct transfer of information into another’s mind’.

The Unknowable Mare nodded in agreement as she trotted up to the psionic resonator and took her place before the seventh pylon. ‘The strands shall reveal to you the truth. Take your places along the star wheel, so that you may learn’, the Unknowable Mare said.

‘What are you going to show us?’ Kelso asked.

‘The strands will show the prologue to the awakening’, the Unknowable Mare said cryptically, causing Kelso to frown. The metaphors were starting to rub her the wrong way.

‘Speak plainly for the dumb people in the room’, Kelso said with a scowl.

‘Speak for yourself Kelso! I, am highly intelligent!’ Viola said in annoyance, giving her partner a light kick in the flank. ‘She’s going to show us the events that led up to the founding of the Republic’.

The Unknowable Mare nodded her head in affirmation. ‘Past is prologue, there is much to know’, she said and gestured for them to step up to the pylons.

Sparky looked at Dizzy nervously, and took a step forward, taking her place at the first pylon. Dizzy was soon to follow, and took to the pylon next to Sparky. Hopely took to the third corner and Viola took to the fourth.

Kelso looked over to Pinkie Pie, who had sat down in the back of the room and looked to her with a frown. ‘I think I’m going to pass… you go on ahead though’, Pinkie Pie said, pointing off towards the unoccupied fifth and sixth corners.

‘Are you sure? I can afford the mystery if you want me to stay out here with you’, Kelso said, offering Pinkie Pie a small smile.

‘No, that’s okay’, Pinkie Pie said as she shook her head. She looked up to Kelso and offered her a small smile. ‘Thank you for offering though’.

‘You’re welcome’, Kelso said, and begrudgingly stepped up to the fifth pylon and glanced over at the unoccupied sixth. Part of her wish that Pinkie Pie had taken to it, if only for the moral support, but she could understand the pink pony did not. if Kelso had experienced the Unknowable Mare’s telepathic abilities as Pinkie Pie had, she probably would have flat out refused too.

‘Everybody ready?’ Hopely asked, taking in a deep breath.

‘As ready as we’re ever going to be’, Dizzy said with a shrug.

‘Close your eyes, and embrace the void!’ the Unknowable Mare said.

There wasn’t a choice involved, Kelso felt her eyelids grow heavy, and before she knew it, they were shut. The world grew dark as the last bit of light that still seeped in through the meeting point of her eyelids was snuffed out.

…

Kelso opened her eyes to discover that she was no longer in the room with the psionic resonator. Instead, she was looking at a very grand and stylish room. The room was an entrance hall to a very large building, void of objects entirely. The room was painted with bright colours on the walls, and most of the windows that lined these walls were made of stained glass. The far end of the room, along the northern wall was a grand staircase, ornately decorated, and looked to have been manually carved from mahogany by a unicorn crafter.

‘Kelso?’ asked a voice from behind her. She turned to discover that Sparky was standing behind her, along with Dizzy, Hopely and Viola. The Unknowable Mare, however, was absent from the group, unfortunately, she didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.

‘Where are we?’ Kelso asked.

‘Judging by what we’re looking at…’ Dizzy said as she walked along the marble floor and towards one of the stained glass windows. ‘Hmm… this place matches the descriptions of entrance hall to the royal castle in Canterlot’.

Kelso looked around the room, taking in her surroundings. ‘We’re in the Old Monarchy then?’ she asked.

‘Incorrect! Older’ a voice boomed from above them, causing the five mares to jump in surprise. Kelso looked up towards the tall ceiling, only to discover that no one was up there. ‘This chapter is forgotten, long ago, far outside the minds of the living’, the voice boomed again.

‘How long ago?’ Kelso asked, shouting up at the ceiling.

‘By your count, eleven hundred years’, the voice boomed again. ‘Watch!’

A door at the top of the staircase creaked open and a unicorn mare slowly trotted out of it. The unicorn mare was taller than most, and had a slender build, her coat was a silvery white, and her mane and tail were a bubble gum pink. Her mane was cropped short at shoulder length, while her tail flowed behind her at a normal length. Sparky’s jaw dropped open as she looked at the mare’s flank.

‘She has a cutie mark!’ Sparky said.

The unicorn mare continued to trot down the stairs, having not taken notice of them at all, as she got closer, they were better able to see what her cutie mark was. It was a sun.

Everyone in the room knew instantly who this was. They were looking at Princess Celestia. The princess reached the bottom of the stairs, and continued to trot along the hall towards the door, completely oblivious that Kelso and company were even there, despite the fact that she was looking right at them. Sparky and Hopely even had to hurry out of the princess’ way, lest she run into them.

‘Uh? Hello!’ Hopely cried out in annoyance. ‘Standing right here!’

Princess Celestia did not respond, and continued on her way, as if she hadn’t heard them at all.

‘I don’t think she can hear us…’ Dizzy said as she examined the princess. ‘No, of course not! We’re reliving a memory; we weren’t here when it actually happened, so there’s no way she would know that we’re watching’.

‘Let’s follow her; we don’t want to miss the content!’ Viola said as she galloped after the princess to close the growing gap between her and the group. The others took off after her, and as they reached the door, it opened, and another unicorn mare trotted inside and stumbled headlong into Princess Celestia.

‘Oh! Pardon me your highness, I am so very sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going...’ the second unicorn said.

Princess Celestia offered this second unicorn a small smile. ‘Oh, it’s quite all right’, she said reassuringly.

The second unicorn was not familiar to any of the members of the group. No descriptions of a mare quite like her could be remembered from history classes in school. The second unicorn mare had a green coat and a multi-coloured mane that held various shades of green. Most of her mane was a forest green, with a celadon streak in it. This mare, oddly enough, vaguely resembled the holographic image of Twilight Sparkle that they had seen earlier. She too, had a cutie mark, though it was not of something that Kelso recognised.

Sparky took a closer look, raising an eyebrow in confusion, and double checking to make sure that she had seen it correctly. ‘A Thermionic valve? That’s ancient tech, but still too new for this time period… at least, so I would think’, Sparky said with a shrug.

‘Emerald, please, I’ve known you your entire life, you’re like my other sister, you don’t need to be so formal with me’, Celestia said placing a hoof on the mare’s shoulder and smiling warmly at her.

‘I know’, Emerald said with a shrug. ‘I’m just nervous... that’s all, the Sunburst project is ready for testing, my dream within my grasp... I’m just worried I’m not going to be able to contain myself for the Queen’.

‘Did she just say queen?!’ Sparky cried out in surprise.

‘Yes she did’, Dizzy said. ‘When did Equestria have a queen?’

‘You are awfully excited about a weapon... Emerald’, Princess Celestia said uneasily.

Emerald frowned slightly at Princess Celestia and paced over towards an open window, looking out it and unto the city of Canterlot below. ‘It’s not the weapon itself that I’m interested in; I’m interested in the applications of it! If the weapon works, we can adapt the technology to generate power! We’d be free of our reliance of fossil fuels, which we’re going to run out of eventually. Imagine cheap, clean energy for everypony! It’s just... it’s so exciting!’

Princess Celestia offered a shrug, and trotted over to join Emerald at the window. ‘I haven’t really been keeping up with science...’ she said with a frown.

‘Oh you really should! It’s so exciting Princess! There is so much that science has to offer! The Sunburst project alone has so many applications! I wouldn’t be surprised that if in 10 years we’ll put a pony on the moon! We might even be able to leave our little Tau Ceti system!’ Emerald said, unable to contain her enthusiasm about the project.

Sparky and Dizzy looked at each other, and then to the rest of their group. ‘Any of you ever heard of the Sunburst Project?’ Sparky asked.

‘Not a word, and I was a history major in University’, Hopely said with a frown. ‘There is so little information from the time before the Old Monarchy, but if we are when I think we are… we might be about to learn why’.

‘Tau Ceti?’ Princess Celestia asked in confusion.

‘You know? The star our planet orbits?’ Emerald said.

Princess Celestia frowned at Emerald and offered her a small shrug. ‘I just call it the sun’, she said.

‘So do most ponies’, Emerald said with a frown. ‘But that implies that ours is the only one! There’s another star a lot like ours that’s 12 light years from here! Can you imagine what we might find if we were to go there!? Maybe we’d find intelligent life! Oh I just get so excited at the prospects!’

‘Emerald, don’t you think that’s a little silly? I mean... aliens? What is the likelihood of them existing?’ Princess Celestia asked with a frown.

‘What’s the likelihood that they don’t?’ Emerald Sparkle asked. ‘I mean, think about it, what if we are the only planet with life on it? What will happen when our sun dies? Is that just it? Are all civilisations in the universe dead?! It’s too depressing to think that we’re all that’s here, there has to be something else!’

‘I suppose...’ Celestia said with a frown, as if she didn’t know what to think about the prospect.

‘Well, I have to go; it’s almost time for my audience with the queen! It’s been nice talking to you again Celestia... I’ve kind of missed it’, Emerald said, smiling warmly at princess of the sun.

‘I have too’, Princess Celestia said, nodding in agreement. ‘You really should come around more Emerald; I know mother has certainly missed your visits, and I’m sure Luna would be a better pony to talk about science with than I would, she’s really interested in… oh what do you call it, radio?’

Emerald nodded. ‘I think maybe I will have to, I’ve forgotten how much I missed you and Luna’s company... I think maybe I will’, she added with a smile.

Princess Celestia returned her smile, and said her goodbyes to her fellow unicorn. They parted ways, with Emerald headed up the stairs towards another part of Canterlot Castle. Princess Celestia, on the other hoof, continued towards the door, looking very disturbed by her conversation.

Princess Celestia opened the front door and headed outside, shutting the door behind her.

There was a loud sigh from the staircase as the mare called Emerald sat down on it, and looked towards the door. ‘I wish you could accept me, Princess Celestia’, she said with a frown. She continued to sit on the staircase, disappointed over her conversation with the princess, and said nothing more.

Sparky turned towards the open window and took a look out of it. ‘What were they… oh my…’ Sparky said, interrupting herself.

‘What is it?’ Kelso asked as she joined her friend at the window. Her jaw fell open too. Looking out onto the Equestrian society from Canterlot Castle, one could see for kilometres. The familiar sight of Ponyville was absent, as it would not be built for nearly a millennium. In its place, however, were several factories with tall smokestacks, billowing clouds of thick black smoke into the sky. They looked down to see that several construction crews were busy at the base of the mountain, digging up the ground with heavy machinery.

‘Sparky… is that…?’ Kelso began.

‘It is… that’s where the FutureTec Whitetail Industrial Complex is supposed to be’, Sparky said.

Sparky and Kelso had to wonder now, the Old Monarchy was a preindustrial feudal society, but what they were looking at was clearly an Equestria in a pre-atomic age industrial society. If this was what Equestria was like eleven hundred years ago… then what happened to all this?

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

With a blink of an eye, the scene had changed, as Kelso and company had left the memory of the Castle at Canterlot and now found themselves in the middle of a machine dug trench, approximately two metres deep and seven metres wide. The area that they were in was heavily forested except for an open plain for several kilometres in the northern direction, but it was not a region that they recognised as Equestrian.

‘Where do you think we are?’ Dizzy asked as they looked around at the surroundings.

‘Judging by the trees? Southern Kanata, we’re probably some hundred or so kilometres from the Hoofson Bay’, Hopely said as she glanced around the trench and up towards the sky. ‘But what could we possibly be doing here?’

Sparky turned her head and discovered that a large concrete bunker several dozen metres down the trench from them, inscribed on the bunker, were the words: ‘Sunburst Project Test Site’. Sparky was pretty sure that this was the reason why, and her theory was confirmed as the bunker door opened and the unicorn mare known as Emerald that they had seen from the memory at the castle appeared from it and began walking towards them. ‘That might be why’, Sparky said as she pointed to the sign, and to Emerald.

The group all stepped to the side and allowed Emerald to pass. They weren’t actually here of course, but the idea of her walking through them was highly disconcerting. Emerald passed out of their view as she rounded a corner. Kelso and Company immediately followed and stopped when they discovered a group of ponies standing on a large platform that allowed them to see up and over the trenches. They recognised one of them as being Princess Celestia, standing beside her was another unicorn, this one a midnight blue with a cobalt mane, and a cutie mark of a crescent moon, Luna the Mad in all her glory.

However they were not alone. Standing next to them were two ponies much larger than any that they had ever seen before. They both had the horns of a unicorn and wings of a pegasus, Alicorns, a mare and a stallion.

The mare stood at approximately five hundred centimetres tall, here coat was a crème colour, and her mane was auburn red, and she had a cutie mark of a bottle of ink with a quill inside it.

‘Who wants to bet that is the queen we’ve been hearing about?’ Viola asked as she pointed to the tall mare. Everyone nodded in agreement as they moved closer.

The stallion next to her was somewhat shorter than the Queen, and he was mostly obstructed by her, what they could see was that he too, had a mane of similar colour, and he sported a beard along with it.

Suddenly, loudspeakers burst to life. Announcing that it was time for the test, each of their party clamoured to the edge of the trenches to watch whatever was about to happen.

There was a bright flash of light, followed by the sound of an explosion. The mouths of the ponies in their party fell open as a column of fire rose into the air, forming an all too familiar shape, a shape that they had all been taught to recognise in school, a mushroom cloud.

‘What the hell!?’ Sparky cried out as she watched the mushroom cloud rise. ‘Sunburst is a nuclear weapon!? Are these people crazy!? Don’t they know about fallout?!’

‘I don’t suppose it’s possible that Sunburst is a fusion weapon?’ Dizzy asked.

‘And that! Fillies and gentle colts, was our fair kingdom’s first nuclear weapons test!’ They heard Emerald cry out from the platform.

Sparky looked over to the platform and frowned. ‘Yeah... it’s not a fusion weapon’, she said with a frown.

...

Another blink of the eye, and the memory changed again. This time, Kelso and company were back in Canterlot Castle, in what they imagined was Princess Celestia’s bedroom. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were arguing with each other, and as Kelso turned around to look at the room, she discovered that the door was open, just a crack, and Emerald was kneeling outside the door, looking in and watching.

‘How can you possibly say that, Tia!? You think this what mother would want?!’ Princess Luna cried out.

‘A better question is: how can YOU possibly say that. Luna, you saw at first hoof the destructive power of Emerald’s nuclear weapon! You want to use it!? Are you insane!?’ Princess Celestia cried out.

‘The answer is yes!’ Sparky cried out on a whim, causing everyone besides the princesses, and Emerald, to turn and look at her. ‘The passive observers in the room would like it to be known, the answer to that question is yes!’ Sparky cried out again.

‘Tia, the nuclear weapon is a tool, our kingdom is already great! Think of how much greater we could be?’ Luna said, trying to reason with her.

‘By using it to conquer the other races?! Luna, this is madness!’ Celestia said as she turned from her sister.

‘Don’t you get it Tia? We would only need to use it once! We are the only ones who have it, we detonate a nuclear weapon over the gryphon capital city, and the entire world would fall to its knees! We would unite the world, under our nation’s banner! Think about it Tia, it would end conflict forever, not just here, but the entire world!’ Luna said, trying to reason with her sister.

‘I’m getting it just fine! You are the one that doesn’t get it Luna! I don’t understand how, but you just don’t get it! So much destruction... It’s evil! How can you not see it?’ Celestia cried out.

‘It’s you who always said that we should set aside conflict and live in harmony. Like it or not Tia, that weapon is the best solution of bringing about harmony for forever. Sure, a few thousand gryphons die. They were already going to die anyway! It’s a sacrifice for a new world order...’ Luna did not have a chance to finish her sentence before Celestia’s hoof struck her across the face.

‘Let me make this abundantly clear’, Celestia said, her voice shaking with anger. ‘For as long as I live, Equestria, my Equestria, will never use these demon things against another living creature, and should you ever think to try... Luna I swear to you... I will make your regret it’.

‘Well, lucky for us then...’ Luna said as she rubbed her face where Celestia had hit her. ‘You are not queen yet’.

‘Mother is dying, Luna, that bomb made her sick!’ Celestia said with a frown, as a tear began to form in her eye. ‘How could you ever want to use it knowing that?’

Princess Luna said nothing. She lowered her head and began to trot out of the room. Kelso and company moved out of her way and she pushed open the door, nearly bashing Emerald in the face with it on the way out.

‘You know,’ Sparky said as she turned to her friends. ‘I for one am very glad that Princess Luna is dead; it’s rather disconcerting that she was perfectly willing to use nuclear weapons on us all’.

...

Another blink of the eye, and the world changed before them. One word could be used to describe the world around them. Metal. The floor was metal, the walls were metal, and the ceiling was metal. They were in the middle of a long and empty hallway, in a place that did not look familiar.

No, scratch that. As Kelso looked closer and closer at the hall she slowly began to recognise it. This was the Whitetail Industrial Complex, the walls were a different colour than she was familiar with, but this was definitely still the same place. She looked over to Sparky, who nodded her head in agreement.

‘When do you think we are now?’ Kelso asked.

‘Who knows at this point?’ Sparky said as she began to look around. The group began to walk along the corridor and they rounded a corner to discover Emerald standing in the middle of the hallway, engaged in a conversation with another pony that they did not know.

Emerald had changed significantly since the last memory, the most important change was the fact that she was pregnant, and looked to be quite far along, at least nine or ten months. The other pony was an earth pony stallion, and he was not familiar to them at all. His coat was black, his mane was black, his eyes were brilliant amber, and he was wearing a white overcoat that covered his cutie mark completely.

‘The word came down today; Princess Celestia has ordered the destruction of all our missile bases, they’ve already destroyed the one in Hopeville’, the black stallion said.

‘I heard...’ Emerald said. ‘I’ve taken precautions, I’ve falsified reports that this base has been permanently sealed, and they’re not going to come down here and check... These are dark times for our people Cromwell, we’re about to enter a dark age, Princess Celestia is going to order our technology destroyed, I know it’.

The pony called Cromwell nodded his head in agreement. ‘It’s not a complete loss... the commander of the Vermillion Mesa Missile Base has refused orders to disband and disarm... of course, they have been branded as traitors now, and they’re kind of stuck there’, Cromwell said with a frown.

‘Traitors... those ponies at Vermillion Mesa are patriots! They’ve stayed tried and true to our fair kingdom... as it should have been before that bitch transformed it into her new Principality’, Emerald said with a scoff. ‘And with Princess Luna gone... exiled for standing against her... things are only going to get worse’, Emerald said with a sigh. ‘How did it come to this Oberlander?’

‘Our queen died’, Cromwell said with a frown. ‘Our king became a monster...’

Emerald looked up at Cromwell in surprise. ‘How do you know about that?’ she asked.

‘I watched the King transform into that hellish monster Discord’, Cromwell said with a shudder. ‘His face haunts me to this day’.

Emerald frowned and began to pace back and forth along the hallway. ‘Who else knows?’ she asked.

‘I would assume only me... you, and the princesses, the last thing they want is for their subjects to know is that Discord was their father’, Cromwell said with a shrug. ‘I’m not planning on telling anyone either, I wish I could forget it myself... I still can’t believe that they’re gone’.

‘Only that bitch is left... she’ll be the death of us all’, Emerald said with a frown. ‘Cromwell... there is a reason I asked you to come... we need to come up with a plan! We can’t let her do this!’

Cromwell sighed, offering Emerald a frown and shook his head. ‘What would you have us do, Emerald? Use a nuclear weapon on Canterlot itself?’ he asked.

‘No...’ Emerald said, shaking her head. ‘No that wouldn’t work, Celestia may be a technophobic luddite, but she’s not stupid, she’ll have left the early warning systems in place... a launch would be detected and intercepted...’

‘I’m leaving Equestria, Emerald’, Cromwell said. ‘And I’d like you to come with me’.

Emerald’s eyes widened as she looked at the stallion before her. ‘Leave!? And go where?’

‘Welara, the coltic civilisations are faltering, they’d be ripe for the picking, we could found a new Equestria, a better Equestria, you and me’, Cromwell said with a small smile.

Emerald frowned at the stallion before her and merely shook her head. ‘Oberlander... we can’t leave, how can we? We can’t just give up here!’ Emerald cried out.

‘What would you do, Emerald?’ Cromwell asked.

Emerald was silent for a moment; she turned and looked down the hallway. ‘I’m going to overthrow the monarchy, and establish a republic in its place’, she said.

‘Emerald...’ Cromwell began before she cut him off.

‘No! Cromwell, listen! I’ve got it figured out! I know exactly what I need to do... it’s... it’s going to take a while, and once I start, I can’t back out of it. I’ve spent the last five months designing the perfect soldier... now all I need to do is build up my army. I’ve got everything I need to do it from here...’ Emerald said.

‘When you say that it’s going to take a while...’ Cromwell began.

‘The process is slow, this Missile Base’s minifacturing plant isn’t perfect, I’ve run the numbers, and the minimum number of soldiers that I’ll need...’ Emerald began, before Cromwell cut her off.

‘How long Emerald?’ He asked.

‘The absolute soonest I can make my attempt is a thousand years from now’, Emerald said. ‘To be exact... one thousand and two years’.

‘Emerald...’

‘I’ve come up with a system to extend my life for as long as necessary, I’ll direct the revolt, and found my republic... then I’ll let it grown on its own’, Emerald said, confident in her plan.

‘Emerald... what about your daughter?’ Cromwell said, pointing towards her stomach. ‘Your plan... it requires her to grow up without her mother. Is that what you really want?’

Emerald looked at Cromwell sadly, shaking her head no. ‘No... no I don’t want her to grow up without her mother... but I want her children’s children to be slaves to Princess Celestia even less’, Emerald said softly. ‘This was the hardest decision of my life, Oberlander Cromwell, but I swear to you, on my life, my research, my integrity, and the Everfree Plains Missile Base. Equestria will be free from the Tyrant Celestia, and I, Emerald Sparkle, will be the caretaker of this revolution!’

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The rapid changes of scenery were beginning to disorient the members of their party. Kelso felt as if she had been standing in a centrifuge that was far too small for its own good. ‘I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up’, Kelso said as she clutched her head, looking around at her surroundings.

They were in a large room. In contrast to the metal construction of their last visiting place at the so called ‘Everfree Plains Missile Base’, this room was entirely wooden. The room was an uneven circle, and along the walls were bookshelves, each of them lined with rows upon rows of books.

‘Where do you think we are now?’ Dizzy asked.

‘This place... seems familiar’, Sparky said as she examined the books on the bookshelves. ‘I think... if I’m remembering my grandmother’s stories correctly, that is... that we’re standing in the Ponyville Public Library, and we’ve got to be a couple years before the Fall of Canterlot’.

There was a knock at the door, and everyone in the room jumped in surprise.

‘I got it!’ called a voice from an adjacent room. The door flashed open and a white unicorn mare with a barred quaver for a cutie mark and an electric blue mane pushed her way through. Sparky’s jaw dropped, she knew who this mare was.

‘Grandma?’ Sparky asked in surprise.

It was her, Vinyl Scratch, in her prime and in the flesh, from everything down to the violet lensed goggles that she was hardly ever seen without. She stopped at the door, looking to her left and discovering a vase filled with fresh flowers. She reached out with her mouth and bit down on them, pulling them out of the vase before opening the door.

Standing outside was a grey coated pegasus mare, with a blonde mane and a thick woollen scarf wrapped around her neck. Most interestingly, this mare’s eyes were situated at odd angles, and she was carrying an Equestrian Postal Service saddlebag on her flanks.

‘Hi!’ Vinyl Scratch said with a mouth full of flowers. ‘Miss you!’

The pegasus mare rolled her eyes, and thanks to the position of them, Kelso and company couldn’t help but cringe as they did. ‘They’re very nice... now put them back where you got them’.

Vinyl sighed and used her telekinesis to float them back over into the vase while the mare dug through her mailbag looking for letters.

‘So... uh, doing anything this afternoon?’ Vinyl Scratch asked.

‘Yes, I’m covering for a long distance route’, the pegasus mare said simply. ‘I’m carrying a package to the Divide. So that means you will be watching Dinky for a few days’.

‘No problem!’ Vinyl said with a grin. ‘I’m good with kids’.

The pegasus mare couldn’t help but smirk. ‘Good luck, I told Dinky to come over here after school... you’ll see for yourself’, she said as she passed over several letters and then waved her goodbye. She took flight, and continued on towards the next stop on her route.

Dizzy couldn’t help but look up at the mention of the name. ‘Did she... did she just say Dinky?’ she asked.

‘I think she did’, Sparky said nodding her head as she watched Vinyl Scratch look through the letters, all of them seemingly junk mail or otherwise unimportant, and pushed her way back through the door.

‘Sparky... that mare that was just at the door’... Dizzy said. ‘I think that was my great grandmother!’

‘I thought your family were all nephites?’ Hopely asked, raising an eyebrow at the revelation.

‘We are, at least... my great-grandmother and my grandmother were the first... we must be around the time that they converted!’ Dizzy said as she sat down on the ground, deep in thought. ‘Why show this though?’

‘Maybe it has something to do with the place she was going...? The Divide?’ Sparky said, offering up a theory.

‘The Divide!?’ Dizzy said, her head snapping to attention. ‘Oh no... then’...

...

The scene changed without warning, and before they knew it, they were in the middle of a locked gaol cell. While not quite what they were expecting, it was certainly no less pleasant.

‘I find this current memory heavily ironic’, Hopely said. ‘As we’re all members of the police service here... or at least, are pretending to be’, she added, pointing to Sparky and Dizzy, who were of course still dressed as uniformed constables.

They heard a loud clattering of metal against metal, as two heavy steel doors were thrown open and then shut again. Someone was headed right for them.

‘No! Stop, you can’t do this! That package doesn’t belong to you!’ a mare’s voice cried out, as two filthy looking ponies wearing armour made from various pieces of scrap metal opened the gaol cell door and tossed her inside.

Dizzy’s great grandmother skidded across the floor and whimpered in pain as the cell door slammed shut. She got to her hooves and rushed over to the door and started banging on the bars hoping that someone would come and let her out.

After a few moments, she gave up and slumped down onto the ground and began to cry. Dizzy looked at the mare before her and frowned, she sat down on the ground next to her in a vain attempt at providing comfort. She reached out to touch her shoulder, only for her hoof to go right through as if her great grandmother wasn’t there.

‘Dizzy, I know this must be hard for you’, Kelso said with a frown. ‘But we’re going to need some context’...

Dizzy nodded her head and rose back to her hooves, suppressing a sniffle and turning back to her friends. ‘In the time before the Republic, the Divide was the original home of the nephite people, while still technically in Equestria, the Divide is unique because it was never managed by the Cloudsdale system, and as a result, the entire canyon was home to freak weather patterns that popped up out of nowhere, caused a lot mayhem, and then disappeared just as quickly as they appeared... our people used to live here, in a town called Ashville, before it was destroyed by terrible weather, and we were forced to make our way to our current home in New Maneaan’.

Dizzy’s great grandmother rose to her hooves and began to wipe the tears from her lopsided eyes, as she wiped them clean, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Kelso and company turned to discover that the gaol cell was occupied by someone else as well. To their surprise, this other person was wearing nephite riot barding, a suit of which was almost exactly identical to the one that Dizzy usually wore.

This other person was an earth pony stallion, and that was about all that they could tell. They could not see this pony’s face, as it was covered with thick white bandages, as was the rest of his body not covered by the riot barding; he seemed to not be paying attention, as his face was practically buried in a book. Dizzy’s great grandmother slowly moved closer and began to inspect him.

‘CPS CO19?’ Dizzy’s great grandmother asked, quietly to herself.

‘That’s ‘Canterlot Police Service’’, the earth pony said without even bothering to look up from his book.

Everyone in the room jumped as he spoke, Dizzy’s great grandmother looked as if she was going to hit the ceiling.

‘Calm yourself’, the earth pony said simply, looking up from the book. ‘You are among a friend’.

Dizzy’s Great Grandmother took a deep breath, and sat down on the ground. ‘I’m... sorry, you just startled me is all...’

‘I tend to have that effect on ponies’, the earth pony said as he looked back down at his book.

‘I’m Derpy Hooves; I’m a package courier with Pony Express’.

‘I’m Graham Cracker; I suppose you could call me the mayor of Ashville, I was expecting a courier... just not you, though; I suppose he wouldn’t have walked through the passageway’, Graham Cracker said as he closed his book and looked up at her.

‘Graham Cracker?’ Dizzy repeated, she certainly knew that name.

‘I was carrying a package to Ashville, Retslaf took it’, Derpy said with a frown. ‘I’m going to admit... I’m not entirely sure at what’s going on here...’

‘Who’s Retslaf?’ Sparky whispered to Dizzy as they watched the conversation unfold.

‘Couldn’t tell you... I’m fairly good at history, but I don’t know everything, Spark’, Dizzy said with a shrug.

‘Isn’t it simple? Hopeton and Ashville are at war with each other’, Graham said, like it was obvious.

Kelso took a guess that Hopeton was the place that they were currently in, and the filthy looking ponies were some of its’ inhabitants. This ‘Retslaf’, must have been their leader.

‘The inhabitants of Hopeton hate us because we’re better off than they are. We’re sheltered from the Divide’s rogue weather patterns, they are not. So they wish to destroy us and take our town for their own... We tried to be reasonable, tried to reach a peaceful solution... it did not happen, now, we fight. It’s the way of life’, Graham Cracker said with a shrug.

‘I see...’ Derpy said, regretting that she had asked. ‘What were you reading?’

‘The book of Nephi’, Graham Cracker said simply.

‘So... uh... you’re a moron huh?’ Derpy asked, catching herself a little too late and clapping her hooves over her mouth. Dizzy cringed at the use of the word. ‘Moron’, was generally considered to be one of the less offensive derogatory terms for nephites. There were far worse, some that were too profane to even think about.

‘Well... considering my current situation, I’d say yes, I am a moron’, Graham Cracker said with a chuckle. ‘I do not take offence; many of us have even started using the name ‘moron’ as a badge of honour’.

‘Still... I don’t want to imply that you’re stupid... I know what it’s like to be called things that I’m not’, Derpy said with a frown.

‘You are kind’, Graham said simply. ‘Come, stand with me, it’s almost meal time’.

As if on cue, a particularly filthy looking unicorn mare levitating two trays of food and a pistol appeared into view. She unlocked the door and walked inside, setting the food down on the floor and pushed it towards them.

‘Heavenly father’, Graham said, bowing his head. ‘I thank thee for the food that thou provides for us. I thank thee that our captors are not so brutish to have denied us our basic needs...’

The unicorn mare looked particularly annoyed, and glanced around the corner. That was when Graham Cracker made his move; he leapt out and tackled the unicorn to the ground, promptly snapping her neck, causing her pistol to fall to the ground.

‘And I ask thy forgiveness for what I have done’, Graham said, finishing his prayer, and picking up the fallen guard’s pistol and spare ammunition. Kelso and Company’s mouths dropped wide open in shock. Graham looked back around to look at Derpy and waved her on, ‘Come Derpy, we’re leaving’.

Derpy followed, and watched as Graham attached the pistol and the extra ammo to a harness on his flanks that Derpy had not really payed much attention to before, a small metal arm extended out in front of him as he trotted out of the cell. ‘Schäferhund Storm Harness’, Graham explained.

Derpy watched in awe, she was frightened, to say the least, but she slowly followed him out, taking care to step around the dead unicorn and out of the cell door.

‘Stay behind me, you’ll be fine’, Graham said as he casually strolled away from the holding cells. They rounded a corner, and into the field of view of two other earth pony guards, Graham fired the pistol, two shots, enough to bring down the two guards without incident.

Graham looked back to the frightened Derpy Hooves. ‘I don't enjoy killing, but when done righteously, it's just a chore, like any other’, he said simply, and continued to trot out towards the back entrance to the holding facility.

Kelso and Company watched as the two ponies made their escape, and the world changed once again in the blink of an eye.

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Kelso’s first look at the Divide was more than a little enlightening, they were standing on a cliff, overlooking the five kilometre long canyon and the remains of a ruined city below. The city before them was ancient, and as they looked around they discovered why.

Imbedded in the ground beside them was a ruined, and heavily rusted sign, upon which a single name was written. ‘Hopeville’.

Kelso recognised that name. The earth pony stallion from the Everfree Plains Missile Base, Oberlander Cromwell had said that Hopeville had been destroyed. The Divide was what was left of a city that looked as if, in the time before the Old Monarchy, could have housed anywhere from five hundred thousand to a million ponies. This city had been wiped from the map, and it had been all but forgotten.

Kelso looked down deep into the canyon, and discovered, off in the distance, were two mares, both of which were white coated, a unicorn and a pegasus. The unicorn’s mane was an electric blue, and the pegasus’ a straw yellow. ‘Sparky, look!’ Kelso cried out.

Sparky raised her leg over her eyes to block out the sun, discovering what Kelso was looking at instantly. ‘Grandma? What are you doing here!?’ Sparky cried out in surprise.

‘A bigger question is who was the other pony with her?’ Kelso asked.

‘I don’t know...’ Sparky said with a shrug. ‘Doesn’t seem familiar, if she’s one of my grandma’s friends... she’s never talked about that one, and I’ve never seen any pictures...’

Suddenly, five of the filthy ponies like they had seen in the gaol cell of the earlier memory leapt out from cover and surrounded Vinyl Scratch and her unknown accomplice with various bladed weapons, knives, spears, and the like. Sparky cringed with worry, this may have been a memory of events long over, but that was still her grandmother down there. To their surprise, five gunshots rang out, and each of the filthy ponies fell to the ground, and like a flash of lightning, the two mares below them took off running. Sparky’s mouth fell open. Her grandmother had just killed those five ponies down there.

More of the filthy ponies began to appear from various bits of cover and continued to chase after them. Suddenly, the pegasus mare turned back, skidding to a stop and leaping back towards one of the filthy ponies, knocking him to the ground and taking his spear in her teeth. Vinyl Scratch stopped and called out to her, but the pegasus mare waved her off, pointing for her to keep running.

Vinyl Scratch continued her run, while the pegasus mare stiffened her resolve as the hordes of ponies descended upon her. The mare leapt at the horde, thrusting with the spear and taking several of them down to the ground.

‘I don’t know who this mare is... but she is really kicking their arses’, Viola said as she continued to watch.

‘Does anyone else feel like we’re missing the picture here? I mean, sure, we saw Grandma V down there when she was young... but why are we watching this?’ Dizzy asked.

Sparky offered a shrug as they all heard the sound of a revving chainsaw in the background.

‘Is that her or them?’ Hopely asked as she peeked over the cliff side and towards the fight below. ‘It’s her...’

They continued to watch the ensuing melee below for twenty painstaking minutes. Twenty long minutes of one sided fighting. Dizzy could no longer bear to watch the senseless slaughter, even against those as wicked as the Hopeton ponies. They continued to come, and they all continued to throw themselves at this lone pegasus mare, using anything they could for weapons. Rocks, knives, spears, guns, all of them ineffective against this pegasus mare with a chain knife in her teeth. Kelso couldn’t help but cringe at the idea. Chain knives were industrial tools designed to cut through thick steel bars, the thought of them cutting flesh was horrific and maddening to say the least. Eventually, the canyon fell silent, and as they looked over the cliff edge, they discovered that all of the filthy ponies had been slain, and the white coated pegasus mare stood alone, coated in blood from head to hoof. She spread her wings and leapt into the air, diving head first into the river that ran along the bottom of the canyon. The blood that stained her coat dyed the water a deep red, something that would not clear up for at least several days.

‘All well and good’, Viola said eventually as she sat down on the ground, breaking the silence among them, and doing her best to hide just how disturbed she actually was. ‘But one has to beg the question... why are we being shown this... and from so far away, whose memory is this?’

The group looked up and around at their surroundings, looking hard to discover someone who might have hidden themselves in the rubble or behind a large rock. As they looked, turning their heads back and forth, examining every detail of their surroundings, the more they became sure of what they found. They had found nothing. There was no one, not a single person that they could see hiding amongst the rubble, in fact the only thing around them was a small cave opening, and even looking inside it there was no one there either. If someone was here they had to be well concealed.

‘I don’t know who that mare was’, Sparky said with a shrug. ‘But she saved my grandmother’s life, if nothing else… that means she’s okay in my book’, she added, and looked to Dizzy to see if she had any information on what had just happened.

Dizzy had none. While she had been one of the nephites best students, studying everything from the Book of Nephi, to philosophy, chemistry, physics, mathematics and history. This event was not known to her, something was off. It was as if someone had manipulated the nephite’s records of the events surrounding their origins, and the events that led up to them leaving their original home. Dizzy had learned much recently about her own people. There were many things that she thought she knew about them, but many had turned out to be wrong. More than she cared to know.

They didn’t know why they were surprised. The years of the Old Monarchy were filled with lies and deception of things that happened. Why should the history of the nephites be any different?

Suddenly, the ground shuddered, they looked back towards the canyon floor and discovered that the ground was shifting, there was a crack as giant hydraulic doors buried beneath the earth slowly pushed themselves open. Kelso could not imagine the amount of force the doors were enacting to push away what could be no less than a tonne of rubble.

The doors opened fully, revealing an open hole in the ground, mere seconds later, and an object began to rise from it.

‘Is that...?’ Dizzy asked, her voice beginning to fill with fear.

‘It is...’ Sparky said, almost just as worried. ‘It’s a missile!’

Two minutes later, the missile’s rocket engines fired and it slowly lifted off away from the ground, clearing its silo and rising into the air. The missile began to pick up speed as it ascended, and it climbed to an altitude of two thousand metres before its course began to change.

Kelso looked around, and towards the other end of the canyon, she saw a large settlement, that despite being around so much wreckage, was highly modern and civilised looking. Ashville, the original home of the nephite people sat peacefully underneath an extended cliff side. Kelso looked back up at the missile, her mouth widened as it began to turn back towards the ground. Within seconds, the missile impacted upon Ashville, sure to bring the entire town to rubble.

Dizzy’s mouth fell open. ‘What happened to rogue weather!?’ she cried out, as she watched the original home of the nephite people burn.

Sparky, however, noticed something important about the blast. ‘No mushroom cloud…’ she said.

‘What?’ Dizzy asked as she suppressed a sniffle, looking up at the blast to discover that Sparky was right. ‘No mushroom cloud!’ she cried out.

‘I’m sorry, what exactly does that mean for us?’ Kelso asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘It means the blast was non-nuclear and that the conventional explosives were low yield… which means that there may have been survivors!’ Dizzy cried out with excitement.

Kelso glanced behind her to discover that there were two ponies standing behind them. Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, clearly having just come from the cave opening, were staring at the explosion in awe. Both of them looked like they had been pretty roughed up by someone, or something. Rainbow Dash’s wing had been bandaged up, and looked to have blood leaking from it.

‘You... you don’t think anypony was down there? Do you?’ Twilight asked.

‘You mean... like Vinyl and Surprise? No... of... of course not! Why would they be... down there?’ Rainbow Dash asked in response, trying to reassure her friend, and herself, and seeming to fail at both.

Both mares looked at each other in horror, they had no proof, but they began to assume the worst.

There was a loud crash, and Kelso and company jumped slightly as they turned to look at it, only to discover that a large metal hatch had popped open, a white foreleg stuck out at Vinyl Scratch pulled herself up from the hole in the ground.

'Oh hey girls!' Vinyl said with a grin, looking directly at Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. 'Good thing you don’t have mallets, or this would be the worst game of life-sized wack-a-mole ever!'

Twilight and Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but smile brightly as their friend pulled herself out. Vinyl Scratch turned around and reached back in, dragging another mare, an azure blue unicorn with a silvery mane, and a cutie mark of a magic wand sprinkling pixie dust out after her.

‘Uh… Trixie is sick’, the unicorn mare said, as she pulled a bottle of whiskey out of her saddlebags and downed the entire bottle at once. Next, Vinyl Scratch pulled Derpy Hooves out from the tunnel, and then Graham Cracker followed soon after that. Nephites upon nephites were soon to follow. It looked to be as if everyone in the town had made it out safely!

Dizzy let out a sigh of relief. ‘There is an old saying…’ Dizzy began.

‘A nephite caught unprepared, is not a nephite at all’, Graham Cracker finished for her.

The world began to fade again, with this memory ending on a positive note.

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The change of scenery from the Divide to the setting that they were in now was a welcome change to a pleasant forest setting. This was Whitetail Wood. In the times before the Fall of Canterlot, Whitetail Wood was a well-lit, and lightly forested area with evenly spaced trees. Everything in this forest was, well ordered, and harmonious.

It was not this way in the modern world. In modern times, Whitetail was a suburb of Ponyville, this part of the city was an underground heavy industry plant surrounded by homes, shops, restaurants, all stuck together in a seemingly highly disorganised, chaotic fashion.

Kelso and Company were standing in front of a collapsed cave, and they were not the only ones.

‘Darling, I thought you said that we weren’t meant to have what was behind these rocks?’ asked a grand, fancy sounding voice from behind them. Kelso and company turned around to discover that there was a group of ponies behind them. Vinyl Scratch and her friends were standing looking at the collapsed pile of rocks, and they discovered that the person who spoke had been Rarity.

‘Maybe we’re not’, Vinyl Scratch said with a shrug. ‘Well if the universe put down rocks to keep us out, the universe can tough it out’.

Standing with her, was Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and the white coated pegasus mare from the previous memory. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack were oddly absent.

Kelso took the opportunity to take a good look at this mysterious pegasus mare. This was the first opportunity that they had to get a good look at her. The things that they already knew were that she had a white coat and a straw yellow mane, but the details were now clear. Her cutie mark was of three purple balloons, but was most interesting about this mare was her eyes.

The mare’s eyes were unfocused, and blank. It was as if she was barely aware of what was going on around her, and maybe most importantly, her eyes were an odd colour, blood red. It was as if someone had taken an eyedropper filled with somebody’s blood and held her eyes open and dropped a single drop into each of them, permanently staining the irises for the rest of her life.

‘Sparky?’ Kelso asked, turning to the unicorn mare. ‘Are you sure you don’t know who this is?’

‘Quite’, Sparky said. She nodded her head in affirmation as she examined the pegasus mare.

‘And what was it that you called this thing... a spritebot?’ Rarity asked as she levitated a large metal object out in front of her face. Kelso and company had almost forgotten that Vinyl Scratch and her friends were even here, and were having a conversation. Sparky perked up at the mention of the metal object. She approached the memory of Rarity and took a closer look at it. She had seen one of these before.

‘Sparky?’ Dizzy asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend in confusion.

‘I’ve seen one of these before...’ Sparky repeated this time out loud instead of to herself. The metal object was a grey sphere, surrounded on all sides by four mechanical wings. It had a face, with two camera eyes behind green tinted glass. One of the eyes had been smashed open, and there was a gaping hole in the middle of its hull, looking inside, there were all sorts of crisscrossing wires and ancient thermionic valves screwed every which way. Ancient tech! ‘I had a dream... while we were on the Madame La Salle four months ago headed for Hispaña... and these were in it!’ Sparky said with excitement in her voice. ‘These are robots!’

‘Yeah... I’ve seen one before’, Vinyl said with a nod as she turned towards the pegasus mare. The mysterious pegasus mare was not paying attention, and was staring off blankly into space, and even Rainbow Dash waving a hoof in front of her face did not seem to get her attention.

‘Is she okay?’ Rainbow Dash asked.

Vinyl merely shrugged. ‘Dunno, she’s been acting strange since before we left Trotterdam... well, stranger than normal, at least’.

Twilight glanced over to the pegasus mare, and then back to Vinyl. She waved her over, and Vinyl got up and trotted over, as did Kelso and Company, glad that they were passive observers, because they sure as hell wouldn't have been privy to this information if they were actually there.

‘About Surprise... are we sure it’s a good idea to be taking her down there?’ Twilight asked.

Surprise! Now they had a name to go along with the face.

‘It’ll be fine’, Vinyl said, casually dismissing Twilight Sparkle’s worries. ‘She was around when all this stuff was brand new, if anypony is going to know about it, it’ll be her. Besides, have you been paying attention to her lately?’

'Wait... what!?' Sparky cried out. ‘“When all this stuff was brand new?”’ she repeated

Twilight cocked her head slightly as if she was not entirely sure what Vinyl Scratch was getting at.

‘I have’, Vinyl said. ‘It’s really noticeable with Pinkie Pie, Surprise starts mimicking whoever she’s with. She’s with Pinkie Pie, she’s going to skip merrily down the street, she’s with me, she’ll go around grinning like an idiot, I bet if you let her follow you around she’d become a real know it all’, Vinyl said adding a grin.

‘I am not a know it all’, Twilight said with an air of annoyance in her voice.

‘Baaaa-lonie!’ Vinyl said grinning widely. ‘But anyway, then she gets with a group like this, she shuts down, doesn’t know what to do, and then, nothing’.

‘She wasn’t like that in the old world’, Twilight said. ‘She was hateful, spiteful, malicious... dangerous’.

‘She had direction in the old world’, Vinyl said simply. ‘She doesn’t have that anymore; she doesn’t know where she fits in... she’s just sort of... there. It’s kind of tragic really’.

'What do they mean by the Old World?!' Dizzy cried out. 'They don't mean... they don't mean the time before the Old Monarchy, do they?'

'I don't know... if they do though... that makes this Surprise really really old...' Sparky said with a frown, her voice trailing off into thought. It was not as if there wasn’t a precedent to all this. If this Surprise was as old to have come from before the Old Monarchy, it was something that they could believe. One of their other friends, Señora Amarilla de la Manzana y de la Sidra had something of a similar fate.

Twilight glanced over to Surprise who was continuing to stare blankly into space. She grimaced and shook her head madly. ‘No! I am not about to start feeling sorry for Surprise, not after what she did to me’, Twilight said adamantly.

‘Technically speaking, she didn’t actually do it’, Vinyl said simply.

‘Do not get metaphysical on me’, Twilight snapped.

Vinyl could only grin.

Hopely frowned as she watched the events unfold. 'Does anyone wish we could travel back in time and actually get involved in these events? Rather than just watching these bits and pieces from a far? I don't know about the rest of you, but if I had the opportunity, I'd like to go back and start from the beginning'.

Kelso and company could only nod their heads in agreement. Knowing the full events of the past would have been some nice context.

‘Hey everypony!’ Pinkie Pie said cheerfully as she returned, walking toward them from along the road, carrying a saddlebag on her flanks.

‘You’re in a good mood’, Twilight said with a smile. ‘That the dynamite over there in that bag?’ Twilight asked, point a hoof at it.

'Did she say dynamite!?' Sparky cried out in surprise.

Kelso grimaced, and remembered something that Pinkie Pie... or rather, the changeling that had thought she was Pinkie Pie had said. Upon their first meeting, she had mentioned making explosives as a hobby. Kelso had done a double take upon hearing this, but having been distracted by her need to fill her own stomach, she had forgotten about it until just now. 'There is no way that stuff is stable!' Kelso said, instinctively taking a few steps back, despite the fact that this was a memory, and they weren't actually here and couldn't be hurt.

‘Ha! No! Are you kidding me? I’m way too jittery to have carried dynamite all this way!’ Pinkie Pie said with a grin. Causing Kelso to frown, this could not end well.

Twilight raised an eyebrow in response. ‘But if not you then... who...’ Twilight’s mouth stopped in its tracks as they all glanced over to Fluttershy, who was too coming down the road, trotting softly along and humming a pleasant tune.

‘Pinkie Pie...’ Twilight began, looking at the insane pink pony with worry.

‘Don’t worry Twilight! Fluttershy’s grace makes her the perfect pony to carry dynamite!’ Pinkie Pie said, quiet enough so that Fluttershy couldn’t hear her.

‘Pinkie Pie... does Fluttershy know what she’s carrying?’ Twilight asked.

‘Of course!’ Pinkie Pie said.

Twilight merely stared at her.

‘Well... see... I implied...’ Pinkie Pie said.

Twilight continued to stare. Pinkie Pie began to look nervous.

‘OKAY! No she doesn’t!’ Pinkie Pie said, she leaned in close, and began to speak softly through gritted teeth. ‘And I wouldn’t tell her either... not unless you want her to start panicking and explode EVERYWHERE!’

‘Yeah, I think I’m going to take a few more steps back here’, Kelso said as she stepped back a few metres.

‘What’s everywhere?’ Fluttershy asked as she approached Vinyl Scratch, gently pulling the saddlebags off her. Everyone started to tense up. Fluttershy set the bags gently on the ground against the large pile of rocks and walked closer to her friends.

Everyone, including the passive observers, let out a sigh of relief. Twilight looked to Pinkie Pie, and gave her a very angry look. ‘Pinkie Pie... when this is done, you and I need to sit down and have a good long talk about... things’, she said in a low growl.

Pinkie Pie chuckled nervously, she swallowed hard, they all moved back to a standing position about a dozen metres back from the collapsed entrance.

‘Okay Everypony!’ Pinkie Pie announced. ‘From now on nopony goes near the pile of rocks except me! Dynamite is really sensitive, if you even so much as TALK too loudly near it, it can go off! I don’t want one of you getting hurt from it!’

‘Yeah, she clearly had no idea what she was doing when she made it’, Sparky said with a frown. ‘Dynamite is supposed to be fairly stable!’

All of Vinyl Scratch’s party nodded their heads in agreement, but were otherwise not paying attention to what was going on around them, except for Rarity, who ducked her head around Pinkie Pie to get a look. ‘Pray tell, what is Surprise doing?’ she asked, pointing the pegasus mare out to them.

Everyone, passive observers especially, turned to look at what Rarity had just pointed out, to their horror; Surprise had approached the bag of dynamite lying on the ground and had reached out with a hoof to touch it.

'Just going to step back a few more metres now!' Kelso cried out as she hurried back another couple of metres. The rest of the passive observers did the same.

‘SURPRISE! NO!’ Vinyl Scratch called out.

Too late, Surprise touched it and the bag full of dynamite exploded.

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The dust began to clear, and the aftermath of Pinkie Pie’s incredibly unstable dynamite explosion began to take hold. The blast had not been enough to clear away the entirety of the rubble that blocked off the entrance to the cave, but it did create a large enough hole that a pony sized creature could make it through. For certain, nothing much bigger would be getting through it; the blast had another, possibly more severe effect. The white pegasus mare known to Kelso and Company as Surprise was nowhere to be seen.

‘SURPRISE!’ Vinyl Scratch cried out with terror. She ran towards the pile of rocks, using her telekinesis to pull them away. Twilight and Rarity, immediately putting their unicorn talents to good use, joined in and began to pull the rocks away.

As they pulled the rubble away, it revealed the horrific sight that they hid: the horribly twisted, mangled body of Surprise. All of the pegasus mare's legs were broken in multiple places, along with her neck and spine. Vinyl Scratch gasped in shock. Fluttershy couldn’t look, she buried her eyes into Rarity’s shoulder, and Pinkie Pie looked as if she was going to vomit. Rainbow Dash’s mouth was practically on the ground.

Dizzy herself was unable to look at it, and instinctively turned her head and vomited on the ground; she hoped very much that had not translated into the real world.

‘I didn’t even like her... but that’s a bad way to go’, Twilight said solemnly.

‘Give it time... she’ll be fine’, Vinyl said, unsure of herself, more hoping it to be true than anything else.

‘Vinyl... I don’t think she’s getting back up from that’, Twilight said, bitting her lip.

‘Look!’ Vinyl said, pointing at the fallen mare. Surprise’s legs began to move, they twisted, contorted back into their proper shape, likewise, her neck and spine moved back into alignment. Surprise’s eyes shot open and she gasped for air.

Sparky recoiled in shock at the events that had just unfolded before them. This Surprise… she was like Amarilla, and she could only wonder how this mare had become the way she was now. Had she too drank from the legendary lakes of Equestria, the lakes of Origin and Circumstance, of which it is said that those who drink from both will be granted life immortal?

Sparky didn’t know, she watched as Vinyl Scratch threw her forelegs around Surprise in a tight hug, chastising her for her reckless and dangerous action. What Sparky did know was this: Vinyl Scratch, the mare that would someday become her grandmother, cared for the white coated pegasus mare very much, and the fact that she did was problematic.

Grandma V had never talked about Surprise, not once, not even in a passing mention. It was as if her grandmother had been trying to forget about the pegasus mare. Like she tried to erase her from her own memory, and it only brought up another question in Sparky’s mind. Why?

Vinyl Scratch released the pegasus mare, and turned towards the rest of her friends.

‘All right everypony, here we go, we’re about to start exploring a world gone by, so keep an eye out... we don’t know what... or who, we’re going to find in here’, Vinyl Scratch said as she crawled into the opening. Everyone followed her. Sparky had taken her place up front and attempted to climb in the same way. It was mildly disconcerting because she was unable to feel the rocks beneath her as she climbed over them.

Vinyl lit her horn, Twilight and Rarity did the same as they all wandered down the stone paths of the cave tunnels, descending ever so slightly with each passing step. Sparky and Dizzy, too lit their horns, only to discover that they did not seem to have any effect on the amount of light in the cave.

'That was useless', Sparky said with a huff as they followed Vinyl Scratch and her friends as they rounded multiple twists and turns until they found themselves at the pathway’s end.

Before them, was a large room, Sparky looked around at the walls of the cave, and discovered something very important about them. The walls were smooth; they had been dug out by machines. At the far end of the room was a gigantic gear shaped metal door, with the letters ‘EPMB’ printed upon it in white bold typeface, with a control panel next to it. Vinyl Scratch went over to it and threw the switch.

Two hazard lights began to flash. A small buzzing alarm went off, and the air filled with the hiss of steam.

Something from the inside pulled the metal gear back, creating a deafening screech as metal grinded against metal. The group covered their ears, and watched as the large metal door rolled to the left. Kelso and company cried out in pain as the screech pierced their ears. They had not been prepared for it in the slightest.

They all removed their hooves from their ears and Vinyl Scratch turned and flashed a grin at her friends. ‘Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more’, she said brightly and made her way inside.

Kelso and Company, of course, were quick to follow, and they recognised this place immediately, and now they knew for certain at what they guessed before. The Everfree Plains Missile Base and the FutureTec Whitetail Industrial Complex were one and the same.

‘THAT WILL BE FAR ENOUGH!’ a voice boomed over loudspeakers. Before them, appearing from literally nowhere were three spritebots, the same model of the wrecked one that Rarity had been holding before breaching the cave, the robots were fluttering their wings and pointing attached submachine guns at them.

‘Invisibility spell’, Twilight Sparkle announced. ‘Has to be’.

‘Very good’, the voice said, this time from the lead spritebot. ‘Always knew that you were clever, Twilight Sparkle’.

‘You... you know who I am?’ Twilight asked in shock.

‘Yes, I know who all of you are. I’ve been watching you, all of you, for a very, very long time’, the spritebot said.

‘How long is a long time?’ Pinkie Pie asked suspiciously.

‘Let me put it this way... Pinkie Pie, have you ever felt like there was a time when you were by yourself, that you felt so incredibly alone? That you felt like the world was going to come crashing down around you? That you wanted to scream, but didn’t, because you knew nopony was around to hear you?’

‘Omnipresence’, Viola said, cutting through the tension in the room like a hot knife through butter.

Pinkie Pie looked at the spritebot nervously, like she had a secret that she didn’t want anyone to know about. ‘Y... yes’, she stammered.

‘Well, to put it simply, you weren’t alone during that time, I was there. Watching, waiting, and making sure you were safe. That goes to all of you. There has never been a time, in any of your lives that you were ever truly alone’.

‘What a wonderful world the Old Monarchy was’, Viola added with a frown.

‘Shut up!’ Kelso said, prodding her with a hoof. ‘We’re going to miss something!’

‘So you’ve been spying on us’, Vinyl Scratch accused, scowling at the lead spritebot, and tensing her stance. ‘Why?’

‘Because all of you are far too important to let anything bad happen to, besides, it’s not just you, others too’.

‘Who are you?’ Rainbow Dash asked.

‘Well, now that would be telling! I think it best if we continued this conversation in person. Follow the spritebots’.

The spritebots turned and lead the way, Vinyl Scratch and company, begrudgingly, followed them through the twists and turns of the missile base, and then they soon found themselves in the launch control room. Sparky recognised this room as being the command and control centre for the Discovery Project at FutureTec. If anything, this gave them insight into FutureTec, telling them something that they had not known before. FutureTec were scavengers, they hadn’t built the Whitetail Industrial Complex. They just picked the bones of what had come before, just like a buzzard.

In front of the glass windows looking out into a loaded missile silo, was an extremely large computer screen, green in colour, and displaying the image of a unicorn mare that bore a resemblance to Twilight Sparkle. Every passive observer in the room’s jaw dropped wide open.

‘Ah, yes, this is much better’, the same voice that they’d heard from the spritebots said; only this time, it was coming from the large computer. ‘Well, come on now, don’t be shy. I am very pleased to finally make your acquaintance. I’m Doctor Emerald Sparkle, and we have a lot to discuss’.

‘No way…’ Sparky said quietly to herself. It wasn’t possible, the unicorn mare that they had known from the very first memories that they watch was seemingly still alive. Her insane plan to extend her life and build an army to overthrow the princesses was working.

She had told Oberlander Cromwell that she needed exactly one thousand and two years to build her army to what she needed to overthrow the princesses. Sparky turned to her friends. ‘Who wants to guess that we’re exactly one thousand and two years from the memory of Emerald telling her plan to Oberlander Cromwell?’ She asked.

Kelso, Hopely, and Viola glanced at each other and grimaced, they had a feeling that Sparky was absolutely right.

…

The memory changed, and Kelso and company found themselves standing next to Vinyl Scratch and the rest of her friends in the middle of Ponyville. Hopely’s eyes widened and she turned her head to the sky. ‘Hey! No! Go back! Where’s the rewind button!’ she cried out, glancing around frantically, feeling as if they had just missed something important.

Sparky and Dizzy glanced around, Ponyville looked nothing like they remembered, but of course, that was something to be expected. Ponyville in this time was a rural town, after all.

‘VINYL SCRATCH!’ a mare’s voice cried out at the top of her lungs. Kelso and company turned their heads as a grey coated earth pony mare with a chocolate mane and violet eyes stormed towards them. On her flank was a cutie mark of a treble clef and around her neck was a pink bow tie. Viola couldn’t help but smile, as she knew who this pony was in an instant.

‘Hello grandma’, Viola whispered quietly to herself.

‘Oh... hey! Octavia what’s...’ Vinyl Scratch began to say as Octavia Auditore approached her, she did not finish her sentence as Octavia delivered a backhoof across her face. ‘Hey! O... what are...?’ Vinyl Scratch cried out, taken by surprise by the mare’s action.

‘You come to me’, Octavia seethed, interrupting the unicorn mare. ‘You tell me you’re sick, you tell me you’re DYING, you’ve got a month to live. I make love to you! I grieve, I make peace with myself, knowing that you’re going to be going to a better place, you never come back, I grieve some more! And then, two days ago, I’m in my flat, watching television, and who do I see on an international newsreel?! You! Not only are you alive and well, but you’ve also caused four thousand pounds of property damage in Trotterdam!’

'And a hundred years from now, that'll be a hundred thousand pounds after adjusting for inflation', Sparky mused quietly.

Vinyl Scratch grinned widely. ‘That was a fun night,’ she said, prompting another smack across her face.

Octavia’s scowl turned to a sadistic smile. ‘I am so happy that you’re alive... SO I CAN KILL YOU MYSELF!’

‘She is your grandmother’, Kelso said as she turned her head towards Viola.

‘She most certainly is’, Viola said with a grin. ‘Grandma Octavia never let anybody push her around, I remember that she used to tell stories about Vinyl Scratch all the time, this was one of them actually’.

Octavia bit down hard on Vinyl’s tail, causing her to yelp in surprise as Octavia began to drag her away.

‘Somepony help me!’ Vinyl cried out in fear for her life. Twilight and the rest of her friends glanced at each other momentarily and quickly made a plan of action.

‘Yeah we think we’re going to sit this one out, good luck Vinyl!’ Rainbow Dash proclaimed. They weren’t going to get involved.

‘Good plan’, Viola said, grinning from ear to ear and nodding her head.

Vinyl looked to each of them, bitting her lip as Octavia dragged her towards the Library. ‘Et tu Surprise?’ she asked, looking directly at the white pegasus mare.

‘The mean bowtie lady is scary...’ Surprise said quietly, pointing a hoof at Octavia.

The door to the Library flung open and then quickly shut behind them again as Octavia dragged her captive inside, clearly, there would be no escape for Vinyl Scratch.

The library door flung open again, and running out from it was an odd purple reptile creature, the likes of which Kelso and company had never seen before. He was running as fast as he could away from the tree and stopped just short of Twilight and the group.

‘Spike?’ Twilight asked.

‘Dude... I have no idea who that was... but she’s scary!’ the creature identified as Spike said, panting heavily.

Viola Auditore couldn’t help but smile; it had been nearly twenty years since she had last seen her grandmother. Octavia Auditore, her role model, her inspiration, had died when she was young. She had forgotten just how much she had missed her. ‘I love you Grandma Octavia’, she whispered to herself as the scene faded once more.

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

They were looking out towards the sea, the vast, seemingly endless Orientem Ocean from their place overlooking the Fillydelphia harbour. In the modern day, the port of Fillydelphia was a major commercial port, and heavy industry centre. Unlike the modern day though, the population of the Fillydelphia of the past was permanent.

In the modern day, very few people actually lived in Fillydelphia, almost its entire workforce was transient, coming in from the suburbs to work in the harbour, or, probably most importantly, the Fillydelphia Ironworks.

The Fillydelphia Ironworks was a wholly owned subsidiary of FutureTec. Responsible for the creation of heavy vehicles, ships, dirigible airframes and the like, and with the Ironworks located on the sea, they were readily able to bring in raw materials and ship out their newest creations as soon as they were completed.

In this setting, however, Fillydelphia was not like that in the slightest bit. It was still a port town, of course, but it was a small port, and a smaller town. Ironically enough, it still ended up being one of the larger cities of the Old Monarchy, but when the population of Equestria in that time was less than six hundred thousand, that wasn’t saying much.

Kelso noticed however, that the harbour was not idle. There were plenty of ships that were moored in, and even more were entering, ships that looked far too modern for Old Monarchy Equestria. One of the ships that they could see was bearing the Red Ensign of the Kangaroo nation of South Island, the flag emboldened with the stars of Crux, the Southern Cross. In the slip next to it was another ship, this one flying the Schäferhund tricolour of black, white, and red with an Iron Cross in the middle of it. There were many others, but they were all too far away for any of them to see.

Vinyl Scratch stood next to them on the hill overlooking Fillydelphia peering through a set of binoculars. She was looking towards the harbour and at each of the ships out there. Much to their surprise, something of which, they all kicked themselves for using that particular word, Surprise was standing next to her.

Vinyl Scratch, seemed to be unconcerned by the ships however, and she turned her binoculars towards the city centre and grinned widely. ‘Hey Surprise? You ready?’ She asked as her grin became impossibly wider.

The red eyed pegasus mare nodded her head in affirmation.

‘Excellent!’ Vinyl said taking a look through her binoculars again. ‘Then Operation: SUPERBALL is a go!’

'SUPERBALL?' Kelso asked.

‘SUPERBALL?’ Surprise asked.

‘SUPERBALL’, Vinyl repeated with a grin. ‘Part two. Problem?’

‘Nope!’ Surprise said cheerfully.

'Hold on, if this is SUPERBALL part two, then what was SUPERBALL Part One?' Hopely asked.

Sparky racked her brain, thinking back for any relevant stories that her grandmother might have told her, suddenly, she smiled and shook her head, and remembered a story from when she was a child. ‘SUPERBALL is one of my grandmother’s most generic plans, and oddly enough, it seems to be one of her most effective’.

‘What is it?’ Dizzy asked.

‘Throw caution to the wind and run in a straight line towards the objective!’ Sparky said simply. Almost as if on cue Vinyl Scratch and Surprise bolted, they galloped off at full speed towards the city centre. Kelso and company were quick to follow.

‘What if somepony sees us!?’ Surprise cried out as she followed.

‘Nopony is going to see, they’re all too busy getting ready to watch the parade for the World Leaders’ Conference!’ Vinyl Scratch said, dismissing the worries of the pegasus mare.

The World Leaders’ Conference, of course, that would explain all of the warships moored in the harbour. In the times of the Old Monarchy, once per year, the heads of state of many of the major countries of the world of Belleau would come to Equestria where they would use words to work through problems, rather than using force, with Princess Celestia acting as a neutral mediator.

As one could probably imagine, the World Leaders’ Conferences were always a complete disaster, thanks to Princess Celestia’s lack of caring about what she thought of as the petty problems of the other nations and in some cases, the World Leaders’ Conference ended up causing more problems than they solved. There was one such case during the conference in Year 127 before the Republic that provoked a full scale war between a Welaran Empire-Cheval Third Republic-Coassack Confederation-Twin Gryphon Kingdoms coalition, and an Alliance between the Schäferhund speaking nations of Schäferhund Kaiserreich, Österungarischereich, and the Capran Empire that resulted in the deaths of millions of lives on both sides.

Many argued that the war could have been prevented had Princess Celestia taken a more firm stance in mediating the disputes of Cheval President Georges Poincaré, and the Schäferhund Kaiser Friedrich. As one could expect though, she absolved herself of all blame, and washed her hooves of the whole affair. The Old Monarchy would not become involved in the war and the inhabitants of Equestria would be only vaguely aware that the war was even going on.

Further World Leaders’ Conferences were suspended until the end of the so called ‘World War’, and upon the end of it, they soon continued again in the same general, ineffectual trend that they had taken in the time before it, up until the Fall of Canterlot, and the establishment of the Equestrian Republic. Under the first Prime Minister Twilight Sparkle, who actually took the World Leaders’ Conferences seriously, things began to change, and the Conferences were able to actually sort things out. Or, at least they did until Year 24 of the Republic, when the November Revolution took hold in the Cossack Confederation, transforming the nation into the modern Unified Præsidium of Socialist Republics, when the Præsidium’s Supreme Soviet under Vasily Dzhugashvili declared that they would no longer participate in the conferences, causing the eventual cancellation of all conferences from then on.

Vinyl Scratch’s Operation SUPERBALL (Part II) ended up being largely successful, the town square of Fillydelphia was completely deserted, and she skidded to a halt in front of a large stature of an earth pony in the centre of a fountain, spitting water from its mouth in a rather disgusting fashion.

Viola frowned at the statue as she looked at it. ‘This statue is still there in the modern day, and I don’t know how, but the modern one is even more ugly than it is right now’, she said with a scoff.

‘Hey Surprise? Guess what time it is?’ Vinyl said flashing a grin at her companion.

‘Time... to cause... property damage?!’ Surprise guessed grinning brightly at the thought.

‘You get far too excited when we do this’, Vinyl said returning the grin. ‘I can’t take you anywhere!’

Surprise said nothing, instead sticking her tongue out at the unicorn mare and blowing her a raspberry. Vinyl chuckled and opened up her saddlebag, bringing out a comically large rock, and chucking it as hard as she possibly could at the statue with her telekinesis, and watching as it quickly impacted upon on the statues' head.

The passive observers were caught by surprise as the head tilted back and then snapped back forward, almost as if it was held on by spring hinges. The fountain stopped spitting, and the water began to drain from it as two concrete blocks moved apart, revealing a secret passageway.

'My only question is: how did vandals not find out about this first?' Hopely asked aloud to herself.

Vinyl vaulted over the into the fountain and trotted down the staircase, Surprise and the passive observers quickly followed, and not long afterwards the concrete blocks slid shut behind them and they heard water filling the fountain up above them.

‘How did you know this was all down here?’ Surprise asked.

‘Emerald Sparkle’s book has notes written in the margins’, Vinyl said simply as she pulled a book out from her saddlebags, holding it up to show Surprise before quickly returning it to the bag before Kelso could catch a glimpse of the title. She lit her horn for the light and the two of them continued to trot down the staircase, they reached the bottom and discovered a lift door with the letters FDIW printed in white on them, somewhat similar to the letters printed on the gear shaped door to the Everfree Plains Missile Base that Kelso and Company had seen in an earlier memory.

‘FDIW… Fillydelphia Ironworks?’ Dizzy asked aloud as Vinyl Scratch pushed the call button for the lift.

‘Probably, I don’t know why we should be surprised, I mean, FutureTec’s already scavenged everything that they have from the Kingdom of Equestria and from scientists like Emerald Sparkle’, Sparky said with a frown as the lift door opened in front of them.

Vinyl Scratch turned to Surprise and offered her a grin. ‘Once more unto the breach!’ Vinyl Scratch called enthusiastically as they stepped inside and the doors shut behind them, and the two mares plus their passive observers began their descent.

'Your Grandmother must really like that saying', Dizzy said turning towards Sparky.

'Probably', Sparky said with a shrug. 'Sometimes, it's almost like she knows we're watching and she does it just to annoy us'.

'Did you hear something?' Vinyl Scratch asked as she turned towards Surprise, causing Sparky and the rest of the group to look at each other with worry.

'I'm sure that was just coincidence', Kelso said with a shrug.

'I've heard lots of things in my life!' Surprise said cheerfully in response to Vinyl's question. 'Most of them were voices that belonged to ponies that weren't there!'

The passive observers looked at each other uncomfortably, and even though they couldn't be seen by the two mares that actually belonged in this memory, they wanted off this lift car before things got weirder.

The lift reached the bottom, and opened out towards a long hallway. Vinyl Scratch, Surprise, and the passive observers stepped out and began to trot along the corridor towards the door on the far end. As they walked, Vinyl Scratch’s ear began to twitch, something was off, and she heard something that was unnatural to this setting.

‘As if there is anything natural to this setting’, Hopely mused to herself as they walked along after her.

Vinyl Scratch, Surprise, and the rest of the passive observers reached the end of the hallway, and as they did, the door opened before them. A dozen or so unicorn ponies dressed in royal blue robes raced out of it and surrounded them. Each unicorn was levitating a firearm at head level, an odd mix of pistols, lever-action shotguns, and submachine guns. One of them even had a rather nasty looking rifle, and all of them were of origins that not even the passive observers, who were quite frankly all of the worldly type, were able to recognise.

‘Well’, Vinyl Scratch said flashing a grin. ‘You machine cultists sure know how to make a filly feel welcome’ she added as she glanced over to Surprise, whose expression had turned from childlike wonder to one of distress. She was uneasy, but continued to not say anything.

Sparky, Dizzy, and Hopely looked at each other in shock, they had heard that term before. The Cultus Mechanius, was a group of ponies that supposedly had the technological prowess to rival FutureTec, and for it, FutureTec had made every attempt to stamp them out of existence.

The machine cultists did not respond to Vinyl Scratch, however, out of the doorway another pony soon appeared, he was an older unicorn stallion, a coat of beige and a mane that had once been jet black, but now had turned to a light grey. He was wearing a set of deep purple robes, and he looked at her and offered a rather strange and disconcerting smile.

‘’Well hello there’, the unicorn stallion said simply. ‘I’m Chapter Master Archimedes. I’m head of this chapter of the Cultus Mechanius. Welcome to Fillydelphia, Vinyl Scratch, we’ve been expecting you’.

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The streets of Ponyville were deserted. Kelso clutched her head in pain as a new memory formed around her. She was tired, her head ached, and worst of all, they had no idea just how long this had been going on.

‘You okay, Kelso?’ Viola asked as she placed her foreleg around her, allowing Kelso to lean against her for support.

‘Yeah...’ Kelso said weakly as she continued to rub her head. ‘Yeah... I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up for though...’

Sparky nodded her head in agreement as they looked around. Most concerning, was the fact that they didn’t know just how much they had left to go. They had no idea how much time had passed in the real world, it could be minutes, and it could be hours. They had no way of knowing for certain, they could make safe guesses that they’d been going at this for only a few hours at the most. Otherwise, they would have been interrupted when the staff of Station SPECTRE came into work.

Or, perhaps someone did try to interrupt them, and when the review of the memories ended, they might be surrounded by multiple infantry sections of FutureTec Private Security. That was going to be fun.

As they looked around the streets of Ponyville, they all began to notice one thing in particular, everything was so still, so maddeningly quiet. It was as if someone had taken the population and dragged them off in the middle of the night. Everything was completely deserted.

Everything looked normal, and there was nothing out of place, except for a large banner that was hanging between two buildings. ‘Welcome Representatives of the World Leaders’ Conference’, it said, in large bold face letters. That’s when they realised, that the denizens of Ponyville had shut themselves up in their homes, and were refusing to come out.

‘I remember now!’ Viola cried out with glee. ‘My grandmother told me something about this!’

‘Oh? What is it?’ Hopely asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘Grandma Octavia was a Detective Inspector for the Greater Manehattan Police, and she had come to Ponyville in search of a suspect in a smuggling ring, now this is important, because the World Leaders’ Conference is usually held in Manehattan, except for the Conference in year 1 before the Republic! When it was moved to Canterlot at the last minute’, Viola said, as she recounted the details of the story. ‘My grandmother caught her suspect, and when she was taking him back to Manehattan, he asked to use the toilet on the train, my grandmother let him, and when he did, he somehow got out of his restraints, climbed out a window, and crawled along the roof to the next car and disconnected the car my grandmother was in’.

‘Was the suspect a pegasus or a unicorn?’ Dizzy asked, figuring that for such an escape attempt to work, telekinesis or wings would have been necessary.

‘Earth pony’, Viola said with a shrug.

‘Damn’, Dizzy said, taken aback by the revelation. ‘That’s impressive!’

Viola nodded her head in agreement. ‘Unfortunately, my grandmother agreed too, though she didn’t like it in the slightest bit’, she added with a chuckle. ‘Anyway, unfortunately, the breaks for the train were in the caboose, and the conductor and engineers didn’t notice until it was far too late, long story short, the train crashed, some casualties, and the conference was moved to Canterlot for fear of the leaders’ safety’.

‘You know, that memory sounds sort of important’, Hopely mused. ‘You would think we’d be shown that!’

Viola merely shrugged in response, she had no answer for that one.

‘Maybe FutureTec never got a hold of that memory?’ Sparky said, offering a possible explanation. ‘All of the memories we’ve seen have revolved around my grandmother and her friends’.

‘What about that one with my great-grandmother and Graham Cracker in the gaol cell?’ Dizzy asked. ‘None of them were in it except for them!’

Sparky merely shrugged in response, she had no answer for that one.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by the rapid clip-clop of hoof steps. Someone was running right towards them. Kelso turned her head to see a pink blur on the approach. It was Pinkie Pie, and she was running along Ponyville’s south eastern road at full speed, a look of panic filled the pink party pony’s face. She breezed by them like a howling winter wind, and kept on running.

‘What is she running from?!’ Kelso cried out.

‘I don’t know’, Viola said. ‘But wherever she’s going this must be what we’re meant to see! After her!’

Kelso needed no encouragement. This was her friend that they were following after all. As they rounded a corner, Pinkie Pie suddenly skidded to a halt in front of group of well armed ponies dressed in crème coloured uniforms, each with a flag of a white cross superimposed on a red background, the flag of the United Kingdom of Welara, embroidered upon the sleeve, and on their heads were brodie helmets. They were marching up the road towards Ponyville, and driving along slowly behind them was a very menacing looking armoured car that had trained its main gun upon her.

‘Assassin!’ one of the soldier ponies cried out as they all turned towards Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie swallowed hard; oh she had just gotten herself into quite the mess.

‘Hold!’ boomed a voice from behind them. Pinkie Pie’s eyes rose as she looked at who had spoken. Indeed, descending from the armoured car was one of the largest ponies that one could lay eyes upon, though this pony could not hold a candle to the height of the former Queen of Equestria, the mother of Princesses Celestia and Luna. Standing at two hundred centimetres, with a crème coloured coat and a chestnut mane and beard was a pony that Hopely had recognised in an instant thanks to her being a history major in university.

‘King George of Welara’, Hopely said, in awe of the pony that stood before her.

‘Fools! This is no assassin! Unless she intended to murder me with her own hooves!’ King George said with a scoff.

‘I... what?’ Pinkie Pie asked in confusion.

The Welaran King looked at Pinkie Pie oddly for a few moments before he realised that she did not know who he was. ‘Guards, go on without us, I wish...’

By this time, a second pony descended from the armoured car, this one a grey coated stallion wearing a black overcoat and top hat.

'Leonard Spencer', Hopely said as her mouth fell open.

'Who?' Sparky asked.

Hopely looked over to Sparky and frowned, giving her a light smack across the face, not enough to hurt her, but enough to surprise her. 'Leonard Spencer...' Hopely began, her voice filled with emotion at Sparky's ignorance. 'Is only the most important Prime Minister that Welara has ever had!'

'Hopely, this is Sparky we're talking about', Dizzy said, patting her friend on the shoulder. 'She barely knows the names of our own Prime Ministers, let alone theirs'.

'Hey!' Sparky called out at the insult as she rubbed her cheek. 'Yeah...' she said, eventually acknowledging that this was true.

‘Your majesty! I must protest...’ Leonard Spencer began before being interrupted.

‘I am talking!’ the King cried out, clearly not about to let his Prime Minster tell him what to do. ‘And I say, go on without me’.

‘Yes, your majesty’, Spencer said with a huff, he was clearly not pleased with being told what to do either, but could he really say no to his King?

Yes, he probably could, but he would pay for it later. He, along with the soldier ponies continued on their way into town. After they were gone, King George turned towards Pinkie Pie, and offered her a polite smile. ‘Do you know who I am?’ he asked. Pinkie Pie shook her head no, and an even brighter smile formed upon the king's face and he let out a small chuckle. ‘That, is actually quite a relief, I am King George of Welara, you may call me George, or I suppose, if it makes you feel more comfortable, you may call me “Your Majesty”, I know it can be difficult for some to be informal around one of my status, though just because I am socially above you, does not mean I am better than you, so really, whatever makes you feel more comfortable’.

‘Uh...’ Pinkie Pie said with a nervous chuckle. ‘Hi... George, I’m Pinkie Pie...’

King George smiled at her and stuck out a hoof. ‘Charmed’, he said with a smile. It was clear that Pinkie Pie wasn’t sure how to respond to the gesture.

‘Come now!’ King George said with a friendly smile. ‘I won’t bite, shake! Please! I insist’.

Pinkie Pie reluctantly took the king’s hoof and shook it. King George chuckled and gave Pinkie Pie a pleasant smile. ‘Very good! Come, walk with me, we should probably make our way up the road before the South Islanders come up the road and start panicking that I’m without my guard, and consorting with a strange pink pony’.

‘I’m going to have to kill Pinkie Pie if she squanders this opportunity’, Hopely said with her voice full of jealousy. It wasn’t every day that one met the King of Welara, after all, and certainly not quite one of the reputation of King George. His reign had lasted through the World War, and he was his nation’s symbol of resistance against the Schäferhund Kaiserreich.

Pinkie Pie and King George began to walk, and they quickly diverted down one of the other roads, making a point to stay out of sight of the Welaran soldiers.

‘They don’t want to leave me alone, they fear I am going to be assassinated, I am not going to be assassinated in the lands of Celestia... and even if someone were to try, it is not as if I cannot handle myself’, King George said with a scoff.

Pinkie Pie didn’t say anything; rather, she just continued to follow the king. He turned his head towards her and gave her an odd look.

‘You do not strike me as the quiet type, please; there is no need to be shy. I assure you, I am just as normal as you are’, King George said, flashing a grin at her.

'Oh no! That grin!' Hopely cried out in terror.

'What?' Sparky asked. 'What about it?'

'It's just like your grandmothers!' Hopely cried out, causing everyone to cringe in terror. The King of Welara having a similar personality to Vinyl Scratch? The world could not handle such a thing!

Pinkie Pie couldn’t help but smile at the king’s comment, and she eventually warmed up to a genuine smile.

‘That’s what I like to see!’ King George said. ‘I like you, Pinkie Pie; I think you and I are going to get along just fine’.

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The situation in Ponyville proper quickly dissolved into chaos and disarray as the townspeople fled from their homes. The combots advanced through the streets in highly organised rank and file formations, they fired their submachine guns off into the air, seemingly uninterested in harming the townsfolk who were running for their lives. The formations broke apart, and combots armed with flamethrowers took to burning the town to the ground. Kelso and company could only helplessly watch as a crème coated earth pony mare with a cutie mark of three pieces of candy, and dark blue curly mane with several streaks of pink in ran by, the mare tripped and clattered to the ground.

The mare winced in pain as she struggled to get back to her hooves, and she looked up to discover a single combot standing over her, aiming its submachine gun mere centimetres from her face. ‘I surrender!’ the mare cried out as she threw her forelegs up to shield her face. Dizzy couldn't continue to watch, and turned her head away from the scene, burying her eyes into Sparky's shoulder.

'Look out! Here comes Tom!' a new voice cried out from behind them. The combot shifted its focus towards the voice, and the earth pony mare instinctively ducked her head down as a huge boulder in the rough shape of a diamond came flying through the air, smashing into the combot and crushing the metal monstrosity under the boulder’s weight. As the dust cleared, the earth pony mare poked her head up and turned and looked at the pony that had saved her. Her jaw dropped wide open as she looked at her saviour, almost as if she couldn't believe it. Standing in the middle of the road was a minty green unicorn mare with a very satisfied look on her face.

‘Lyra!’ the earth pony mare cried out to her.

‘Hey Bon Bon’, the unicorn mare, now known to them as Lyra said with a bright smile. ‘Come on, you didn’t think I’d really abandon you, did you?’

Bon Bon leapt up and gave Lyra a tight hug, her eyes erupted into tears and she held onto the unicorn mare like there was no tomorrow. ‘Lyra... I was so scared! I’m so sorry, I know I did wrong... I know you can’t forgive me for it...’

‘Shh...’ Lyra said, gently running a hoof through Bon Bon’s mane, smiling at the earth pony mare to give her reassurance. ‘That doesn’t matter anymore; you did what you had to, not just for your sake, but for the sake of the world. The world needs us Bon Bon, and we’re going to be there for it’.

Bon Bon smiled brightly at Lyra and gave her a quick kiss. ‘Let’s kick some metal butt!’ She cried out in a voice of newfound determination.

‘Right behind you!’ Lyra said as the two of them released from each other’s grasp, she enveloped the boulder in a telekinetic field and began to push it down the street, carving a pathway through the chaotic streets and steamrolling over any combots that were unlucky enough to get in the way.

‘By the way... “Tom?”’ Bon Bon asked.

‘It was etched into the underside of the rock, so I ran with it!’ Lyra explained with a smirk. Kelso and company were quick to take off follow them.

'Does the name "Tom" sound familiar to any of you?' Kelso asked.

'There's a giant boulder in the Fluttershy Memorial Gardens in down town Ponyville in the modern day!’ Viola said between pants. 'It had a plaque with the name Tom on it; I guess now we know where it came from!'

…

The memory changed again, and Kelso and company skidded to a halt. The changes happened without warning, and they nearly collided headlong into the side of a burning building. They turned their heads to watch as a piece of floating debris darted by and smashed into the front of a combot, knocking it off its’ tracked wheelbase. Kelso turned around to discover that Twilight Sparkle and most of her friends had taken up positions behind makeshift cover, alongside several other ponies that they were not familiar with. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and the Azure unicorn mare that had identified herself as Trixie in an earlier memory, were lobbing rocks, random pieces of debris, and the odd stick of Pinkie Pie’s dynamite over their cover and into the horde of combots. Pinkie Pie was up on the roof of the building with a book of matches in her teeth and a crate of explosives by her side. She lit the fuse on a stick of dynamite and tossed it as hard as she could into the horde of combots.

‘Well, at least it looks like she’s improved her stock’, Viola said, pointing towards Pinkie Pie, to which Sparky nodded in agreement.

‘She must have found a better place to store the dynamite. That was probably her biggest issue’, Sparky mused as they watched the events unfold.

Applejack, along with three other ponies had leapt out from cover and engaged the combots in melee combat. They recognised one of them to be Viola’s grandmother Octavia, and another one, a gigantic red coated draught pony that they recognised as Big McIntosh, the pony who would eventually go on to become the third Prime Minister of the Equestrian Republic, and another yellow coated earth pony stallion, clad in a brown Stetson hat and matching waist coat, whom they did not recognise at all.

Another pony had taken to the roof of the building that Pinkie Pie had perched on, and they did not originally recognise the grey coated, blonde maned pegasus mare, as she had looked vastly different then the last time they had seen her. Dizzy’s great-grandmother’s eyes were no longer crossed, and she was clad in suit of nephite riot barding, and a schäferhund storm harness, firing off a pistol identical to the one that Dizzy ordinarily carried.

‘Great Grandma Dizty’s already converted!’ Dizzy cried out with glee as she watched her great grandmother peer through the zeroing sight on her storm harness, carefully firing off her weapon to make every shot count.

Above them, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were preforming complex aerial manoeuvres designed to attract attention away from the melee fighters, and it seemed to be working pretty well. Almost all of the unengaged combots were focusing on the fliers, doing their best to try and take them down, but with little success. The pegasi above were far too fast for the combots to track.

Most noticeably of all, was Vinyl Scratch however, armed with nothing more than her revolver and a grin on her face, Vinyl Scratch waded nonchalantly through the battlefield, not even flinching as bullets flew past her head. She fired her revolver off at the unengaged combots, emptying the cylinder, before snapping open the top break and using her telekinesis to slide in six new rounds. She passed by Octavia, who promptly took down the combot she was fighting with a single kick.

‘Damn Tavi! You’re really kicking arse!’ Vinyl Scratch called out to Viola's grandmother with a grin as she blasted another combot right in the television screen display.

‘I’m just pretending that all of them are you and it comes naturally!’ Octavia quipped back as she jumped up and smashed another combot in its face.

Viola couldn't help but smirk. 'That's my grandmother, motivated by thoughts of violence towards Vinyl Scratch!'

'Do you ever wish we could go back and watch the two of them go at it under better circumstances?' Sparky asked, turning towards Viola.

'All the time', Viola said nodding her head.

Without warning, Lyra and Bon Bon came charging through the streets rolling Tom through and crushing a number of combots that weren’t able to wheel out of the way.

'Ha! Hope these guys like "rock" music!' Lyra said gleefully as she and Bon Bon leapt into the makeshift fighting pit alongside Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Trixie.

'Lyra... no', Bon Bon said, as she couldn't help but face hoof at her friend's horrible pun.

Suffice it to say, they were doing quite well all things considered, but more and more combots just kept rolling on them, it was like Emerald Sparkle had an endless horde of them. What was worse, the more they fought the combots the more they seemed to adapt to their opponents skills. A few close calls with grenades and they had pushed the four melee fighters back behind the makeshift fortifications that the group had pulled together. Vinyl Scratch had too fallen back behind the barriers and continued to shoot at them from cover. Ditzy Doo had run out of ammunition for her gun long ago and had taken to running interference over the battlefield alongside Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, but it wasn't long before they were forced back to the ground as well.

‘Well, we all put up a good fight’, Applejack said. ‘If this is it, than at leas’ we did that’.

That was something they could all agree upon.

‘Trixie has never known a finer set of ponies, Trixie is glad to have stood beside you’, Trixie added with a nod.

It was not the end, however, at that moment, a gunshot pierced the air and Kelso watched as a high calibre bullet whizzed by her eyes and hit a combot with tremendous force, knocking it off its wheel base and sending it clattering into a second combot behind it.

Bursting from the trees was a tank; Hopely turned her head and recognised it immediately. ‘The M3 Light tank, built in South Island for the Welaran Commonwealth, favoured by the Kangaroo army for their speed!’ Hopely cried out excitedly.

The tank, bearing turret number 105, barrelled down on the combots, firing off a canister shell and raining high velocity shrapnel on the combots as an infantry section of Kangaroo Fusiliers hopped along besides it, firing their bolt action rifles and submachine guns as they went and joining up with the ponies stuck in the makeshift fighting pit.

A kangaroo holding a high calibre anti-armour rifle smiled brightly at them as he set his gun on the ground. ‘Twilight! Rainbow Dash! Catch!’ he said as he tossed a revolver to Twilight and a self-loading pistol to Rainbow Dash. Twilight caught both in her telekinesis and passed the self-loader over to Rainbow Dash.

Off in the distance the passive observers heard a faint noise. pof… pof… pof… It was a noise that they did not recognise, not until it was far too late, something hit the ground and exploded violently in the middle of the combot horde!

‘That’s 26 pounder fire!’ The kangaroo fusilier with the anti-armour rifle cried out. ‘That bloody Gryphon Decanus in Canterlot is shooting at us!’

‘No it’s not!’ Rainbow Dash cried out. ‘Look at where the shells are falling! They’re not coming anywhere close to us, they’re shooting the robots!’

…

The memory changed once more, and Kelso and company had returned to Canterlot, this time, they were along the city walls, and besides them was an armoured vehicle, an open topped self-propelled artillery gun that was filled with gryphon soldiers loading large explosive shells into the firing chamber, and covering their ears as their howitzer fired, kicking with the explosion and causing the Gryphon Decanus to roll back several centimetres from the recoil.

Shining Armour, Cadence, and the Cheval Aerial Cavalry section under Maréchal des logis-chef Dmitri Moreau had made their way here, figuring this was probably the best place to make their stand.

The situation in Canterlot was a mess. Unlike Ponyville, things had deteriorated rapidly, and many of the Royal Guard units had broken and routed, only for them to be cut down trying to escape the fight.

‘I trained them better than this!’ Shining Armour cried out as he watched another phalanx of guard break out into a run.

‘You couldn’t have possibly trained them to handle this, don’t blame yourself!’ Cadence said reassuringly, patting Shining Armour on the shoulder.

Shining Armour merely brushed her away. There was nothing she could say to make this okay. ‘You don’t see the welarans, or the schäferhund breaking do you?!’ Shining Armour cried out. ‘Not even the gryphons have cut and run! And I would have expected them to go first!’

Unfortunately, Shining Armour had said that at the worst possible time, and one of the gryphon soldiers descended upon him angrily. ‘Hey, Captain Dweeb! We’re right here you know!’ the female gryphon said in annoyance.

Shining Armour held fast, looking the gryphon before him right in the eyes and not blinking. She returned his stare, and the two of them would not flinch. Cadence opened her mouth to say something to get the two of them to snap out of it, but she herself was interrupted before she got the chance to.

‘Piss off a gryphon soldier, great plan’, Viola said, rolling her eyes at Shining Armour.

‘Lance Bombardier Gilda! I do not hear you calling out targets!’ one of the other gryphons called out to her.

Gilda broke her gaze with Shining Armour and looked back at the Decanus, and then back to Shining Armour. ‘This isn’t over’, she seethed. ‘You don’t challenge a gryphon unless you intend to go through with it’.

‘I’m looking forward to it!’ Shining Armour said with a huff as Gilda spread her wings and leapt into the air, pulling a pair of binoculars up to her eyes and peering through them.

Shining Armour grumbled with annoyance as he turned back towards Cadence. ‘The nerve…’

Cadence responded by slapping him hard on the shoulder. ‘Must you act like a complete muscle head!? We are in the middle of a crisis here! We’re lucky the attackers have finally decided to leave us alone!’ she said scoldingly.

Shining Armour frowned at her, and gave her a small sigh. ‘You’re right… I’m sorry… I…’ Shining Armour paused as something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. ‘Look!’ he said.

Kelso and the rest of the passive observers turned their heads away from the wall, and towards the city. Marching towards them, was none other than Princess Luna herself, leading the welaran and schäferhund escorts towards the wall.

‘All will rally to me!’ she cried out in a voice that was unnaturally loud. ‘Our fight is not over yet! We shall take this city back… and…’ Princess Luna’s voice began to trail off as she looked up at the sky.

Shining Armour, Cadence, the cheval, welarans, and schäferhund soldiers turned and looked up towards the sky. ‘Is that what I think it is?’ Shining Armour asked.

Kelso and company turned back to look. Gliding over the mountains to the north was a zeppelin, but not just any zeppelin. The canvas covering the ribbing was dyed a deep red, and it bore the royal insignia of the Kingdom of Equestria from a thousand years ago. Kelso was able to recognise it in an instant, the enormous insignia draped over most of the zeppelin’s body had been plastered all over the Castle at Canterlot in the earliest memories that they had seen. Something was coming, now they all had to ask the question, was it something good? Or something bad?

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

In the blink of an eye, Kelso and company found themselves on the bridge of the airship that had crested the northern mountains, as they looked around, they could see a mishmash of computer systems, each of them connected with each other by a series of long, thick cables that ran across the floor. They had been on airships before, but not quite one as this.

Kelso turned around, the captain’s seat in the centre of the room was facing away from her, and she let out a frown in annoyance, she turned her head towards the window, but when she did, she caught glimpse of something else. Sparky had shut her eyes tightly and was mumbling something to herself. ‘Sparky?’ Kelso asked, cocking her head to the side as she looked at her friend.

Dizzy turned her head too, and a look of terror appeared on her face. ‘Sparky!’ she cried out, and quickly wrapped her foreleg around her friend for support, which was more or less difficult for her thanks to the fact that Dizzy was at least ten centimetres shorter than Sparky was. ‘Sparky! Shh, it’s okay! We’re not actually here! It’s just a memory, breath deep!’

Sparky was afraid of airships. She had been since she was young, and her parents had been killed in a midair collision between the airship Diamond, and a Republican Navy heavy cruiser ERS Fillydelphia. The Fillydelphia had made it through the collision without a scratch, but the Diamond was not so lucky. All one hundred and thirteen passengers and crew, Sparky’s parents included, were killed.

Sparky did not reply, but slowly opened her eyes, taking care not to look out any of the windows, lest she be sick. Dizzy looked up at her and offered her a smile, gently nuzzling her friend for moral support. Sparky took a deep breath, and closed her eyes once more. She stood silently for a moment and then opened her eyes and offered Dizzy a small smile, leaning forward and planting a gentle kiss on the shorter mare’s forehead. ‘Thank you’, she said softly and turned to face the interior of the room, making sure to keep her eyes off the windows.

‘We are coming into range now’, came a voice from the far side of the room, Kelso and company looked up to discover an earth pony wearing nephite riot barding sitting at a control console with an old style radar screen, he was typing away at an equally old style physical keyboard that was practically the size of him. Sparky couldn’t help but sigh and shake her head as she looked at this scene. Physical keyboards had always been large, cumbersome, and difficult to fit into small spaces, and these ones were no less than that. The actual keys had to be made to work with the average hoof size, which significantly limited how small the keyboards could actually be. Too small, and a hoof would hit multiple keys at the same time, and not necessarily the ones that you wanted. The advent of adjustable size holographic keyboards revolutionised modern computing, and their introduction into AppleTec’s Micro Information Processor, turning them from a cumbersome niche market product to an everyday must have.

‘Activate defence grid and prepare countermeasure flares’, came a voice from the centre of the room. The captain’s seat rotated around to reveal none other than Graham Cracker sitting in it.

‘Graham! We have incoming missiles heading right for us!’ an elderly unicorn stallion called out.

'Moses Marening!' Dizzy said as a smile formed on her face.

'Who?' Viola asked as she turned to look at the ageing unicorn, causing Dizzy to roll her eyes in disappointment.

'Moses Marening was New Maneaan's chief gunsmith, he designed all of the weapons that we use today, and while they're all anywhere from 80-100 years old, they still outclass any weapon designed by the Equestrian Republic', Dizzy said proudly. 'And for a time, he was the only unicorn nephite, at least, until my Grandmother's conversion'.

‘Deploy countermeasures and get us under the missile base’s radar grid, if you can’, the burned pony said as he looked over the flight instruments. ‘We can’t afford to take even a single hit or this whole thing will go up in flames’.

Sparky turned her head towards Graham Cracker, raising an eyebrow at his statement, and then her eyes widened. ‘Dizzy... is this airship...?’

‘’Hydrogen lifted?’ Dizzy asked in return, interrupting her friend. ‘More likely than not, yes, helium was hard to come by in this day and age...’

To the nephites’ fortune, the seeker missiles changed direction and headed for the flares instead, the pony at the helm pushed the controls forward, sending the airship into a deep dive, and causing all of the passive observers to stumble and fall to the ground, in a few seconds they were below the Missile Bases’ radar field and touching down on the ground.

‘I’m going in’, Graham Cracker said as she rose to his hooves from his centre chair. ‘Moses, take command, give us cover!’

Moses Marening rose to his hooves and nodded his head in understanding; he crossed over to the centre seat and took his place. Using his telekinesis, he pulled a miniature keyboard over to him, and at the same time, pulled the rest of the command console around him. The miniature keyboard began to tap from his telekinetic input as he entered several commands into the command line interface.

‘Moses! We’re off the airship! Take her back up and hope these Cult wireless packs are as reliable as they claim!’ Graham Cracker’s voice said over several loud speakers after a few moments of unloading.

‘Understood’, Moses said with a nod as he rotated his chair to face towards the radar station. ‘Scanners? How low does hostile radar extend?’

‘They can’t see us below five hundred metres’, the radar operator said.

‘Helm, rise to four hundred and fifty metres, let’s show these bastards what it means to be nephite!’ Moses said with a grin.

...

The scene changed as Kelso and Company found themselves in the middle of the nephite advance. Several platoon sized units charged forwards towards the EPMB combots, firing off their weapons as they went. The combot horde turned their attention towards the nephites, but it was far too late, they were already upon them and they lashed out with a fury of automatic weapons fire.

Combot after combot dropped before their eyes as the assault on Ponyville began to collapse in on itself, the tide was turning.

Kelso threw her hooves over her ears as the sound of a rip roaring rotary cannon burst overhead from the zeppelin engaging the combots as they began to pull back.

...

The image changed again, and Kelso and company were standing in the launch control room of the Everfree Plains Missile Base. Before them sat the omnipresent computer terminal, displaying the image of Emerald Sparkle, the image was a pleasant looking one, identical to the one they had seen upon the combot’s telescreens, but it did not take a genius to figure out that she was not happy.

A pneumatic door opened behind them, and they turned to watch as Twilight Sparkle entered the room, levitating her revolver besides her head.

‘I figured you would come. Are you happy? You won’, Emerald Sparkle said emotionlessly.

‘Yes, yes we did’, Twilight said, nodding her head as she slowly approached the computer terminal. ‘It was a bold move you made. I can only wonder how many ponies died today because of you’.

‘Sacrifices, necessary sacrifices for the sake of progress’, Emerald Sparkle said, washing her hooves of all guilt. ‘I was close, so close... had my combots made their way up the mountain...’

‘They still wouldn’t have been able to kill the princesses’, Twilight said calmly. ‘They’re a little bit tougher than that’.

‘Oh, I know, the combots wouldn't have been able to do it, not on their own, I had something to take care of them’, Emerald Sparkle said, her artificial voice remaining completely emotionless. ‘I know them better than you think. I know them better than you do. When I was a child, my parents died, and I became the student of Queen Gaia. Celestia and Luna were my friends, my playmates, I loved them dearly’.

‘And then you tried to kill them’, Twilight said plainly.

‘Times are different now’, Emerald Sparkle said. ‘The princesses are dangerous. Twilight, you have to realise; you have to have at least had the idea enter your mind! The princesses, both of them, do not have pony societies’ best interests at heart! They only care about their own agendas!’

‘And you don’t?’ Twilight asked.

‘I admit, I have an agenda, with me in charge of the Republic of Equestria, we would have entered a golden age of science and technology! Give me twenty years; I will put ponies on the moon! Give me fifty, and we’ll be exploring the other planets in our star system, a hundred years?! We’ll be out among the stars, Princess Celestia stays in charge? We’ll be lucky if she hasn’t outlawed the thermionic valve in a hundred years’, Emerald Sparkle said. ‘You cannot trust Princess Celestia to do what is best for pony kind!’

‘I know’, Twilight said, closing her eyes and breathing out a sigh. ‘But I can’t very well trust you either’, Twilight added as she snapped open the break of her revolver and checked the ammunition and looked back up at Emerald Sparkle’s terminal, a look of determination forming on her face.

‘So you’re going to kill me then? I wouldn’t do that if I were you’, Emerald said. While her voice was still emotionless, the passive observers were able to detect a hint of smugness in it. ‘I have a failsafe system; you kill me, this base's nuclear warheads will all go off!’

Twilight smirked at her ancestor and set the revolver on the floor, kicking it gently and letting it slide backwards towards the door. ‘I’m not going to kill you, Emerald. No, that would be me stooping to your level. No, instead, I’m going to disconnect you from the mainframe’.

‘... Twilight! No!’ Emerald Sparkle said. As with the smugness that they could hear with her previous statement, Kelso could clearly detect the fear in the elder pony’s speech. ‘I lied! I lied, there is no failsafe! Please, don’t disconnect me from the mainframe! I’d rather you just killed me!’

Twilight did not reply, instead, she trotted over to the mainframe terminal and began to punch a few buttons. The wall opened up and revealed a secret lift to a lower level. Emerald continued to call out to her, pleading that she abandon her course of action, but the pleas fell upon deaf ears.

Kelso and company followed Twilight into the cramped lift and rode down with her to the lower level. As the door opened again, it revealed a large room, with a second terminal identical to the one on the other level, and a life support tube at the far end.

'Do you guys think that this stuff might still be here?' Kelso asked.

'Who knows?' Sparky said. ‘I know what I’m doing when we’re done with all this!'

The second terminal flickered to life, and Emerald Sparkle's picture came upon it. ‘Twilight! I beg of you. Do not disconnect me from the mainframe!’ the aged mare cried out.

Twilight ignored her and trotted over the console at the front of the life support tube, with the tap of a few keys on the keyboard, she pulled up the correct menu. She smiled slightly as she contemplated what she was about to do, and then looked up at the mainframe terminal. ‘Goodbye Emerald Sparkle. The world doesn’t need you anymore’, Twilight said softly as she hit the execute key.

‘NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!’ Emerald cried out, as the image on the mainframe began to flicker. Eventually it flickered out completely, and the room fell silent, the mainframe terminal displayed only a single message: Connection Lost...

Twilight let out a small sigh, what she had just done clearly troubled her deeply, but she turned around, and trotted back towards the lift, and rode it back up.

...

The scene changed again, this time, they were back in Canterlot in Princess Celestia’s bedroom. The sun was setting, and as they looked out the window, the passive observers could see cleaning crews pulling the wrecks of spritebots into large bins, they were cleaning up the town from the day’s battle.

Princess Celestia looked down upon the city, watching sadly as the cleaning crews finished their work. She must have known what became of her one time friend, Emerald Sparkle.

‘Tia?’ a voice called out from behind her. Princess Celestia turned to face the speaker, and she trotted away from the balcony and back into the room. Kelso and Company made it a point to step aside as she did. They discovered that Princess Luna was standing in the middle of the room, and she did not look happy.

‘Luna I...’ Celestia began as she approached her sister, but was quickly interrupted as Luna’s fore hoof smacked her across the face.

‘Don’t you dare speak... you have no words to justify your actions today’, Luna said coldly.

‘What are you talking about?’ Celestia asked as she gently rubbed her face. ‘I haven’t done anything...’

‘That is my point exactly! Emerald Sparkle and her machine army attack Canterlot in full force, and what do you do? You sit up here and do nothing! Just like you have always done!’ Luna cried out, her voice filled with anger.

‘Luna...’ Celestia began again, but was quickly interrupted once more.

‘No, you cannot justify that, you are a leader! Your job is to lead! And you have shown time, and time again, that you cannot lead!’ Luna said.

Princess Celestia lowered her head in shame, as a tear began to roll from her eye. ‘I wasn’t ready to take over for mother and father’, she said softly.

‘That’, Princess Luna said. ‘Is very apparent. Let me make myself perfectly clear, I am in charge now, you are clearly unable to lead this nation, and I will not allow you to continue on this path’.

Princess Celestia’s head rose. She said nothing, she made no objection, and she merely sat down upon the ground and looked up at her sister. ‘Are you going to kill me, Luna?’ she asked.

‘I don’t have to’, Luna said emotionlessly. ‘You were always the push over. You’re no threat to me now, not after this’.

Princess Celestia let out a small sigh, but she did not protest.

‘There are going to be changes, dear sister, Equestria will be great again!’ Princess Luna cried out, a small smile forming upon her face. ‘Whether you like it or not!’

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

As they reappeared in the Ponyville Public Library once again, Kelso couldn’t help but be in awe of the building. It wasn’t so much of a building in itself; it was a tree, an honest living tree filled with rows and rows of bookshelves. The wonderful thing about reliving these memories of times gone by was that they preserved every single sensation. Every smell, every touch, every sight to see, all of it was here for them to take in.

The smell of the Ponyville Public Library was that of its books, honest, real book printed on parchment paper. These weren’t even the tree pulp paper books from the early Republic, and they certainly weren’t the holopaper books that could most commonly be found in bookstores in the modern day. This was the real deal, and while Kelso wasn’t actually here to read them, she was glad that she could get closer to the past than most.

‘You’re looking rather philosophical, Kelso’, Hopely said with a smirk. ‘Nostalgic for the old monarchy are we?’

‘Hmm?’ Kelso said, looking up. ‘Oh no, I was just admiring all of the Ponyville Public Library’s communist literature’.

Hopely dead panned her, and Kelso couldn’t help but smirk, she’d just pressed on Hopely’s berserk button.

‘WHAT?’ Hopely cried out in shock as she began to glance around. Kelso couldn’t help but laugh, and unfortunately for Hopely, Sparky and Dizzy couldn’t help but laugh either.

‘Relax Hopely, at this point in history no one in Equestria has even heard of Heinrich Engels or his Communist Edict’, Dizzy said patting her friend on the shoulder.

‘Communism is not funny’, Hopely seethed, turning her head away.

Twilight Sparkle was in the room; the de facto librarian was standing in front of a table holding a book in her telekinesis to the left of her head, and she was holding what, at first glance, looked to be a dagger to the right. Instead, however, it was merely a ceramic page separator, which Twilight was using to separate some of the pages that were stuck together in the book she was working with. In the background they could hear a radio playing. Much to their surprise, Twilight was listening to the Welaran Broadcasting Corporation’s World Service.

‘They were allowed to listen to the WBC in this day and age?’ Sparky asked.

‘Probably not’, Hopely said with a shrug. ‘Considering Twilight Sparkle’s connections though? She is probably one of the few who could get away with it’.

‘... Announced to the WBC World Service today is saddening news from South Island, thirty years ago, when the Welaran Empire was in the midst of the Great World War, many answered the call to save the Empire from its’ enemies, the kangaroos and Maori of the South Island and New Seeland Army Corps were no exception, during the War, only five members of the SINSAC were awarded the Victory Cross, the Welaran Commonwealth’s highest military decoration, four of them were awarded posthumously. The fifth recipient, Roy Melbourne, a kangaroo from Swan City, Western South Island, was injured during the Galloply Peninsula Campaign against Central Power Capran Empire when his platoon was pinned down by dug in machine gun fire. Against orders, then Lance-Corporal Melbourne abandoned his cover and rushed at the first machine gun emplacement, taking a hit in the arm, to destroy the emplacement with a grenade, creating a sizeable hole in the Capran defences and allowing his platoon to move up. Melbourne was injured several more times attacking a second machine gun emplacement before collapsing. He was quickly evacuated to a hospital ship where he miraculously survived his wounds. He was eventually promoted to sergeant, and awarded the Victory Cross. Roy Melbourne died three days ago, after a five year struggle with Lung Cancer’.

Twilight had turned her head towards the radio, and had been listening to the report intensely. ‘Roy...?’ she asked softly.

Her concentration was broken by at a knock on the door, and she snapped back to attention. Twilight returned the book to its place on the shelf and set down the page separator on the table before she trotted over to the door. Twilight opened the door and gave her visitor a small smile. ‘Hello Raindrops... did you forget to bring something to me when you were doing your post route earlier?’ Twilight asked.

‘Ah, no, not this time! I promise!’ the pony identified as Raindrops said. She was a beige coated pegasus mare, and she was nervously running a hoof through her teal mane, almost as if she was about to do something she shouldn't.

‘Oh, well that’s good! You’re getting better!’ Twilight said with a nervous smile.

‘Uhh... not really’, Raindrops said with a shrug. ‘It’s okay Miss Sparkle... I know I suck at this job, you don’t need to pretend like you haven’t noticed... but no! I came by because I found this at the bottom of my mailbag when I got done today’, Raindrops said, she opened up her mailbag and pulled out what was clearly a book that had been poorly wrapped up in brown postage paper. ‘It didn’t have an address on it or anything, so I asked my boss what I should do with it, well, we usually get rid of unmarked mail, but I figured... it’s a book, so why not donate it to the Library!’

‘Oh!’ Twilight said in surprise as she took the book from Raindrops. ‘Why thank you! That’s very kind of you! Do you know what the book is about?’

‘Ah... no, I didn’t look at it, I’m not allowed to open other ponies’ mail... even if it’s not actually going to anypony... I think... I’m not actually sure, but I’m sure it’ll get better use here than rotting with the rest of ponies’ rubbish, right?’ Raindrops asked.

‘That’s quite all right, thank you Raindrops!’ Twilight said brightly. Raindrops waved her goodbyes and Twilight shut the door behind her, and she set the book down on the table.

...

The memory changed, and Kelso and company found themselves standing in Twilight Sparkle’s bedroom. She was crying, something had happened, but as to what had happened, they could not say. Twilight glanced up and noticed that the book that Raindrops had brought by was sitting on her bed side table. She pulled it over to her, finally taking the time to take a look at it.

She opened the book, and there was a small flash of light from the pages, and a glint in Twilight’s eye. Her expression became vacant and she stopped crying.

Kelso shuddered, the room began to grow cold, and the passive observers all felt a malevolent presence in the room alongside them.

‘I thought communism was pure evil...’ Hopely said as she shut her eyes tight and turned away. ‘I don’t know what this book is, but it makes Vasily Dzhugashvili look tame’.

‘God grant me strength’, Dizzy mumbled to herself.

With the blink of an eye, the sun coming through the window had turned from the normal shine of daylight, to the orange of dusk. Time had shifted; however, Twilight Sparkle was still lying on her bed, her head buried in the book, looking as if she had not moved in the slightest bit.

There was a knock at the door, and Twilight looked up from the book for possibly the first time in hours.

‘Twilight! It’s me! Spike!’ a voice called out as the door opened. ‘I know you said you wanted to be left alone, but I came to see if you wanted any dinner?’

Here again, was the mysterious reptile creature called Spike from an earlier memory. His appearances were infrequent, but the passive observers had to wonder just what he was exactly.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at Spike’s question. ‘Spike? It’s far too early for dinner!’ Twilight said with annoyance in her voice.

‘Twilight... it’s six o’clock, you’ve been up here for hours...’ Spike said.

‘No it’s not Spike, I’ve only been up here for like ten minutes and...’ Twilight paused when she glanced at the clock on her bedside table, indeed, it did say six o’clock. ‘Wow, I knew that this book was good’, Twilight said with a smirk. ‘I didn’t realise it was THAT good’.

‘What have you been reading?’ Spike asked as he stepped inside the room, walking up to Twilight to take a look.

‘Oh, it’s this really interesting book! It’s called the Tome of Alhazred, and it’s sort of a book about everything!’ Twilight said as she instinctively shut the book, not allowing Spike to take a peek. Though Spike didn’t think it was that helpful of a description.

‘Can I see?’ Spike asked with annoyance as he struggled to catch a glimpse of the book.

‘NO!’ Twilight cried out, snatching the book up and pulling it close to her. ‘Uhh... I mean... not until I’m done with it... heh heh...’ Twilight said, chuckling nervously and glancing around the room in a highly suspicious manner. ‘Dinner sounds good, Spike, I’ll be down in a minute... I just... uh... need to find a bookmark’.

Spike shrugged, acting as if he really didn’t care about the book, or the situation that he just found himself in, and walked out of the bedroom and back into the kitchen, Twilight set the Tome of Alhazred back down on her bed and continued reading. That was when the passive observers knew for certain, this book was malevolent, and it had Twilight Sparkle firmly in its' grasp.

...

The scene changed once more, the passive observers were now standing in Pinkie Pie’s bedroom. Kelso couldn’t help but facehoof as she looked around; the lights were all dimmed, however she could still tell that almost everything was pink. This was exactly like the obnoxious pink pony she had come to know.

The door to Pinkie Pie’s bedroom burst open with a loud crash as the door slammed into the wall.

‘PINKIE!’ Twilight cried out.

Pinkie Pie's eyes shot open and she quickly sat up in bed. ‘Huh? What? What’s going on?’ she asked sleepily, and began to rub her eyes.

Twilight galloped over to Pinkie Pie’s bed and leapt into it, throwing her forelegs around Pinkie Pie and hugging her close. ‘Oh... Pinkie... oh Pinkie! You’re okay, you’re okay...’ Twilight said as she began to cry into Pinkie Pie’s shoulder.

Pinkie Pie was more than a little confused, and the same could most definitely be said of the passive observers, part of the memory seemed to be missing, distorted. Pinkie Pie merely shrugged and hugged her friend back. ‘Well of course I’m okay! Why would I not be? Silly!’ she asked.

Twilight did not answer, she had fallen asleep, grasping Pinkie Pie tightly, ‘Oh... Pinkie...’ she mumbled in her sleep.

Something was odd about this scene, Pinkie Pie... looked incredibly uncomfortable, and it wasn't because Twilight had gone boa constrictor on her. Pinkie Pie worked slowly to wriggle herself free of the unicorn mare's vice grip, taking extreme care not to wake her.

Dizzy, was the first to recognise it. 'Pinkie Pie has feelings for Twilight Sparkle', she said.

Pinkie Pie gently pulled Twilight out of her bed and slung her over her back, and began to walk back to the Ponyville Public Library. The passive observers were quick to follow her through the deserted streets of Ponyville, and as they looked around, they discovered that the town had been mostly put back together since Emerald Sparkle's coup.

That was assuming of course, that this event they were watching now and that event that they had previously watched had occurred around the same time, which they had no way of knowing for sure. Pinkie Pie gently pushed open the door to the library. The obnoxious pink pony stepped softly, and was somehow able to keep from making a sound at all. If anything, this showed Kelso that there was another side to her than the obnoxiousness that she had grown accustomed to. This Pinkie Pie was calm, collected, thoughtful, respectful, and most importantly, quiet.

Pinkie Pie took Twilight upstairs and quietly tucked her into bed. She stood over her friend for a moment, and glanced around the room, making sure it was safe for her friend before leaving. She glanced over to the bedside table and discovered a large book sitting on it and grinned. Twilight was Twilight after all.

Pinkie Pie trotted back over to the stairs, when she passed the bedside table, however, her tail began to twitch uncontrollably, causing Pinkie Pie to jump in surprise, and she struggled not to make noise. In an instant Pinkie Pie quickly and quietly headed down the stairs and out the door.

'What was that about?' Kelso asked.

'I don't know', Hopely said. 'I think we're about to find out though'.

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The change of scenery from the Ponyville Public Library was a welcome change to the passive observers. They found themselves in the Everfree Plains Missile Base, once more able to breathe easily. Reliving Twilight Sparkle’s memories of the so called ‘Tome of Alhazred’, had made the atmosphere very oppressive, and it had been difficult to stay focused. Somehow, some way, the book had been distorting Twilight Sparkle’s mind, and they were very glad to finally be away from it.

Dizzy took in a deep breath and gave Sparky a hug. ‘Talk about a nightmare’, she said with a sigh. ‘How does a book even end up like that?’

Sparky merely shrugged as she patted her friend on the back for comfort. ‘My grandmother talked a lot about magic when she told me stories from around this time, according to her, Twilight Sparkle studied all kinds of magic, I always thought she was just being silly, magic isn’t real, the ponies of this time merely misunderstood a unicorn’s telekinetic abilities to be magic, not surprising considering the society that they lived in actively discouraged scientific study... but maybe there was more to it than I originally thought’.

‘I’ve heard similar’, Hopely said with a shrug. ‘My basket case grandmother lived in Ponyville at this time too, and when I was little she liked to tell outlandish stories about things that happened, one of them was where she and her two friends, Lilly and Daisy almost got eaten by a roaring metal monster that flew over their heads, screaming in terror and laughing hysterically at the same time’, Hopely said with a sigh, shaking her head in disappointment. ‘She and her friends were the town gossips, and according to her, Twilight Sparkle had originally come to Ponyville to study “the magic of friendship” or some nonsense. Heh, Magic of Friendship, sounds like communism to me!’

Viola let out a sigh, smacking her hoof against her face. ‘Tell me something Hopely, why must you always default to remarks about communism?’ she asked, rolling her eyes at the earth pony mare.

‘Hey! Communism is a big deal, Guv!’ Hopely said. ‘Those psychos in the Præsidium are watching us closely, waiting for the perfect time to strike at us! You watch, I’m going to be the only one prepared!’

‘Sounds to me like Hopely inherited something from her basket case grandmother’, Kelso whispered as she leaned in close to Sparky and Dizzy, both of whom nodded their heads in agreement.

Though the more that Sparky thought about it, that wasn’t really fair to Hopely, especially with her experiences, she had repeatedly encountered agents of the Præsidium’s intelligence service, the NKVD. Sparky too had met the enigmatic Yuri, and the brutish Oleg when the duo had kidnapped Sparky, Dizzy, and Hopely, along with Grandma V, Señora Amarilla de la Manzana y de la Sidra, and her gryphon manservant Juan Carlos de los Reinos de Griffin y de los Reinos de Griffin in Manzanares, Hispaña Third Republic, and forced them to take part in the Leninov mission.

They found themselves standing in a small room that appeared to be a workshop. Half disassembled combots littered the room, and sitting on a small wooden workbench was a single spritebot that had been opened up to reveal its’ internal circuitry. Sparky couldn’t help but take a look inside to discover rows of connected thermionic valves. Such ancient technology! These valves had long been obsolete in the Republic with the invention of solid state devices, such as the transistor and the semiconductor. Solid state devices allowed for electronic devices to become smaller and less expensive, and most importantly, not as heavy, Sparky had visited the Ponyville museum of technology and had taken a look at an early republic era army field radio, which had almost been as big as she was when she had been ten years old. She couldn’t imagine lugging something like that around.

The pneumatic door opened up, and in trotted none other than Rainbow Dash, who had been quite frankly, the last pony that anyone of the passive observers would have expected to see in this setting.

Rainbow Dash glanced around the room, and took notice of the spritebot sitting on the table and took a closer look at it. She noticed immediately that one of the thermionic valves did not seem to be screwed in all the way, and reached into the robot’s interior and gave it a gentle quarter turn to the right.

More to her surprise, and frankly the surprise of the passive observers, doing so caused the robot to snap to life. The spritebot began to chirp and buzz and make all sorts of other noises as it began to start up.

‘Diagnostics complete, begin recording’, the artificial voice of Emerald Sparkle barked loudly from the speakers on the spritebot's body. ‘Head researchers log, Doctor Emerald Sparkle recording, timestamp, 2259, 22/1/4006 ROG, I refuse to use that new calendar... Yes, Doppler, I know, stay on topic. Well, here we are. Spritebot, Durable, Subject Epsilon, SD-E is the only remaining prototype of the durable combat model spritebots. The Durable project was designed to increase combat effectiveness in Spritebots... a sort of just in case project. One of these days, that bitch is going to find out that I’m down here. I need something to protect myself with, especially once I hook myself into the mainframe, there will be no going back, once I get in, there’s no coming back out. Disconnection from the mainframe will result in brain damage, test upon test confirmed that. Without taking measures to protect myself when I am most vulnerable is nothing short of a death sentence. Well, that was the goal of the durable model spritebots, sadly to say, the project was a complete failure. Of the five prototypes, Subject Epsilon was the only one to remain stable. Subjects Alpha through Delta’s artificial personalities went insane, and unfortunately self-terminated. While the project was an ultimate failure, SD-E, or Sadie, as I’ve come to refer to her, was not. While not a true artificial intelligence, Sadie is able to emulate certain facets of personality and emotion common in ponykind, thus, is able to mimic happiness, sadness, disappointment, regret, et cetra, while these emotions are not real and not genuine, it leaves a avenue open for further research into developing artificial intelligence. Sadie’s artificial personality is even more advanced than Doppler’s, who would be jealous, except his AP hasn’t been programmed to feel emotions... Unfortunately, it will be quite some time until that avenue can be explored, with the durable spritebot project a failure. I have to start from scratch, I’ve had an idea that I’m very excited about, but I can’t afford to waste much more time. I have to finish designing the combat robots and hook myself into the mainframe by the end of this year if I’m going to have any hope of getting them ready for my grand design. EPMB’s minifacturing facilities, while advanced, are slower than mass production, with only being able to produce an average of 1.6 combat robots per year, I need to get started... this could be so much easier... if only I had access to the Fillydelphia Ironworks, as luck would have it, somepony cut the hardlines, isolating the Ironworks from the rest of the network, probably thanks to some idiot digging a ditch or something. This is Doctor Emerald Sparkle, signing off.’

‘Huh’, Rainbow Dash said to herself as she continued to examine the spritebot.

'That was... enlightening', Viola said as she examined the spritebot alongside the memory of Rainbow Dash. 'Now we know why Emerald Sparkle wanted Twilight to kill her instead of disconnecting her'.

'Live forever with brain damage', Sparky said as she grimaced at the thought. 'I don't think Twilight knew what would happen...'

Sadie, the spritebot lying on the table, began beeping at Rainbow Dash, trying to get her attention. Rainbow Dash looked down at the robot and noticed that its' rear access panel was lying on the work bench a few centimetres down from it. ‘You... want me to put this back on you?’ Rainbow Dash asked, as she picked up the rear access panel and held it in front of the Spritebot's eyes. Sadie beeped in a happy sounding tone, indicating that that was what she wanted.

‘Uh... okay, I’ll see what I can do’, Rainbow Dash said with a nod. She placed the panel on the open part of the robot, and picked up a screwdriver in her teeth, lucky for her, the screwdriver had a small magnet in the end and attracted the screws to it. Rainbow Dash worked carefully to screw the cover back onto the robot, making sure to attach it tightly. ‘Umm... okay, it’s on’, Rainbow Dash said when she was done.

The spritebot chirped happily at her and began to flap its' wings. Sadie rose into the air and darted out the workshop door and down the hallway. Rainbow Dash could only watch in awe at the robot as it flew off down the corridor, disappearing from sight. ‘I’m not sure if that was a good idea or not’, Rainbow Dash said out loud to herself. She gave a frown and set the screwdriver back down, and exited the workshop without another thought.

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

As the scene changed once more, the passive observers felt the return of the oppressive atmosphere that been present in the Ponyville Public Library in the previous memory. Only now, it was much, much worse. Kelso couldn't help but rub at her eyes; the entire world looked fuzzy, as if she had just opened her eyes after a night’s sleep.

It most certainly wasn't a good night's sleep either. Twilight Sparkle was standing with her friends on a dirt road leading to a large apple orchard; all of her friends were here, minus Rainbow Dash, Vinyl Scratch and Surprise. Kelso knew where Rainbow Dash was. They did not know why she was absent, however. With each passing moment, the memory became more distorted and broken; it was almost like reality was fading out around Twilight Sparkle.

The whereabouts of Vinyl Scratch and Surprise were not known to them either, and the more they thought about it, the more possible it was that Twilight may not have known either.

Pinkie Pie, leaned over and patted Twilight on the back, she was about to say something, but the act had startled the lavender unicorn mare. Twilight’s saddlebags split open at the seam and the book that she had secretly been carrying fell out onto the ground.

‘Uh... Twilight? There any perti’clar reason yer carryin’ around that big ol’ book?’ Applejack asked.

‘Yes!’ Twilight said as she snatched the book up and pulled it closely to her chest, as if she was a mother holding a newborn foal... a sick, twisted and unnatural newborn foal. ‘Not that I’d expect an illiterate hick like you to understand’, Twilight snapped at her.

'Oh no', Dizzy said as everyone's eyes fell upon the book. 'It's actively poisoning her mind!'

Everyone’s mouths fell open and they all gasped. They couldn’t believe that Twilight had actually just said that.

Applejack's mouth slowly closed, and a look of anger began to form on the earth pony mare's face. ‘Yeah, maybe Ah can’t read like ya, but just cuz you got yer fancy Canterlot education don’ mean yer better than me!’ Applejack snapped at her, she stepped forward, ready to take a swing at Twilight for the insult, and might have had Rarity and Pinkie Pie not intervened.

‘How about you go buck some apples Applejack’, Twilight snapped at her. ‘It’s what you’re good at’.

‘How ‘bout you go soak yer head! It’s honestly what ya need!’ Applejack quipped back.

Twilight turned and ‘accidentally’ swatted Applejack with her tail and galloped away. Applejack snapped, and would have chased after her and beaten the smug educated unicorn to a pulp had her friends not held her back. Fluttershy pulled Applejack away and the two started walking down the dirt road to help her cool off.

Rarity picked up Twilight’s tattered saddlebags and looked at them in disappointment. ‘What was that all about?’ she asked as she looked back to Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie merely gave a shrug, and a worried look to her friend, she had not the faintest idea.

...

The scene melded into the Ponyville Public Library once more, but it was not the Library as Kelso and company recognised it. The light of the room as a sepia tone, and shapeless shadowy figures flowed freely through the air. Shapes began to run together. It was as if the world was becoming a nightmare around Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight was lying on her bed, rocking back and forth clutching the Tome of Alhazred like her life depended on it, and she looked only vaguely aware of what was going on around her.

There was a knock at the door.

‘Go away Spike...’ Twilight called out.

There was a garbled response from the aether; Twilight had not comprehended what had just been said to her. She remained silent as a the sound of an echoing creek filled the air, Kelso turned towards the door, and a ray of soft pink light cut through the shadows. The pink light became brighter as it filled the air around Twilight, and the shape of Pinkie Pie came into view from nothingness.

‘Twilight?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

‘I don’t know what came over me Pinkie Pie... I just... I just looked at Applejack and then I got really angry. I still can’t believe I said that. I’m so horrible...’ Twilight said, continuing to rock back and forth. ‘What’s wrong with me Pinkie Pie? You’ve all been so good to me...'

There was a quiet yet, shrill scream off in the distance, as the image of a ghostly eyeball flashed in front of Kelso's eyes, and she jumped in surprise, nearly letting out a scream. The Tome of Alhazred was fighting to maintain control of the situation.

However, something peculiar happened, Pinkie Pie placed her hoof on Twilight's shoulder and sat down on the bed. The oppressive feel of the memory began to lessen. The shadowy atmosphere began to lessen significantly. The shadows were still there, but they were nowhere near as numerous. The light from Pinkie Pie filled the room, and made everything feel safer.

Pinkie Pie merely smiled at Twilight, patting her on the shoulder for support as she sat down on the bed next to her. ‘I don’t think that there is anything wrong with you Twilight, you’re just hurt, and you want to lash out at the pony that hurt you, except she’s not here’, Pinkie Pie said.

Twilight nodded and started to cry. Pinkie Pie approached her and wiped the tears from her friend’s eyes. Kelso had never seen a more heart warming scene in her entire life. The Tome of Alhazred had to be hurting from this!

‘Thank you Pinkie’, Twilight said as she struggled to smile, eventually managing a small one. ‘You’ve been so good to me...’

‘You’re my friend Twilight, I care about you!’ Pinkie Pie said with a bright smile.

Twilight’s smile grew slightly. She loosened her grip on the Tome of Alhazred and allowed it to fall onto the bed. Twilight sat up and gave Pinkie Pie a tight hug. ‘Pinkie Pie, you’re the best friend anypony could ever want. Thank you so much’.

‘Oh... Twilight! I’m not that great’, Pinkie Pie said modestly, rubbing a hoof against the back of her head.

‘Oh, don’t sell yourself short Pinkie!’ Twilight said as her face grew into a full smile. ‘You’re great! I... I wish that I’d seen how you felt about me before... you would have never hurt me...’

The two of them sat quietly for a moment, Pinkie Pie wasn’t really sure what to say to that, but nevertheless, she tightened her grip on Twilight, giving the unicorn a big hug. ‘I’m always here for you Twilight’, Pinkie Pie said finally.

Twilight placed her head against Pinkie Pie's shoulder and her lips curled into a small smile. She enveloped the large book in her telekinesis and levitated it into the air, placing it on the shelf. The scene began to become more normal, and the shadows had all but completely faded from view.

'Yeah Twilight! Fight the book! Don't let it control you!' Dizzy cried out.

‘Pinkie Pie... can I ask a favour?’ Twilight asked.

‘Of course you can Twilight!’ Pinkie Pie said smiling brightly at the unicorn mare.

‘I didn’t sleep very well last night... I’m... I’m not used to sleeping by myself anymore’, Twilight said. ‘Would... would you like to stay the night?’

Pinkie Pie wasn’t sure what to say about that. ‘Um... Twilight... I don’t know if that would be appropriate...’ she said nervously.

Twilight frowned, but then gave Pinkie Pie a weak smile afterwards. ‘You’re always trying to look out for me Pinkie Pie. I appreciate it... I just... I just don’t want to be alone, that’s all’.

Pinkie Pie gave Twilight a small smile. ‘Okay’, she said finally.

Pinkie Pie and Twilight laid themselves down on the bed. They looked up at the ceiling, and the shadows were struggling to maintain their presence, the Tome of Alhazred was losing this fight. Twilight stretched out her right hoof and took Pinkie Pie’s left and gave her a smile. ‘Pinkie Pie? Thank you for being such a good friend to me’, she said as a single tear ran down her cheek. Pinkie Pie smiled back at her, and reached around and wiped the tear away. Twilight closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

'Yeah!' Kelso cried out. 'Go Pinkie Pie! You did it! You won!'

The shadows were gone completely.

A book fell off the shelf and landed on the floor with a hard thud. Kelso and company looked over towards it. ‘No!’ Kelso cried out as they looked upon the Tome of Alhazred. Pinkie Pie sat up on the bed and looked at it oddly, discovering that it was the same book that Twilight had been holding onto before. Pinkie Pie rose from the bed, and trotted over to it, nearly picking it up.

‘No! Don’t touch it!’ Dizzy cried out instinctively.

Pinkie Pie froze, suddenly, her entire body began to shake and she pulled her hoof away, she could feel the malevolent aura from around the book. Slowly, it all began to make sense to Pinkie Pie, this book; this was what had caused Twilight to act erratically earlier. They could tell from the look in Pinkie Pie’s eyes, she knew this book had to go. The problem was getting it out of here without touching it. Twilight was sure to not part with it willingly. Pinkie Pie looked around the room for anything she could use to safely pick up the book, finding nothing, she trotted over to a door at the far end of the room, pushing it open and entering Twilight’s washroom. She pulled out as many towels as she could find and brought them back into the bedroom, tossing them over the book and doing her best to wrap it up without actually touching it. She took the bundle in her teeth and walked with it over to the window, pushing it open and dropping the book out into the bushes. It may not have been the most permanent solution to the problem, but it would have to do for now. Pinkie Pie took the towels back into the washroom, folding them up and returning them to the place that she got them. Satisfied that she had returned everything to the way it had been, she went back into the bedroom and crawled back onto Twilight’s bed. Now all she had to do was make sure that Twilight kept away from that book.

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Kelso was caught off guard by the feel of sand beneath her hooves. They were standing on a beach, but it was no beach in Equestria, they knew that for certain. Kelso turned around to face away from the water; in the distance she could see several tall buildings in the background that were not familiar to her, or to any of the other passive observers.

It was a beautiful day outside, the sun was shining, no clouds to be seen, a pleasant 26 degrees Celsius, and as they glanced around they noticed something odd, something unique. It looked to be a schäferhund at first glance, but that was when they noticed that the fur was far too short to be that of a schäferhund's. That was when they realised, it was a dingo. They were on a beach in South Island, and the more they looked around, the more their suspicions were confirmed as several kangaroos hopped by at top speed.

'What brought us here?' Viola asked as she looked around.

‘Can you even swim Surprise?’ the voice of Vinyl Scratch asked from behind them.

Kelso and company turned to look and discovered Vinyl Scratch sitting on a beach towel, watching as Surprise splashed around at the water’s edge.

‘I dunno’, Surprise said with a shrug and continued splashing without a second though.

Without warning a giant wave came from nowhere, knocking the pegasus down and causing her to flop around while she struggled to get up. Vinyl Scratch couldn’t help but snicker, and got to her hooves and trotted over to help her friend get back to standing.

‘You’re the light of my life, Surprise’, Vinyl Scratch said as she pulled the pegasus mare up. ‘Where were you all my life?’ she asked with a grin.

‘Lying awake on a bed in EPMB for years upon years plotting to murder everypony in Equestria’, Surprise said nonchalantly, causing each of the passive observers to eye each other in worry.

Surprise and Vinyl Scratch looked at each other for a moment, and then began to chuckle.

‘Heh heh... oh... it’s too bad that statement is true’, Vinyl Scratch said.

‘Yeah, just kind of’, Surprise said with a shrug.

‘Is anyone else here worried? I think we should be worried’, Dizzy said with a frown as they watched the scene unfold before them.

Vinyl grinned at her friend and motioned for her to follow. ‘Come on squirt; let’s get you dried off so we can get some food’.

‘I like food’, Surprise said.

‘I do too!’ Vinyl said brightly. ‘Food is my second favourite thing in the universe!’

Surprise gave Vinyl Scratch a sidelong look, not believing it for a second.

‘All right! All right! Fine, it’s my third favourite thing in the universe, you happy?’ Vinyl asked with mock annoyance in her voice.

Surprise grinned madly and nodded her head in affirmation. Vinyl Scratch levitated the towel she had been sitting on with her telekinesis and brought it over to help dry Surprise off with it, or at least she tried to, Vinyl didn’t get very far before Surprise began to shake herself dry like a dog would. Vinyl couldn't help but smile. Every one of the passive observers knew that the unicorn mare cared for Surprise deeply.

There was just one question that filled Sparky's mind. What had happened to this bubbly pegasus mare?

...

‘Where is it Pinkie Pie?’ Twilight asked.

Kelso blinked as the scene had changed once again, this time, it was back to the Ponyville Public Library. They were standing once more in Twilight Sparkle’s bedroom.

‘What?’ Pinkie Pie asked groggily as she looked up to discover that Twilight had pinned her down against the bed. Twilight was looking down upon the earth pony mare with hate and anger in her eyes.

‘I said... WHERE IS IT?!’ Twilight screamed at her.

‘I... Twilight... what are you...’ Pinkie Pie began to ask in confusion, but, before she was able to finish her question, Twilight interrupted her.

‘Don’t play games with me Pinkie Pie!’ Twilight cried out, clutching Pinkie Pie and yanking her forward. ‘Where is the book!?’

‘Twilight... please... I...’ Pinkie Pie began, her eyes began to widen as she saw what was happening before her. Twilight raised a hoof and smacked Pinkie Pie across her face. A tear began to form in Pinkie Pie’s eye as her head turned away, and Kelso could swear that Pinkie Pie was looking right at her. ‘Twilight... you hit me’, Pinkie Pie said as she slowly turned back to face towards Twilight, almost as if she was trying to convince herself that it had actually happened.

‘And it’s not all I’m going to do if you don’t tell me where the FUCKING BOOK IS!’ Twilight screamed at her, raising her hoof to strike Pinkie Pie again.

‘Twilight no!’ Pinkie Pie cried out, throwing her hooves up and doing her best to cover her face.

Suddenly, Twilight stopped, and she looked at Pinkie Pie in confusion. It was almost as if she had no idea what was going on. She blinked, and blinked, and blinked a few more times, before she was finally able to work up the will to ask the fateful question. ‘Pinkie Pie...? What... what’s going on?’ she asked. Pinkie Pie, however, said nothing and continued to cover her face. Twilight looked up and discovered her hoof in the air and set it down. ‘Pinkie Pie? What’s going on?’ she asked again, biting her lip. The passive observers could tell just from the look on Twilight’s face that she was scared that she had done something horrible, and she had. She had done possibly the worst thing she could have possibly done, and she didn’t even remember it.

‘You... Twilight... you hit me’, Pinkie Pie said sadly. Kelso’s heart broke at those words; she had never heard words that sounded more defeated from Pinkie Pie’s mouth. If this had not been a memory, and were she not a passive observer, she could have killed Twilight Sparkle for what she had just done.

‘I... what!? No! Pinkie! I would never do that!’ Twilight cried out in surprise, it was almost as if she was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince Pinkie Pie. She released Pinkie Pie and rolled onto her back, looking up at the ceiling. ‘I... remember... I remember going closing my eyes... I must have gone to sleep, the next thing I know, I’m on top of you with my hoof in the air... Pinkie... I... I don’t know what happened’.

‘You hit me Twilight’, Pinkie Pie said adamantly as she pulled the covers off her and climbed out of the bed. The passive observers watched as Pinkie Pie’s mane and tail seemed to deflate from their normal poofy and messy shapes, falling into a straight pattern. It almost looked as if Pinkie Pie had never curled her hair in her entire life. ‘I’m sorry Twilight... but I have to leave’, Pinkie Pie added as she slowly backed away from Twilight. There was sadness in her voice, Pinkie Pie did not want to leave Twilight, but she felt that she did not have any other choice.

Twilight’s head shot up in panic. ‘What?! Pinkie! Wait no!’ she cried out, pleading for Pinkie Pie not to leave, but Pinkie merely shook her head.

‘I’m sorry Twilight, you’re my friend, and I want to help you... I really really do’, Pinkie Pie said as she walked to the door. ‘You’re still my friend, and I do care about you, but I’m not going to be abused’, Pinkie added as she opened the door and closed it behind her.

Twilight watched as Pinkie Pie closed the door behind her, and buried her face into the pillow. Kelso turned away from Twilight and headed over to the door to follow Pinkie Pie. She reached for the handle, only to jump in surprise when her hoof passed through it. Though, the more she thought about it the more it made sense. The door was closed in the memory; she couldn’t open it because she was not actually here. She took a deep breath and stepped through the closed door, coming out on the staircase landing on the other side. Sparky was quick to follow as were the rest of their party, and they followed Pinkie Pie down the corridor towards a door at the end.

‘Spike?’ Pinkie Pie called out quietly as she pushed open the door at the end of the hallway.

‘Huh? Wha...?’ a voice said in response. Kelso peered around Pinkie Pie and discovered the reptile creature Spike lying in the bed. He sat up and rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes and turned and looked at Pinkie Pie, barely recognising her with her straight mane and tail. ‘Pinkie? Is that you?’ he asked, unsure of himself.

Pinkie Pie nodded and trotted into the room and closed the door behind her. Kelso frowned with annoyance and passed through the door after her. ‘Spike? Can you send letters to anypony besides Princess Celestia?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

‘Uh... yeah, sure, I guess. I mean, in theory. They would have to know how to accept the transfer... why?’ Spike asked, raising an eyebrow at the pink pony in confusion, shaking the last of the sleepiness from his eyes.

‘Would you be able to send a letter to Princess Luna?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

‘Princess Luna? I guess, sure. She would probably have the knowhow to get it... I think, why?’ Spike asked.

‘That book that Twilight hasn’t been able to let go?’ Pinkie Pie asked, checking to makre sure that he knew what she was talking about. Spike nodded his head in affirmation, and Pinkie Pie continued to speak. ‘That book is evil’, Pinkie Pie said quietly. ‘I think it’s hurting Twilight and I think we’re going to need Princess Luna’s help to save her’.

Thunder cracked out, and they looked at the night sky. Rain drops began to splash against the windows, Pinkie Pie had tossed the book out the window hoping that the rainstorm would ruin it, but something else told her that it wasn’t going to be that easy.

‘All right... I’ll try’, Spike said as he got up from the bed and crossed over the desk, picking up a scroll and scribbling something on the parchment paper. He took a deep breath and breathed out. A pale green flame erupted from his mouth and burned away the paper, Kelso watched as a small plume of smoke darted out the window and headed off to the north east.

‘Neat trick...’ Kelso said as she examined Spike closely, she was still unsure of what he was, and her further examinations weren’t helping.

Hopely however, recognised what he had just done. ‘I think... I think Spike is a dragon’, she said.

Kelso turned and looked at Hopely like she was insane. Only to discover that Hopely was completely serious. ‘A dragon?’ she asked.

‘There’s some pretty good evidence that they existed, legend says that they were a dying race at the time of the old monarchy, when we came around, we kind of pushed the rest of them out’, Hopely said with a shrug.

Suddenly, Spike let out a belch, and a parchment scroll popped out of his mouth and landed on the floor.

‘That’s disgusting’, Dizzy said with a frown. ‘I don’t even want to know the biological processes that allow that to work’.

Spike picked up the scroll and unrolled it, opening it up and reading it. ‘Coming. -L’, he read aloud. ‘I told her to meet you at Sugarcube Corner, you go on ahead, and I’ll stay here and make sure Twilight stays safe’.

Pinkie Pie nodded and thanks Spike for his help, and left the dragon’s room and headed out of the library. She stopped outside the bushes that were below Twilight’s window. The Tome of Alhazred sat on the ground, and as Pinkie Pie looked at it, she could tell that it was repelling the water.

Pinkie Pie carefully wrapped the book up in a towel that she produced from practically nowhere, and trotted along the road with it, not caring that rain was falling down upon her head.

Pinkie Pie eventually reached her home, and pushed open the door to Sugarcube Corner and set the towel covered book on the table. It wasn’t long before a dark figure appeared in the doorway.

Pinkie Pie looked up, it had to be Princess Luna. Suddenly, lightning cracked, partially illuminating the figure. It was not Princess Luna. It was Twilight.

'Oh no', Kelso said as her voice filled with fear for Pinkie Pie’s safety.

Twilight said nothing; she leapt at Pinkie Pie, tackling the pink party pony to the ground, causing her to hit her head on the hard wooden floor. Pinkie Pie watched as Twilight grabbed the book from off the table and pull it close to her. Twilight’s horn began to glow, and in a flash of brilliant light, Twilight was gone.

Pinkie Pie’s eyes became heavy and drew to a close, she quickly lost consciousness.

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Something was wrong. The passive observers found themselves standing in the middle of a black void. The memory had not transitioned between the last one and the next. Kelso looked around, but she found herself looking at nothing. They were in a realm of endless darkness that stretched on for as far as the eye could see, and even then, probably further.

‘What’s going on?’ Viola asked.

‘I’m not sure’, Kelso said as she turned around.

‘You don’t think something might have happened to the Unknowable Mare, do you?’ Dizzy asked, a look of worry forming on the nephite’s face.

Kelso shrugged. To be perfectly honest, she had almost forgotten about the Unknowable Mare completely. The mysterious earth pony mare that had covered her eyes with bandages had made this all possible through the use of her telepathy, but what would happen if she were harmed while they were all viewing these memories?

What would happen to them?

Kelso merely shrugged again as she looked around at her friends. They were in this for the long haul, but they were all exhausted. Who knows how long they had been at this? How long could they keep going? Given what they knew so far about the Unknowable Mare, she was likely not about to let them stop and take a break. She did not seem like the kind to care about the well being of others. As Kelso looked around, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look, and couldn’t help but double take.

Sitting on the immaterial ground, was another pony. However, it was not one of the members of their party. It was a pegasus mare with a pristine white coat and a straw yellow mane in a big poofy mess. Kelso’s eyes widened as she recognised who this pony was. ‘Hey! Look!’ Kelso cried out as she pointed to her.

Sparky and Dizzy’s jaw dropped open. Viola and Hopely looked at each other in confusion, but Kelso couldn’t do anything but stare, and watch as Surprise stared back at them.

Suddenly, Surprise gave them a big toothy grin, and began to wave. ‘Hi!’ she cried out. ‘Shortfuse Skydancer says hello!’

‘What?’ Sparky asked quietly to herself, unsure if she had heard correctly or not. Surprise, however, did not get a chance to answer, and a bright white light filled the void.

...

Kelso stumbled slightly as light began to filter into her eyes. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the harsh sunlight that filled the room after being in the eternal darkness of the void. When her eyes finally adjusted, she looked around to discover that Pinkie Pie was lying on the floor, and that Princess Luna was standing over her.

‘What happened?’ Princess Luna asked her.

‘Twilight... she attacked me, she stole the book and teleported away...’ Pinkie Pie said as she rubbed her head where she had hit the floor.

‘This book... describe it for me’, Princess Luna commanded, the look on her face was one of worry, almost as if she knew what the answer was going to be, and was merely looking for conformation.

Pinkie Pie wracked her brain for a moment before answering; she closed her eyes and concentrated hard to remember the details of what she had seen. ‘Uh... big, it had to weigh at least a kilogram, black leather cover, there wasn’t any writing on it though, and I didn’t look inside, I could feel that the book was evil’, she said as opened her eyes back up to look upon the princess.

‘The Tome of Alhazred’, the princess of the night said in a matter of fact tone, frowning when she discovered that her suspicions were correct.

‘You know it?’ Pinkie Pie asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘Yes, come’, Princess Luna said, offering Pinkie Pie a hoof to help her get to hooves. ‘I will explain along the way’.

Pinkie Pie took the Princesses’ hoof and used it to stabilise herself as she rose. She quickly followed Princess Luna out the door, practically running headlong into Rarity as they exited Sugarcube Corner and startling the elegant unicorn mare in the process. Rarity looked over to Pinkie Pie and let out an audible gasp as she looked at her friend. ‘Pinkie Pie! You look terrible! What happened?’ Rarity asked.

‘Twilight attacked me’, Pinkie Pie said with a frown, causing Rarity’s jaw to drop, that most certainly did not sound like the Twilight Sparkle she knew.

‘Allow me to explain’, Princess Luna said as she waved for Rarity and Pinkie Pie to follow. ‘That book that came into Twilight’s possession is the Tome of Alhazred, an ancient magical artefact penned by the twin brother of the unicorn that would become known as Star Swirl the Bearded. Alhazred was a unicorn that lived long ago, and was insane. Long story short, the tome is the extension of his mad will. The Tome was in the possession of the royal family... until recently, when it went missing’.

Pinkie Pie and Rarity’s jaws both fell open. ‘How did it escape?’ Pinkie Pie asked.

‘I am not sure, my best guess is that the Tome influenced a weak minded guard into smuggling it out of the castle. The Tome is kept under close supervision at all times, its’ guards are chosen very carefully, one may have slipped through the cracks’, Princess Luna said. ‘Let’s focus on Twilight; however, did she have any major events in her life recently with a negative impact?’

...

The memory changed once more, and Kelso and company found themselves standing on the deck of a ship. Applejack was leaning over the railing, vomiting profusely, while Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie held onto her so that she wouldn’t fall into the water.

‘You know Dashie?’ Pinkie Pie asked. ‘We probably should have seen this coming’.

Rainbow Dash nodded her head in agreement.

‘Shuddup and keep holdin’ me!’ Applejack managed between rounds of vomiting.

'Gross', Dizzy said, suddenly feeling a terrible taste in her mouth and turning her head away.

Kelso, however was not interested in Applejack, instead, she turned to look at her surroundings. The air anything but quiet. Surrounding her was a highly chaotic environment filled with the lapping of the giant paddle wheel at the stern of the ship. Looking up, the ship’s single, tall smoke stack was billowing a dark cloud of thick black smoke into the air. The deck was bustling with sailor ponies, going about their business. A few pegasus ponies were in the process of hoisting the ship’s sails, intending to use the eastern wind for a little extra speed as the ship turned towards the southeast. That was when Kelso recognised where they were.

'Oh fuck', Kelso cried out, her voice beginning to fill with worry. 'Oh fuck no!'

'What is it?' Viola asked as she placed a hoof on Kelso's shoulder. 'What's wrong Kelso?'

'This ship that we're on! It's the SS Canterlot!' Kelso cried out. Each one of the passive observers, with the exception of Sparky, looked at Kelso bleakly. They all understood the significance.

'Yeah that's great...' Sparky said with a frown, her lack of historical knowledge shining through as normal. 'What does that mean?'

Dizzy let out a sigh of annoyance and shook her head. 'I'm buying you a history book for your next birthday, I swear to God...' she said, her voice trailing off.

'That means...' Kelso said. 'This ship is going to sink!'

...

The memory changed again, Kelso and company found that they standing in pouring down rain. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were leaning up against the deck railing, having a conversation that the passive observers were unable to hear over the howling gale of the rain storm.

‘Oh no’, Kelso said with a frown. She knew what came next.

the entire ship lurched, and the air was filled with the sound of metal scraping against an iceberg. It sent the ship rocking; Pinkie Pie lost her balance and tumbled over the railing and head first into the dark water.

‘Pinkie!’ Rainbow Dash cried out. ‘Pinkie!’ she called again desperately looking to find where her friend had gone under. Suddenly Pinkie Pie surfaced, and she struggled to keep her head above the water. ‘Hang on Pinkie! I’m coming!’ Rainbow Dash called out to her. She spread her wings and leapt over the side of the ship, making her way to Pinkie Pie’s struggling figure in the dark water. Rainbow Dash reached Pinkie Pie and grabbed her with her forelegs.

‘Dashie!’ Pinkie Pie cried out.

‘Pinkie Pie! On three, I need you to kick as hard as you can, you hear me?’ Rainbow Dash cried out. Pinkie Pie nodded in affirmation. ‘On three... one... two... three!’ Rainbow Dash cried out and began to flap her wings as hard as she could. The two mares rocketed out of the water and into the air, and came crashing down hard onto the deck, sore from the impact, but still very much alive.

‘We’re sinking!’ Rainbow Dash cried out as she noticed the ship listing. The iceberg had torn a large gash down the side of the hull, and it wouldn't be long before all of the lower decks were filled with water ‘Come on! We have to get everypony out of the lower decks!’

The two mares, quickly followed by Kelso and company, raced over to the access hatch for the lower decks and threw open the doors. Much to their dismay, the compartment below had already filled up with water.

The Canterlot had three compartments, the forward compartment was crew quarters, the middle was cargo and deck access, the aft was the engine room. The middle compartment was flooded with water, and they had no way of getting the trapped crew and their friends out.

‘We’ve got to do something!’ Rainbow Dash cried out and raced back to the forward deck of the ship and started pounding on it, hoping to break through, but getting nowhere at the same time.

Pinkie Pie began to smile. ‘Dashie! Stop! Wait right there!’ She cried out and scampered off to the aft end of the ship, returning only a moment later with a large briefcase in her teeth.

'Nice to see Pinkie Pie hasn't stopped being Pinkie Pie', Kelso said with a frown at the severity of the situation.

‘Pinkie Pie... this is no time to screw around!’ Rainbow Dash cried out at her. Pinkie Pie opened up the brief case to reveal what looked to be several bricks of plastic explosives. Kelso couldn’t help but watch in shock as Pinkie Pie pulled them out of the brief case.

‘Pinkie Pie!? What are you doing with those!?’ Rainbow Dash cried out at her.

‘Hey?! What was I supposed to do if I needed to throw an impromptu party on this trip!?’ Pinkie Pie reasoned. Rainbow Dash merely facehoofed.

‘Pinkie Pie! I applaud you for your thinking, but it’s pouring down rain out here! You can’t light a fuse for that dynamite here!’ Rainbow Dash said.

‘You’re right!’ Pinkie Pie said cheerfully. ‘But this isn’t dynamite! This is something I like to call, Composition B!’ Pinkie Pie said as she took two bricks of the stuff and began to flatten it onto the deck in a wide enough pattern to blow open a hole.

'She's a terrorist, I knew it', Kelso said with a frown as she examined just how much explosive material the obnoxious pink pony had been carrying with her.

‘Pinkie Pie!?’ Rainbow Dash cried out. ‘Is that safe?!’

‘Sure is!’ Pinkie Pie said. ‘It’s totally safe; it won’t blow up until it gets charged with electricity! Then we can save everypony!’ Pinkie Pie cried out with enthusiasm. Her plan was solid, she was going to save everypony below deck and she knew it. Pinkie Pie’s mane and tail poofed back into their normal shape causing a bright smile to form on the pink party pony’s face.

‘Okay... but where are we going to get electricity to blow it up!?’ Rainbow Dash asked.

‘I... don’t know’, Pinkie Pie admitted nervously, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof in deep thought. A bolt of lightning cracked through the sky, followed by a quick burst of thunder, and that was when they knew. The two mares looked at each other and began to grin brightly. Pinkie Pie dug through the case of her explosives and brought out a spool of wire and stuck one end in the explosive that she’d stuck to the deck and gave the spool to Rainbow Dash. ‘Take this up to the top of the smoke stack and make sure the metal bits are touching metal. We can use the smoke stack as a giant lightning rod!’

‘I’m on it!’ Rainbow Dash cried out as she flew up to the top of the smoke stack. She got to the end of the spool and bit off the rubber coating at the end of the wires and began to wrap it to one of the smoke stack’s rivets. She weaved to Pinkie Pie that she had gotten it set up, and Pinkie Pie waved back in acknowledgement that Rainbow Dash could come down.

No sooner than that did Lightning strike the smoke stack. The plan had worked like a charm and the electric current travelled down through the wiring and blew open a hole in the deck with a tremendous explosion. Pinkie Pie smiled brightly, but that was when her tail began to twitch. Something was falling from the sky.

Pinkie Pie looked up to see that Rainbow Dash was falling, she must have been too close to the lightning strike when it happened and sent her tumbling. Pinkie Pie leapt into action, literally leaping into the air and catching Rainbow Dash on her back.

‘Pinkie!’ Rainbow Dash cried out in a sigh of relief. ‘You saved me!’

‘Uh huh!’ Pinkie Pie said brightly. ‘Now let’s save everypony!’

The two mares trotted back over to the hole that they opened up and looked inside, the entire crew, along with Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Spike, and Princess Luna were all standing in the centre of the room, which was knee deep in water.

‘Come on everypony! The ship’s sinking! Let’s get to the lifeboats!’ Pinkie Pie called out.

They needed no encouragement, one at a time they all filed out of the room and onto the deck, the crew rushed to get the lifeboats ready for launch. Rarity and Fluttershy leapt at Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash for saving them, giving them tight hugs.

‘Quickly! To the lifeboats!’ one of the crew members of the Canterlot cried out.

Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and the rest of their friends quickly piled into one lifeboat as the crew lowered it into the water. Princess Luna and Rarity took the oars in their telekinesis and began to row away from the sinking ship. They could only watch in horror as the ship continued to sink, eventually slipping under the water completely, never to be seen again.

Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Cobblestone streets, Kelso could hardly keep her eyes off them, and it wasn’t for the fact that she though they were pretty. Kelso was tired, she could barely keep her eyes open, and she wanted so badly to sleep. Instead, she smacked herself across her face to cure her drowsiness. This was a problem, to be this tired; several hours had to have passed. They had to be well into the night, and soon enough it would be morning.

When morning came, it would be back to work for the employees of the Ghastly Gorge Industrial Complex. If they were still hanging about in the room containing the psionic resonator on the complex’s fifth sublevel when the employees came in for work...

Kelso didn’t want to think about it. She didn’t want to think about how tired she was. Instead, she focused on the actual memory. Walking down the street was a single pony, cheval, by the looks of him. He was tall, compared to an equestrian pegasus, he had a grey coat and was clad in a brown overcoat and hat. The more they looked at him, the more they were sure. This cheval was no one that looked even at all familiar to any of the passive observers.

‘Psst!’ came an odd sound from seemingly nowhere in particular.

The cheval stopped and looked around. In the memory, it was late in the evening, the street lamps had already been lit, and as he looked around at his surroundings, he found nothing. Kelso and company couldn’t tell anything about the area either, nothing short of the obvious anyway. Of the few people that were out and about, which weren’t many, all of them had wings. Kelso figured that they had to be in La Seine, the capital city of the Cheval Fourth Republic.

They also had to figure that this was where Twilight Sparkle had run off to; they certainly weren’t here reliving the memory of some random cheval on the street that they had not seen before in a previous memory.

‘Psst!’ came the noise again. The cheval turned his head and looked down an alleyway to discover that a cloaked figure was waving for him to come over to them. The cheval cocked his head in curiosity, and stepped forward into the alley and began to walk towards the cloaked figure.

‘Oh buddy, you’re making a big mistake!’ Hopely said as she turned to look at the cloaked figure, taking a guess who she thought it was.

‘And they say the cheval are smart’, the cloaked figure said, certainly not disappointing Hopely’s expectations in the least bit.

‘Quoi?’ the cheval asked, cocking his head to the left and raising an eyebrow in confusion.

‘Poor sod’, Viola said shaking her head. ‘He’s got no sense at all’.

The cloaked figure leapt at the cheval, tackling him to the ground, and with a quick flash of the cloak, there was a gun to his head. The cloaked figure’s hood fell back and relieved none other than Twilight Sparkle, standing over her unsuspecting victim and pinning him to the ground. ‘I know you understand me, cheval, don’t play dumb with me’, she in a harsh whisper that was only just loud enough for the passive observers to hear.

‘Y... yes’, the cheval said nodding his head in affirmation, taking care to look as unthreatening as possible, lest his assailant shoot him dead.

‘Good!’ Twilight said, an insincere smile forming on her face. ‘Get up, empty your pockets!’ she commanded as she rose to her hooves, not taking her revolver off him for a single moment.

The cheval wasted no time, and quickly emptied his pockets of a wallet, a chequebook, a gold pocket watch, and several coins of varying denominations, which in total added up to sixty eight centime, a pack of cigarettes and a silver lighter. Twilight picked up the variously assorted goods that she had taken for herself and smiled with even more insincerity than she had the last time. She opened the pack of cigarettes and pulled one from the box, placing it between her lips and lighting up. She took a long drag on the cigarette before blowing the smoke into the cheval’s face. ‘Thank you’, she said with a sort of false sweetness, before bashing him over the head with the grip of her revolver, and knocking him out cold. Twilight enveloped him in her telekinesis and dragged him back further into the alleyway before tossing him into a pile of rubbish bins, chuckling slightly as she examined her handiwork. She took another drag on the cigarette before flicking it off into the alley, discarding it without a second thought. This was Twilight Sparkle now, guilty of armed robbery, assault, and littering.

It was safe to say, that the Tome of Alhazred had poisoned her mind completely.

...

With a hiss of steam and a roaring whistle from a locomotive, the passive observers found themselves in the middle of a train station, a highly fancy and ornate building with marble floors, above them were several large crystalline chandeliers, lit the room. The room was filled with noise as the clip clop of hooves continued to strike the marble floor.

Twilight Sparkle was easy to pick out among the crowd, even with her cloak on. Her coat colour stuck out among the earth tones of the cheval, as she walked she continued to garner a number of strange looks, she was most definitely the odd one out here, She turned her head towards one of the cheval on lookers and called out to them. ‘What the fuck are you looking at?’ she cried out.

The cheval onlookers all turned away, and Twilight went back to her business. She walked up to the ticket counter, and took a look at the cheval mare behind the glass.

The cheval mare looked incredibly bored with her job, and almost didn’t noticed Twilight, and wouldn’t have had the unicorn mare not cleared her throat. Twilight pulled the Tome of Alhazred out from her saddlebag and opened it up. She read from the book for a moment before looking back up at the mare behind the glass. ‘Bon après-midi, un billet pour Trotterdam s'il vous plaît’, Twilight said, pronouncing the cheval language perfectly, surprising the mare behind the counter.

The mare handed over a ticket without saying anything, and Twilight gladly took it. ‘Such a useful little spell!’ Twilight proclaimed as she closed the Tome of Alhazred and returned it to her bag.

‘What was that about?’ Dizzy asked.

‘Say what you will about this magic nonsense’, Sparky said. ‘That book has power’.

Kelso nodded her head in agreement, and the passive observers broke out into a brisk trot after the rogue unicorn mare, lest they lose her in the crowd. Was that even possible? This was Twilight Sparkle’s memory after all, how far could they really wander from her? Kelso didn’t know, but she didn’t particularly have any inclination to find out either she was far too interested in what she had come here to do.

They caught up with Twilight as she showed her ticket to a conductor, who immediately pointed her to the boarding platform for her train. Twilight Sparkle had booked a seat on the Evening Express between La Seine, Cheval Fourth Republic and Trotterdam, Kingdom of the Nederlands.

‘Sparky?’ Dizzy asked as she took notice of the sign indicating where the train was going. ‘Didn’t the Trotterdam city council pass a law that prohibits your grandmother and any of her descendants from ever setting hoof inside the city?’

‘Yes’, Sparky said with a sigh. ‘Completely ruined my holiday plans for next summer’.

They followed Twilight Sparkle onto the train, and into a rear compartment. Which Twilight had taken for her own, she sat down in a seat and pulled the Tome of Alhazred out of her saddlebags and opened it up and began to read from it. ‘Heh’, Twilight said with a small chuckle. ‘It’s a good thing Vinyl Scratch isn’t here, she’d probably burn down the whole fucking town again’, she added out loud to no one in particular. Twilight suddenly looked over to her saddlebags and opened them up; pulling the pack of cigarettes that she had stolen from the poor sod on the street. She opened the box and pulled out a single cigarette, placing it between her lips, she took the lighter and lit the cigarette, taking a long drag from it and blowing the smoke into the air without a second thought.

‘Doesn’t she know that’s unhealthy?’ Dizzy asked, frowning as she watched Twilight take another drag from the cigarette, tapping the ashes into an ash tray built into the armrest.

‘Probably so, probably doesn’t care either’, Hopely said with a shrug.

The door suddenly flashed open and then shut again as someone else entered the compartment. Twilight looked up and gave the newcomer an annoyed look. A task that was either very brave, or very stupid, considering who had just walked into the room. It was a schäferhund, seemingly of the officer type, considering his apparel. He was wearing a schirmmütze cap, clad in a storm harness with two submachine guns clipped in. Hidden in dark grey fur was two small, beady eyes, and they had not taken their gaze of the sole unicorn pony (not counting Sparky and Dizzy) in the room.

‘I hope you don’t mind’, the schäferhund said in thickly accented wallish. ‘Everywhere else is full’.

‘I guess I don’t have much of a choice, do I?’ Twilight said with a smirk as she took another drag on her cigarette, tapping the ashes into the ashtray, she pointed towards the seat across from her and gestured for the schäferhund to sit. ‘What are you, a soldier?’ she asked mockingly as she looked him over

‘I am schäferhund; we are all soldiers’, the schäferhund said simply, not picking up on the fact that Twilight had just insulted him. ‘I am retired from active service though, have been since the end of the Hispaña Civil War’.

‘Oh?’ Twilight asked taking what seemed to be a sincere interest in the schäferhund’s story.

‘Ja’, the schäferhund said with a nod. ‘I was a hauptfeldwebel in the Legion Adler. We fought on the side of the nationalists; we came close to winning to, and were it not for the cheval intervention...’

‘You don’t like the cheval, do you?’ Twilight asked as she finished her cigarette, rubbing it into the ashtray to extinguish it.

‘I am schäferhund, we have been at odds with the cheval for more than two hundred years...’ the schäferhund said simply.

Twilight offered him a small smirk. ‘I have no love for the cheval either... well, that’s not entirely true, I do have a certain fondness of their cigarettes. Tell me though if you aren’t a soldier anymore, than what do you do walking around with all that?’ Twilight asked, as she pointed towards the schäferhund’s weapons.

‘I am schäferhund, we are always armed’, the schäferhund said with a smirk, but he could tell what she was trying to get at. ‘I am a gunsmith, fully licensed by Rijnmetall, Sauser, Sturm, and Vollmer Maschinenfabrik, to produce their weapons for clients outside of Bundesrepublik Schäferhund. Though I keep my operations restricted to Trotterdam, most of my weapons end up being traded on the black market... leading to huge profits for both myself and the corporations’, the schäferhund said with a small smile.

‘And this doesn’t bother you?’ Twilight asked.

‘Not at all’, the schäferhund said. ‘Everything I do... even selling on a foreign black market, is completely legal in Bundesrepublik corporate law’.

‘Hmm’, Twilight said, curling her lips into an eerie smile. ‘I like you already Mr...?’

‘Heinrich,’ the schäferhund said simply. ‘Heinrich Büchsenmacher’.

‘I’m Twilight Sparkle’, Twilight said with a smile. Using her telekinesis, she pulled another cigarette out of her pack, and then offered one to Heinrich. ‘Cigarette?’ she asked.

‘Ja, danke’, Heinrich said with a smile. Twilight got up from her seat and crossed the compartment and took up a new seat next to the schäferhund, she pulled a second cigarette out of the box and passed it over to him, lighting both of them at the same time with her lighter. Twilight took a drag from the cigarette and blew the smoke softly into Heinrich’s face.

‘I think you and I... are going to get along quite well’, Twilight said with a grin. The two of them let out a small chuckle, and smoked their cigarettes in peace.

Chapter 28

Chapter 28

'RUN!' a squeaky sounding voice belonging to a young filly cried out from behind them. Kelso turned to watch as three young fillies, a pale yellow coated earth pony filly with an auburn mane tied up with a bow, a silvery white unicorn filly with a frilly mane, and an orange coated pegasus filly with a purple mane darted past them, running as if their lives depended on it.

'What was that all about?' Kelso asked as they continued to watch them run.

'I think... I think I know them', Sparky said, thinking back to the old photographs her grandmother kept. 'I think... that was Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo', Sparky said. Garnering looks of surprise from the other members of their party. It was not every day when three of the Republic’s most famous ran by them.

'What are they so worked up over though?' Dizzy asked.

That was when they heard it, the roaring growl of a bear. Kelso's eyes widened and her ears drooped as she turned to look. This was no bear, no bear that they had ever seen. Running at them was a midnight blue bear cat like creature, with white spots that dotted its' coat, almost as if the bear creature was a representation of the night's sky. It was far larger than any bear that they had ever seen, and even odder than that, it sported a long tail, worst of all, it was madder than hell.

Kelso and company let out a scream as the bear creature passed through them. Despite this being a memory where they were unable to be harmed, they had shielded themselves instinctively as the bear creature 'trampled' them.

As it passed Kelso moved her forelegs away from her face and then turned to face the direction that the bear creature was running in. ‘After those fillies!’ she cried out.

No sooner than they started running, did they miraculously find themselves running alongside Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo as they took off down the path through Whitetail Wood. The mechanics of the memories were certainly helpful, as Kelso had doubted that they would have been able to catch up with the three fillies under ordinary circumstances. They were running for their lives, after all.

Sweetie Belle turned her head and looked back, the gigantic bear creature was hot on their hooves as they ran. 'This was a bad idea!' Sweetie Belle cried out.

'Shut up and keep running!' Scootaloo shouted back at her as they continued to run like no tomorrow.

'There!' Apple Bloom cried out. Kelso and company looked up to discover that what Apple Bloom had seen was none other than a very familiar looking collapsed cave. With a final burst of speed, each of the three fillies pushed themselves as hard as they could, leaping forward and threading the needle of a small opening in the rocks. Kelso closed her eyes, and continued to charge forward, unwilling to watch as she passed through the rocks and into the cave.

They heard the bear creature slam into the rocks and yelp out in pain. It let out a loud growl and began to walk away. The fillies let out a sigh of relief and hugged each other close, breathing heavily and happy to be alive.

‘Kids...’ Hopely complained between wheezes. ‘I don’t like kids... kids make trouble’.

‘As if we don’t?’ Viola said with a smirk as she sat down on the cave floor, wiping the sweat from her face.

‘Yeah Hopely, come on, we’re not much better’, Kelso said as she pulled her fedora off her head and used it to fan herself to help cool off. Running like that had probably not been necessary, but here they were anyway.

'Okay, I think Cutie Mark Crusader animal trainers is out', Scootaloo said with a sigh as she looked back at her friends.

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

Apple Bloom crawled over to the entrance hole and took a look out it. Kelso too, having the advantage of being taller than the filly was able to peer out from it from where she was standing. The Ursa, as it had been called was indeed still out there, pacing back and forth outside the entrance.

'Yeah, an' Ah don' think its gunna go away anytime soon' Apple Bloom said with a frown as she climbed back down from the rocks.

'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.

‘They are most definitely children’, Dizzy said with a smirk.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light over their heads. Slowly, and steadily a number of small hidden lights began to warm up, almost as if they detected the three small fillies and knew to turn the lights on for them. The so called 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.

‘These kids have to have no idea what’s down here’, Sparky said as they followed the three fillies on a downward path towards the giant metal door to EPMB. Upon arriving at it, 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, along with Kelso and the passive observers, 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 three fillies, and their shadows 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.

‘Too right kid’, Sparky said with a nod. ‘When FutureTec turned this place into the Whitetail Industrial Complex, I’m really glad they took out that door’.

‘What is this place?’ Scootaloo 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.

‘That’s not a good look’, Hopely said with a frown. ‘That means they have an idea!’

...

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

Kelso turned to discover that the memory had changed to another room that too was familiar with them. EPMB’s missile control room, and known today as the control hub for the Discovery Project at the Whitetail Industrial Complex. Scootaloo was standing at the mainframe terminal reading an instruction manual telling her how to work it.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were sitting on the metal floor plates of the room, looking around at several books that were lying haphazardly around them. Sparky took a look at one of the manuals, raising an eyebrow in confusion. ‘High end networking: So easy a foal could understand it?’ she asked rhetorically, as she read off the cover. ‘By Emerald Sparkle, no less!’

‘Oh it’ll be fine’, Scootaloo said in response to Apple Bloom as she continued to fiddle with the keyboard for the Missile Bases mainframe terminal.

Scootaloo tapped another key with her hoof, and jumped slightly in surprise when the screen crackled to life. Kelso and company turned their heads towards the screen, watching as a masked figure with glowing green eyes appeared before them.

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

‘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!’ Apple Bloom said.

‘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 bluffing her way through this conversation like it would be her last.

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, unable to think of a better reason to explain the misplaced call to whoever she was talking to.

‘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 said, her eyes widening with nervousness. She didn’t know who she was talking to, but the last thing she wanted to do was reveal who she was and where she was at.

‘You’ll... you’ll come get it?’

‘Y...yeah! That’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 had no idea what was even 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 was silent for a moment. ‘... what the... you... I... The FUCKING Cultus Mechanius! The organisation we belong to? What do you think I’m talking about? WHO IS THIS?’ he cried out, becoming flustered at Apple Bloom’s question.

‘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, wondering what they had gotten themselves into.

‘You don’t think... you don’t think they’d really hurt kids would you?’ Dizzy asked, looking to Sparky for answers.

‘I don’t know’, Sparky said with a shrug. ‘I think we’re about to find out though’,

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

With the blink of an eye, Kelso found herself surrounded by open air. The sun was shining; there was a pleasant breeze on the air. The temperature was a pleasant twenty five degrees or so, and she could feel sand beneath her hooves. Were it not for the tropical jungle behind her, she would have assumed that they’d returned to South Island. Judging by the temperature they were somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, making it late autumn or early winter. May? Or maybe June?

‘Where do you think we are? Salaya? Maybe?’ Kelso asked as she glanced around.

‘Possible, climate seems about right, same with the jungle over there… kind of far from Equestria though’, Viola said as she sat down on the beach and looked out at the ocean.

Sparky, Dizzy, and Hopely fanned out from the rest of their group, looking around for the focus of the memory. Who or whatever it may be was not apparent to them at the moment. Kelso found herself left alone with Viola, and sat down next to her. ‘You okay, Viola?’ Kelso asked as she leaned up against her friend and put her foreleg around her.

‘Hmm?’ Viola asked as she looked up at her. Viola looked exhausted, just like the rest of them. She’d spaced out for a moment, and looked at Kelso blankly. ‘Oh… yeah, I’m fine, really’, Viola said unconvincingly. Kelso frowned at her and shook her head.

‘Viola…’ Kelso began before being interrupted.

‘Oh, I’m tired, to say that for sure, but I can hold out a while longer. Honestly though? I think that was the point of all this’, Viola said with a shrug.

‘What do you mean?’ Kelso asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘You remember back to when the so called “Unknowable Mare”, said that she’d show us the events leading up to the founding of the Republic? Well, I can tell you she most certainly did not do it out of the kindness of her heart. We all saw what she did to Pinkie Pie, how she took pleasure out of it, I don’t know what she’s doing, or what her plan is, but whatever it was, I’m pretty sure she wanted us exhausted so we can’t do anything about it when she executes whatever she’s planning. Call me paranoid, Ana, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this Unknowable Mare is malevolent’, Viola said with a look of worry on her face.

‘No kidding’, Kelso said with a nod. ‘Hell we’re friends with a rocket scientist to!’ she added, lazily pointing a hoof over in Sparky’s direction.

‘We’ll worry about that later though, now, I just want to know where we are’.

There was a rustle of jungle foliage, and Kelso and Viola turned around to discover none other than Rainbow Dash and Applejack dragging several bundles of bamboo with their teeth out into the jungle and into a pile on the beach. This had to have been where they had ended up after the sinking of the SS Canterlot.

‘Hey AJ? I know you and Rarity like to butt heads every now and then, but you think you can try to put it aside? It’s not helping, we’re all worried about being stuck here, and fighting isn’t going to make it any better’, Rainbow Dash said.

Applejack raised an eyebrow at the pegasus mare, almost as if she didn’t believe these words were coming from her. ‘Since when did ya become tha voice o’ reason?’ she asked dumbfoundedly.

‘Heh, yeah, I know right? You know things are tough when I’m the voice of reason around here’, Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle. In the distance, they heard a twig snap and they turned to the jungle. ‘You came back awfully quick Rarity; I hope you got plenty of food!’ Rainbow Dash cried out, her eyes growing large at the mention of food. However, Rainbow Dash did not receive a response. ‘Rarity?’ Rainbow Dash asked again, trotting over to the edge of the jungle and peering in. ‘Rarity? Where are you?’

Caught unaware by a winged figure, Rainbow Dash’s assailant was on top of her in a flash and forced a hessian cloth bag over her head. Rainbow Dash let out a muffled scream in surprise as the figure took her down to the ground as they tied the bag tightly around her neck. Applejack too, shared the same fate, but she did not go down without a fight. She instinctively kicked hard with her back legs, sending one of her winged assailants flying through the air and skidding to a halt mere millimetres from Kelso and Viola.

Several more of the winged ponies leapt at Applejack, knocking her to the ground and tying her legs together to keep her from struggling. While another one, seemingly the leader of the group jabbed at Rainbow Dash with a sharpened stick, forcing her to walk.

Kelso and Viola could only helplessly watch as the two mares were dragged into the jungle. This had already happened before, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Viola glanced down at winged pony at her hooves, studying him carefully and taking in every detail. He was most certainly not an equestrian pegasus. ‘Cheval?’ Viola asked, raising an eyebrow at the scruffy figure of the unconscious cheval before her. That was everything she needed. The tropical island, the scruffy inhabitants… Viola knew exactly where they were. ‘Sainte-Hélène! The prison island!’ Viola cried out as the memory around them began to fade.

…

The scenery of the jungle island faded away, the natural scene was gone and was replaced by an artificial one of steel and concrete. They were in a workshop of some kind. Standing at the far end of the room, hovering over the workbench was a schäferhund, Heinrich Büchsenmacher himself.

Kelso trotted up to him to take a look at what he was working on. She noticed that there was a large metal collar around his neck, and jaunting from the side of it were two manipulator arms that he controlled with his teeth and the movement of his head. Before him, lying on the work bench was a half assembled submachine gun, and the schäferhund gunsmith worked with such meticulous precision that it would not be long before he had the weapon assembled.

The way that Heinrich assembled this weapon was certainly not an easy one. Kelso was amazed that he could pull it off at all. She figured that it had to have come from lifelong training to enter this profession. She didn’t know why she was surprised; he was a schäferhund after all. Kelso smirked, if only Otto could be this useful.

It dawned upon her; Otto’s surname was Büchsenmacher as well. This couldn’t possibly be... could it? She turned her head back towards Viola and the others and opened her mouth to speak. ‘Viola? Hopely? What was Otto’s grandfather’s name?’ she asked.

‘Hell if I know, I don’t pay that much attention to him’, Hopely said with a shrug. ‘He’s a mostly useless slacker’.

Viola merely nodded her head in agreement. She was not sure, but everything seemed to point to this being Otto’s grandfather.

‘Heinrich?!’ Twilight Sparkle’s voice called out as she entered the workshop. Heinrich opened his mouth and pulled away from the manipulators and turned to her, offering a small smile.

‘Ja? Twilight?’ Heinrich asked as he turned to face her pushing the manipulator arms out of his face.

‘Have any cigarettes?’ Twilight asked as she trotted up to him. ‘I’ve run out’.

Heinrich merely shook his head. ‘I had intended to get some next time I went out, but I have not had the opportunity’, Heinrich said with a frown, knowing that Twilight would not be pleased to hear this.

Twilight frowned at him and shook her head in disappointment. ‘Looks like I’m going to have to be the one who does everything around here’, Twilight said with a huff of annoyance. ‘I’ll be going out to get more; I’ll be back in an hour or so’.

Heinrich merely nodded his head in affirmation. ‘My wallet is on the table by the front door, take as much money as you need for them’, he said with a smile as he turned back to his work.

Twilight said nothing, but turned her away from the schäferhund and headed out of the workshop to the front door. Kelso and company were quick to follow. As they reached the front door, Twilight spotted where Heinrich had left his wallet and opened it up with her telekinesis, taking all the money from it and pocketing it in her saddlebag. ‘Humph, idiot’, Twilight said, rolling her eyes as she took all of Heinrich’s money without a second thought.

‘Wow’, Dizzy said with a frown. ‘What a bitch!’

Kelso had never seen a more horrible sight in her entire life. From what little she had seen of Heinrich Büchsenmacher, she could tell that he was a genuinely kind individual who put far too much trust in others, and here was Twilight Sparkle, robbing him blind.

Twilight pushed open the front door and headed out onto the streets of Trotterdam and let out a sigh of annoyance. ‘What a sap!’ Twilight cried out in frustration. ‘I could put a gun to his head and demand his entire life savings, and not only would he happily give them over, he’d tell me he loves me while doing it’.

Sparky raised an eyebrow at Twilight, all of them were wondering who Twilight was speaking to, and then she glanced over to Twilight’s bulging saddlebags. The Tome of Alhazred was poking out the top. Twilight was talking to the book.

‘I don’t know what worries me more, the fact that Twilight Sparkle’s a complete bitch that talks to inanimate objects, or the fact that she ended up being the first Prime Minister of the Equestrian Republic’, Hopely said with a frown.

‘I wouldn’t call the book inanimate; it most certainly has a will of its’ own’, Dizzy said with a shrug.

‘In any case, they most certainly left this part out of the history books’, Sparky said as the group continued to follow Twilight down the street, walking past a payphone and into an alley.

‘Like you know what’s written in the history books, Spark’, Hopely said with a grin.

‘Piss off Hopely’, Sparky said rolling her eyes at the earth pony mare. Twilight continued on her way without much more than the occasional mumbles and complaints over Heinrich, before she rounded the corner and bumped head long into a passing cheval.

‘Watch where you’re going!’ Twilight cried out, looking angry enough to bash the unfortunate sap in the face with her hooves.

‘Je suis désolé’, the cheval said, giving a respectful nod and taking a step aside allowing Twilight to walk by him. Twilight said nothing, merely giving an annoyed huff at him and continuing on her way.

Sparky’s attention turned towards the cheval, however, and she gave him a good look over. He wore his jet black mane in a spiked up fashion, his tail was cropped short, his coat was a dark grey, and the cheval’s dark green eyes did not sway even a millimetre away from Twilight as she walked away. He wore a dark brown overcoat with many pockets on the outside, the cheval opened up his overcoat and pulled a cigarette out and light up. Sparky’s eyes widened as she discovered a Police Internationale badge on the inside of his coat.

The cheval took a long drag on his cigarette and began to follow Twilight, making sure to stay back out of her sight.

There was something off about this cheval, the look in his eyes was cold, harsh, unforgiving, Twilight may have been a terrible person under the influence of the Tome of Alhazred, but she didn’t have any say in that matter, the Tome was controlling her, and as the passive observers continued to study this cheval, they knew one thing for certain.

This cheval meant her harm.

He rounded the corner, and stopped in front of the payphone. He pulled a small coin out of his pocket and slid it into the slot, picking up the receiver headset and placing it over his ear.

‘Opérateur, un message pour La Police Internationale’, the cheval said, waiting for a moment as the operator connected him. ‘C’est Inspecteur Pierre La Roche, je l’ai trouvé’, he said before hanging the phone up.

Kelso and Sparky turned to Hopely for translation; she was the only one of their party who spoke cheval. Hopely looked at her friends nervously and the glanced over to Twilight as she walked away from them. ‘Oh Twilight… you have no idea what’s coming after you’, Hopely said with a frown.

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

There was one thing that Kelso could never understand about Sparky. Sparky Starlight was an employee at FutureTec; she went day in and day out trotting over the cold metal floors that ran throughout the Whitetail Industrial Complex. The metal deck plating that had already been there when FutureTec moved into the place, and as Kelso felt the cold metal plates beneath her hooves, she could only wonder how Sparky could stand it.

Kelso‘s ear began to twitch as she heard something off in the distance, peering around the corner, she discovered the entrance corridor to the Everfree Plains Missile Base was occupied by Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, as they made a strained attempt to drag a broken combot down the hall towards the door.

‘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!’ she added with a strained push to get the broken combot into position.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo finished pulling the single combot into the hallway, clearly they were in the process of constructing a barricade to keep the machine cultists out, they had a long way to go, and, unfortunately for them, they would not have the time to finish it. Hazard lights began to flash, steam began to hiss, and the three friends jumped 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, and each of them holding a number of heavy weapons. Several metres behind them were another group of mostly unicorn ponies clad in similar looking robes coloured a deep blue and levitating lever action shotguns.

‘What? Fillies?’ One of the metal masked ponies asked as they looked in to discover the three little fillies before them.

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

‘Use what? It’s a broken robot’, DC Hopely said, raising an eyebrow. Even without any mechanical knowledge of her own, except for what she needed to know for her motorcycle, that the robot was practically useless.

‘You’re three fillies with a half pile of twisted scrap metal’, the leader of the metal masked ponies said. He could clearly see right through the bluff. ‘What can you do against a Cultus Mechanius Brother Templar assault section?’ he asked with a huff.

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 strong 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 explosive grenades into the crowd of Cultus Mechanius Templars, knocking them all to the ground in surprise and injuring most of the blue robed ponies that had come in behind them.

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

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

‘Heh, not so superior now, are you?’ Sparky said with a smirk, she had to admit, she took a small bit of pleasure out of seeing the smug bastard eat his own medicine.

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

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

...

'Bonjour mademoiselle'.

Kelso blinked to discover that they were standing in the middle of a dark alleyway. They were back in Trotterdam, only to discover that she and the rest of her friends were standing between the mysterious Pierre La Roche, the sinister looking Police Internationale inspecteur, and Twilight Sparkle and Heinrich Büchsenmacher.

Twilight, raised an eyebrow in confusion, despite her use of the Tome of Alhazred to speak cheval in a previous memory, it seemed that it did not give her any actual understanding of the language, and she turned to Heinrich, who being a native of the continent Europa must have had some idea what the cheval was saying.

'He says: “hello ma'am”', Heinrich said simply, giving the unicorn a look of small worry.

'I don't care, ask him what he wants', Twilight said with annoyance, which Heinrich was quick to convey.

The cold eyes of Pierre La Roche light up brightly as if he was in the middle of some sick and twisted joke. 'Je m'appelle Pierre La Roche, comment allez-vous aujourd'hui?' he asked with a smirk.

'He says his name is Pierre La Roche, and he wants to know how you are', Heinrich said nervously.

Twilight, however, merely sighed with annoyance. 'That's nice I don't care. Ask him what he wants', she commanded, giving the schäferhund a light kick to get him to translate what she had said faster.

'Je ne pouvais pas m'empêcher de remarquer que vous êtes une licorne. Les licornes sont seulement trouvés dans Equestria, non?' La Roche asked, his eyes getting brighter, almost as if he was close to the punch line.

Heinrich looked nervously at Twilight; Pierre La Roche must have said something that Twilight wasn’t going to like. 'Uh... he didn't answer'. Heinrich said with a shrug.

'I don't care what he didn't say; I want to know what he did say!' Twilight said in annoyance, giving Heinrich another light kick.

'He says that he noticed you're a unicorn, and he's wondering if unicorns come from any place other than Equestria', Heinrich said, wincing in pain as Twilight kicked him.

'No of course not', Twilight said, rolling her eyes. It became clear that Twilight was completely unaware of what exactly Pierre La Roche was doing. The inspecteur was after her, and he was taunting her! Kelso shuddered; this was not how police work was meant to be conducted.

'Vous êtes loin de la maison alors. J'espère que rien de mauvais arrive à vous, si loin de la maison. Bonne journée', La Roche said, and he turned and walked away.

Twilight looked at Heinrich for translation.

'He says.... you're a long way from home, and he hopes nothing bad happens to you', Heinrich said with nervousness in his voice, La Roche had clearly disturbed him.

Twilight thought about what he said for a moment. Then it hit her. 'Heinrich? We need to leave, and we need to leave now'.

'What? Why? Where?' Heinrich asked. It seemed that while he too was made uneasy by the cheval’s presence, though he himself had yet to put together the meaning of the visit by Pierre La Roche.

'Out of the city, we need to leave. He was Police Internationale', Twilight said. 'He knows who I am, and we need to get out of here'.

...

They had returned to the jungles of Sainte-Hélène, or so, Viola had claimed that was where they were, and as Kelso looked around, she had to wonder if that was indeed the case.

‘Viola? You called this place Sainte-Hélène...’ Sparky asked as she raised an eyebrow at the mare. Viola turned towards the unicorn and sighed.

‘Oh don’t tell me you’re bad at geography too...’ Viola said facehoofing hard.

‘I am just fine with geography thank you very much’, Sparky said hotly as she brushed her mane out of her eyes. ‘I just don’t know what they did here... I’m not good at history...’

‘Sparky, this is the cheval prison island!’ Kelso cried out. ‘How could you not know that?’

‘Like I said, I’m not good at history!’ Sparky said with a frown.

‘Sparky... this is STILL a prison island even in the modern day! It has been since the Cheval Second Empire started dumping violent criminals here three hundred years ago!’ Kelso said facehoofing hard.

‘Do you just not pay attention to the news?’ Viola asked with a sigh.

‘I pay attention to the news! I was paying attention when those people at BERN were able to synthesise anti-protons’, Sparky said defensively, causing Kelso to smirk. That was Sparky for them, once a science nerd, always a science nerd.

'It won't budge!'

Kelso and company turned to discover that they were not alone, though it was silly to think that they would have been, considering that they were still reliving past memories. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike were standing underneath a pear tree. Fluttershy and Spike watched as Rarity used her telekinesis to pull one of the pears down from the tree, but for some reason, it was just not coming down.

Rarity released the pear with a small pout of disappointment, and turned around to look at what she had at her disposal. Turning towards the baby dragon, she smiled as she an idea formed in her head. 'Ohhh Spikey-wikey!' Rarity sang as she rapidly batted her eyelashes at him.

'Huh?' Spike asked, almost as if he had not been paying attention to anything but the food in the pear tree before him. 'Y... yes Rarity?'

'Be a dear, climb up into that tree and get some of those pears down for us', Rarity said, with a warm smile. 'Pretty please?'

'Oh! Of course I will Rarity! Give me just a tick!' Spike said as he got a running start. Spike jumped into the air and grabbed a hold of the pear tree; he began to climb up into the thick leaves and was soon out of the mare's view.

'Um... Rarity? I don't think Applejack even likes pears', Fluttershy said quietly.

'Applejack doesn't like anything that isn't an apple!' Rarity said with a huff. 'She'll get over it if she's hungry enough... I know I am...'

Everyone, passive observers included, jumped in surprise at the sound of a twig snapping behind them. Kelso and company turned to discover that a grey coated cheval mare was standing several metres behind them, silently cursing herself for making noise and getting their attention before she was ready to. Her mane was an emerald green, and her eyes were a deep blue. Most importantly however, was the fact that she was armed with a contemporary bolt action rifle.

'Qui êtes-vous? Comment avez-vous arrivé ici?!' The mare cried out angrily at them.

Rarity and Fluttershy looked at each other with worry; it seemed that neither of them properly spoke the cheval language, though it didn't stop Rarity from trying. 'Uh... Nous... Amiez... Vous?' she said, causing Hopely to facehoof hard at how much the unicorn mare had butchered the language.

The cheval mare was clearly unamused by Rarity's pathetic attempt at communication and let out a frustrated sigh before continuing her shouting.

'Débiles! Vous avez besoin de courir! J'essaie de vous aider!'

'Uh... Rarity?' Fluttershy asked nervously. The pegasus mare was beginning to panic.

'I tried to tell her we're friendly!' Rarity said, beginning to get just as hysterical. 'Clearly it didn't work'.

Far off into the distance, they heard muffled shouting in cheval. The expression on the cheval mare's face turned to panic. 'Les prisonniers!' she cried out, the sound of worry in her voice. She turned back to Rarity and Fluttershy, and pointed the rifle directly at them. 'Marche!' she cried out, gesturing for them to move.

Language barrier aside, the meaning of pointing a gun at someone, shouting angrily and pointing in a direction had a pretty much universal meaning. Rarity and Fluttershy understood that perfectly. The mare began running toward them, and Rarity and Fluttershy took off in front of her.

Spike poked his head below the tree cover, clearly unaware of what had just occurred, he was holding an armful of pears, and he climbed down from the tree only to discover that he was alone. ‘Uh? Rarity? Fluttershy? Where did you go?’

Spike merely shrugged, for all he knew, they had gone to get more food elsewhere, and he took off at a steady pace out of the jungle.

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

The change in scenery was a welcome one. The hot and sticky weather of Sainte-Hélène had been replaced by that of an air conditioned office. There was no humidity to speak of, and the air felt pleasant. Kelso’s passing thoughts of how wonderful the modern world was were quickly interrupted at the creak of an opening door.

Forcing Kelso to take a closer look at her surroundings, she was quick to discover that the room was occupied. It was none other than Vinyl Scratch, sitting in the chair, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling with her forelegs folded behind her head, and her hind legs resting on the desk in a rather nonchalant fashion. The door opened fully to reveal a kangaroo standing in the opening, looking completely flabbergasted at the fact that Vinyl Scratch was sitting in presumably his office, at his desk, in his chair. Kelso glanced around to the front of the desk to discover a name plate sitting on it. ‘Albert Isaac, Governor General’.

‘Hi there!’ Vinyl Scratch said with a wide grin, not bothering to sit herself down in a more regular fashion.

‘W... who are you!? How did you get in here!?’ the kangaroo that they presumed was Albert Isaac himself, cried out in surprise.

The unicorn mare’s grin got wider, and she casually pulled her trademark goggles off her eyes and down around her neck, revealing a bright pair of ruby red eyes. ‘Oh relax would ya? Name’s Vinyl Scratch and you should really invest in a sturdier lock. Here’s the thing, You’re Excellency, while I’m sure the who and how are great questions to ask in your mind, I’ve got a better one for you. “What do I want?”’ Vinyl Scratch said, almost as if she was about to tell the punch line of a well set up joke.

Albert Isaac studied the unicorn for a moment, she didn’t stop grinning at him, and he sighed, and lowered his head. ‘Fine, what do you want?’ Isaac asked, giving in to the intruder’s suggestion.

Vinyl Scratch leaned forward. Resting her fore knees on the desk and her head on her hooves, and looked up at the kangaroo and offered him a sweet smile, as if she was about to start buttering him up for something. ‘I need a ship, a fast ship, a ship fast enough to say... run the blockade of the Said Canal?’ Vinyl Scratch suggested. The passive observers were caught off guard by this question, the way she had asked it was the way a foal would ask for an extra scoop of ice crème after dinner.

‘The Said Canal?’ Sparky asked, looking to Kelso for answers. ‘Why would the Said Canal be blockaded?’

Kelso shook her head in disappointment. ‘At this point in history, the Capran nation of Misr is in a state of revolt against the welaran and the cheval management of the Said Canal... which is...’

‘The most important shipping lane that connects the Europan Sea to the Sea of Orange, yes, I know, I’m not completely stupid’, Sparky said, rolling her eyes in annoyance. ‘Skip to the good part’.

‘Long story short, since the welarans and cheval manage the canal, all the money made by ships paying to use the canal goes to them, and not the misr, even though it is situated in the middle of their territory’, Kelso explained.

‘And that’s bad?’ Sparky asked.

Kelso nodded in affirmation. ‘Basically, the misr revolt and occupy the canal, and they did a pretty good job of holding their own for a while until a single welaran corvette ran the blockade from the Sea of Orange side, smashing through the defences and allowing the rest of the Welaran Royal Navy to pour in and push the misr out, and that was it for that’, Kelso said simply.

Albert Isaac frowned at the unicorn before him. The frown quickly turned into a scowl as he began to process her request. ‘So, what? You think that you can just barge into my office in the middle of the night, and demand me to give you a ship?’ he cried out.

‘Well, it worked for Princess Luna, didn’t it?’ Vinyl Scratch said, tapping her hooves together and giving him another of her trademark grins.

Albert Isaac was taken aback by that statement. ‘How... how do you know about that?!’ he asked.

‘Simple, Princess Luna happens to be one of my friends, and being my friend, is a good step into being her friend, and the Governor General of South Island being friends with one of the Princesses of Equestria... well, there aren’t many of those outside of Equestria’, Vinyl Scratch said with a grin, that had been her punch line.

‘I guess being acquainted with royalty has its perks?’ Dizzy asked with a shrug.

‘Not anymore it doesn’t’, Viola said, shaking her head in the negative. ‘Nowadays you’re lucky if you don’t get run out of the country on the suspicion of being a royalist’.

‘Hell, communists have more rights in Equestria then royalists do’, Hopely added with a scoff.

‘I see... I take it you have a ship in mind?’ Albert Isaac asked.

‘I do!’ Vinyl Scratch said, nodding her head insanely. ‘HMSIS Dash’.

Albert Isaac raised an eyebrow at the mention of the Dash, the kangaroo gave the unicorn mare a quizzical look, Kelso recognised that look, it was the same look that she had seen nearly every day that she interviewed a suspect for one of her cases. The look that meant what he had just heard sounded familiar.

‘You... you’re that mare that caused all that property damage? Aren’t you?’ he asked accusingly.

Vinyl Scratch sighed and shook her head in disappointment. ‘How many times do I need to explain this? I put the fires out, and I paid for all the damages. Everypony just needs to let it go...’

‘Yeah, that didn’t stop the Trotterdam city council from passing a law that bars her and her descendants from ever entering the city again’, Hopely said with chuckle.

‘Shut up Hopely’, Sparky said, giving her the evil eye.

Albert Isaac couldn’t help but smirk. ‘All right, all right, you plan on running the Said Canal? Well I wish you good luck. The Dash is at Port Beagle, and I’ll let them know that you’re coming’.

Vinyl Scratch nodded in thanks. ‘One more thing’, she added.

‘Yes?’ Albert Isaac asked, his voice sounding as if he was regretting this action already.

Vinyl Scratch merely grinned at him. ‘There’s a certain kangaroo I need on board...’

...

And here they were, back to the hellhole Sainte-Hélène, and it was funny that Kelso used the word hellhole, because she and the rest of the passive observers found themselves squished into a small trench that someone had dug out, along with Rarity, Fluttershy, and the angry looking cheval mare from a previous memory. She had since removed her rifle and had switched over instead to a submachine gun, and was working to secure the rest of her ammunition for it.

Despite being a cramped hole, it did have a number of amenities that would likely not be found anywhere else on the island. Such as a bed made from tree branches and banana leaves, a table created from several bamboo rods tied together, and oddly enough, a military grade wireless receiver, likely stolen from one of the buildings in the actual prison complex.

Rarity’s eyes widened as she looked at the radio sitting on the table. She must have figured that she could use it to call for help and get off the island, and she happily trotted over to it. The cheval mare, however, had other ideas, and was quick to turn around and hold the submachine gun to her head.

‘I... uh, don’t suppose you would be willing to let us use your radio?’ Rarity asked, chuckling nervously.

‘Not a chance wallish’, the cheval mare said, causing Rarity to take a step back in surprise, not expecting that the cheval could understand her, let alone actually be able to speak to her.

‘You... you speak our language?’ Rarity asked dumbfoundedly.

'Of course she does, she's cheval! They all speak wallish, they'll just never let you know they do', Hopely said, rolling her eyes at Rarity's naïveté.

‘Of course I do wallish’, the cheval mare said, rolling her eyes. ‘What idiot doesn’t learn the languages of their neighbours?’

Not waiting for an answer, the cheval mare finished securing the rest of her ammunition and waved for Rarity and Fluttershy to follow. ‘Come, we’re leaving’, she said simply, and pushed open the camouflaged roof entrance to her hole.

‘Leaving?’ Rarity asked. ‘What? I’m not leaving until...’

‘Take a look around you’, the cheval mare interrupted as she climbed out. ‘I guess if you want to stay... I can’t stop you’.

Rarity, along with the rest of the passive observers glanced around to discover multiple bricks of plastic explosives that lined the walls of the hole they were standing in. ‘No no no! I’ll go! Yes, let’s go! Let’s go now...’ Rarity said with a nervous chuckle, and quickly pulled herself out of the hole, not willing to spend any more time in it than she already had. Fluttershy said nothing, glancing around at the explosives and quickly followed with nothing more than a fearful squeak.

When they were outside, the cheval mare took the rifle in her teeth and passed it over to Rarity, who looked confused as to what she was supposed to do with it.

‘Take it!’ the cheval mare said in annoyance.

Rarity did as she was told, and looked the weapon over for a moment before looking back at the Pegasus mare. ‘I... I don’t know how to use this!’ Rarity cried out.

The cheval mare sighed and trotted over to a nearby pear tree, and set herself down against it, she took one of the fallen pears and skilfully balanced it upon her head. 'Well?' she asked, looking to Rarity expectedly.

Rarity looked blankly at the cheval for a moment before speaking. ‘You don’t want me to shoot that pear do you?’ Rarity asked, appalled at the idea of such an action.

‘You’re brilliant, wallish’, she said, rolling her eyes.

Rarity was starting to get annoyed with her. ‘First off, we are not wallish. We are equestrians! Second off my name is Rarity and I wish to be addressed as such!’ Rarity cried out, completely oblivious to the fact that the cheval mare was clearly aware that they were not welaran, and merely calling her such to get a rise out of her.

‘Sure, whatever wallish’, the cheval mare said with a look of amusement on her face. ‘Equestrian, huh? Well makes sense, considering you were dumb enough to come here. You want respect? You have to earn it, you’re already dumb enough...’

‘We didn’t choose to come here! We shipwrecked!’ Rarity cried out, interrupting the mare.

‘Uh... Rarity?’ Fluttershy squeaked quietly, trying, and failing, to get Rarity's attention. Fluttershy clearly understood what the cheval mare was trying to do, but Rarity was too angry to pay attention to the meek pegasus, and her words fell upon deaf ears.

‘Likely story, you’re all words and no action anyway’, the cheval mare said, rolling her eyes.

‘Uh... Rarity?’ Fluttershy asked again.

‘Oh? You want to see action is it? I’ll show you action!’ Rarity cried out, ignoring Fluttershy again as she brought the rifle to bear.

‘She’s going to hurt someone with that!’ Sparky cried out.

‘I can’t bear to watch’, Dizzy said turning away.

‘Um...RARITY!’ Fluttershy cried out.

‘I am waiting...’ the mare said with a yawn.

Rarity looked down the rifle’s aperture sights and pulled the trigger with her telekinesis.

‘RARITY!’ Fluttershy shouted at her.

The bullet exploded out of the rifle and impacted upon the pear on the cheval mare’s head, causing it to explode and sending the chunks of the fruit off in random directions. The cheval mare began to smile. ‘You do have guts wallish’, she said.

The realisation of what Rarity had just done began to sink in; she couldn’t believe she had just done that. Fluttershy had hit the ground, covering her ears and shivering in fear.

The cheval mare walked up to her, continuing to smile. ‘My name is Danielle, Danielle Voltaire, and we are going to get off this island. Together’.

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

‘This is not going to work’, Rainbow Dash said plainly.

Kelso and company found themselves standing in the back of what looked to be a tool shed. The walls looked to have been made of tin, as had the roof that covered. The floor itself wasn't so much a floor, but instead the dirt of the jungle floor, the light of the room was nothing really to speak of, there were no windows, and only a single low-watt light bulb dangling from the ceiling.. Kelso and company were tired of Sainte-Hélène already, and they could only imagine what it would have been like to have actually been here. Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack were standing in the middle of the room, tied down to the floor with little more than a metre of slack in the ropes that held them. They could walk around a little, that was for sure, but otherwise they weren't going anywhere.

‘I said... this is not going to work!’ Rainbow Dash cried out again, stamping her hoof in annoyance.

‘Ah heard ya tha firs’ time!’ Applejack snapped back at her. ‘Ah don’t see ya’ll comin’ up with any escape plans! May not work, but ‘least we tried! Took me forever ta get these ropes off...’ Applejack said as her voice trailed off. A small smile formed on her face as she raised a still tied up foreleg and winked at Rainbow Dash.

'What is she talking about?' Sparky asked, looking on the scene in confusion.

No less than a minute later did the door burst open and a single cheval with a knife in his teeth barged in, charging forward right into the trap set for him by the equestrian ponies. Rainbow Dash turned and planted her hooves in his chest, kicking hard and sending him down to the floor. The shock of the assault caused him to instinctively spit the knife out, sending it clattering on the floor and right next to Applejack’s hooves. The earth pony mare took the knife in her teeth and cut her bonds, once free she quickly moved to cut Rainbow Dash loose.

Rainbow Dash grinned, now the two of them were free. Applejack kept the knife in her teeth, and the two ponies moved quietly from the shed and out into the open air, though as it turned out, the open air wasn't quite so open. Kelso had to figure that this was the main prison complex. There were several large brick and mortar buildings that were arranged in very neat looking rows. The complex was very well organised, and there were multiple guard towers on the perimeter wall of the complex. Multiple ponies armed with mounted machine guns watched over the complex, but these were no guards of a legitimate sort. These ponies were clad in prison stripes, and as Kelso glanced around at the scene, she could only grimace at the thought of what had happened here.

‘In the year before the Republic, the prison population Sainte-Hélène revolted against the guards, killing them all and taking the prison for themselves’, Kelso said as she and the rest of the passive observers followed Rainbow Dash and Applejack as they ducked between buildings, hoping to keep from being seen. They had to know that it wouldn’t be long before someone noticed that they had escaped, and came looking for them.

‘Why didn’t the prisoners just leave?’ Sparky asked as they watched Rainbow Dash and Applejack duck into one of the buildings.

‘It wouldn’t be a very good prison if they could just leave, Sparky’, Kelso said with a frown. ‘The guards that weren’t killed in the revolt made it to the docks and scuttled the few boats they had, and there are multiple radar controlled autocannons placed around the island that’ll shoot at anything that flies above the tree line’.

‘Rainbow! What’re ya doin’?’ Applejack hissed at Rainbow Dash. Kelso glanced inside the building to discover that Rainbow Dash was sitting at a wireless receiver, pulling the headset over her ears and playing with one of the dials. Rainbow Dash merely raised a hoof to silence Applejack, and began to listen.

‘... understood Renault, you just let us know where you need us and when. Sinsac out’.

Rainbow Dash raised in eyebrow in confusion. ‘Uh... hello?’ she asked.

At first there was nothing, and then Rainbow Dash asked again. ‘Hello? Is anypony out there?’

‘Who is this!? Cease broadcasting on this channel!’ an angry sounding, highly accented voice snapped back at her.

‘No wait! Please! You have to help us!’ Rainbow Dash cried out. ‘My name is Rainbow Dash! I’m an equestrian pony and one of the survivors of the Steamship Canterlot, we were bound for Swan City, South Island when we hit an iceberg in bad weather and the ship went under. We all made it off the ship but me and my friends got separated from the crew! Please you have to help us!’

‘...where are you?’ the voice asked again.

‘I’m broadcasting from Sainte-Hélène, our lifeboat washed up on the shore... please! You have to help us!’ Rainbow Dash pleaded.

‘Sainte-Hélène?’ the voice questioned. ‘Albert! Start triangulating, I need to confirm that’, A muffled voice in the background acknowledged the order, and in a few seconds gave an affirmation.

‘Who are you?’ Rainbow Dash asked. ‘I told you who I was! Now tell me who you are!’

‘... this is Lef-tenant Commander Thaddeus Braxton, aboard the HMSIS Sinsac, don’t bother with the name, you can just call me the Op’.

‘Sinsac?’ Rainbow Dash asked, raising an eyebrow at the absurd sound of the warship's name. ‘What kind of name is that?’

‘If you must know... it stands for “South Island and New Seeland Army Corps”, what is that, you might ask? Not important for you right now. You are on Sainte-Hélène, which means that if you have wireless access, that you are not in a safe place. The Sinsac and the cheval battleship Renault are turning and making for the island at flank speed, sit tight Rainbow Dash, the kangaroo cavalry is coming!’

Rainbow Dash nodded, despite the fact that ‘the Op’, couldn’t see it, and turned off the wireless receiver off and quickly discarded the headset, allowing it to scatter onto the floor.

‘Can we go?’ Applejack asked, forgetting about the knife in her teeth and dropping it onto the floor, and tapping her hoof in annoyance, this was taking too long.

‘Yeah! Come on! Let’s go!’ Rainbow Dash said with a nod, leaping up from her seat.

Applejack nodded, not bothering to pick the knife back up, she and Rainbow Dash pushed open the door to the radio room. Only to discover a group of prisoners armed with submachine guns standing outside and looking menacingly at them.

‘Well this sucks’, Rainbow Dash said with a frown.

‘Don’ worry sugarcube, Ah gots a plan’, Applejack said with a coy smile.

‘Run like scared little fillies?’ Rainbow Dash asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘As a matter o’ fact...’ Applejack began; the two ducked in between the building and the one next to it and dashed off around the corner.

‘AFTER THEM!’ The one of the convicts shouted. ‘MARCHE! TRÉS RAPIDE!’

Applejack and Rainbow Dash made their way through the maze of buildings, ducking in and out trying to keep the group of prisoners from catching them, much to their dismay, the quickly ran out of buildings and found themselves in the open.

‘Things are never easy!’ Sparky said with laboured breath as she and the rest of the passive observers struggled to keep up with Rainbow Dash and Applejack as they ran. Kelso looked up to discover a glint of light shining off one of the guard towers. Another prisoner, this one armed with a light machine gun, had spotted the running ponies, and brought his weapon to bear. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were caught in the open, and the prisoner opened fire, raining down upon them with a hail of gunfire. Both ponies were running on pure adrenalin as they ran through the front of the compound and into the jungle, not stopping for several hundred metres.

‘R... Rainbow Dash? Ah think one nicked me’, Applejack said as they stopped to catch their breath deeper into the jungle.

Rainbow Dash turned around to look at her friend, her eyes widened in shock as she discovered that Applejack’s flanks were ridden with bullet holes. She could only watch helplessly as Applejack collapsed onto the ground.

‘Applejack!’ Rainbow Dash called out to her. Rainbow Dash picked the mare up in her forelegs and held her close.

‘Ah... ah shouldn’t ‘ave left tha farm...’ Applejack said quietly, her voice trailed off and her eyes rolled past Rainbow Dash. With one last breath, Applejack faded away.

‘A... Applejack?’ Rainbow Dash asked.

No answer.

‘Applejack!’ Rainbow Dash said again, this time speaking louder and gently shaking her friend.

No answer.

‘APPLEJACK!’ Rainbow Dash cried out hysterically, shaking her friend roughly, trying to get her to wake up. It was futile, however, Applejack was gone, and Rainbow Dash knew it. She set Applejack down on the ground gently, taking off the mare’s hat and resting on her belly, wrapping her forelegs around it. Rainbow Dash slid Applejack’s eyes closed, and couldn’t help but notice how peaceful she looked. She could have been sleeping. Rainbow Dash half expected Applejack to sit back up and stretch out, yawning loudly as she was waking up from a nap.

Rainbow Dash waited, and waited for a moment before realising it was a pipe dream. That was when Rainbow Dash lost it. Applejack was dead. She buried her head into Applejack’s body and cried. She cried and cried and cried and cried until no more tears could come. Rainbow Dash’s sadness turned to anger. This was not what Applejack deserved. She knew what she had to do.

A determined looked appeared on Rainbow Dash’s face, she rose to her hooves, her whole body convulsing in anger over what had just happened, the passive observers had seen the lives of Rainbow Dash and her friends, but this was something completely different, this was pure anger, hatred for the prisoners who had done this to her, who had done this to Applejack. They could tell, just by the fire that was burning in Rainbow Dash’s eyes what she was planning to do next.

Rainbow Dash was going to kill them all.

She was about to turn and leave when something caught her eye. Rainbow Dash turned back to Applejack’s body, a look of false hope forming on her face. That was when she and the rest of the passive observers saw it.

Applejack twitched. Once, twice, and then, suddenly without warning, Applejack’s eyes shot open and she let out a huge gasp for air. She sprung to her hooves in confusion, looking around, and then at Rainbow Dash.

‘Rainbow Dash?’ Applejack asked. ‘What the hey just happened?’

Rainbow Dash did not have an answer. Sparky, however did.

‘I think we’ve just seen the birth of Amarilla de la Manzana’, Sparky simply as they watched Applejack look around in confusion.

Chapter 33

Chapter 33

It became clear as day that Rainbow Dash had no idea what to think of this. Applejack had died. Rainbow Dash had watched her die. She had checked her vitals, they weren’t there! Applejack had died, and yet, here she was standing before her, looking as if she was about ready to break down. Sparky frowned as she watched the scene unfold, she felt for Applejack. She knew what would become of her.

Applejack was still alive in the modern day, though she had stopped going by that name some time ago. Now, she was Señora Amarilla de la Manzana y de la Sidra. She was the lonely hispaña land owner whom they had met while sailing on the airship Madame LaSalle from Ponyville to Manzanares, in the Hispaña Third Republic. Sparky could only imagine how Applejack felt at this moment, she was lost, confused by what had just happened to her, and no matter how hard she tried to make sense of it, she would not be able to, because that’s how things were to go. Her friend, Amarilla de la Manzana would not be able to figure it out; not until their meeting with the enigmatic Hannibal in what, for her, would be a hundred years time.

‘Rainbow Dash... please, tell me ya know somethin’!’ Applejack said weakly, her voice trembling in fear, not really asking a question, but hoping for an answer nonetheless.

‘I... I...’ Rainbow Dash said, searching her brain for anything that she could use to explain the situation, she had nothing. She pondered the event as hard as she could, but she could come up with no answer for what she had seen happen. Her ear began to twitch and Rainbow Dash looked up and to the west as she heard an explosion off in the distance, quickly followed by another, and another. ‘That’s got to be the Sinsac! they’re bombarding the island!’ Rainbow Dash cried out as she turned back to Applejack, who was still more than a little confused about the situation and frowned at her. ‘I don’t know how either Applejack... but I promise, we’ll find out. We need to go!’

Applejack nodded her head slowly, she straightened her hat, and then a small smile formed on her face. ‘Race ya to the beach?’ she asked.

Rainbow Dash grinned back at her. ‘Last one there’s a rotten egg!’

Sparky smiled as they watched the two mares race off towards the beach. If anything, this memory had a very important lesson to tell. One must never go through hard times alone, as long as we have friends to support us in our time of need, anything can be accomplished. This message did not just apply to the memory they were viewing. Sparky knew that there would come a time when she and her friends would need to stand against what FutureTec was doing behind the scenes. She had gathered a group of friends of her own, good, faithful, reliable friends, and she knew that if they set their minds to something, they could get any job done.

This memory put Sparky’s mind at ease, she knew that as long as she had Dizzy, Hopely, Kelso, and Viola, that they didn’t need to worry. Come what may, they would be ready.

...

It wasn't long before the passive observers found themselves with Rarity, Fluttershy, and their new friend, Danielle Voltaire. Kelso and company took to a brisk pace to keep up with them.

'Anyone else feel like something is... off here?' Kelso asked with a frown.

'Yeah', Dizzy said with a nod as she looked at the cheval mare with suspicion. However, it wasn't long before their attention turned to something else.

Fluttershy had been walking with her head down, clearly lost in thought about the situation she found herself in, suddenly, Rarity and Danielle came to a stop. ‘What’s going on?’ Fluttershy asked, as she carefully stepped closer to Rarity.

‘I am not sure, stay here; I am going to take a look ahead’, Danielle said in a hushed voice before taking a step forward and disappearing deeper into the jungle.

‘Rarity?’ Fluttershy asked. ‘I’ve been thinking...’

‘Yes? Fluttershy?’ Rarity asked turning to her friend.

‘I’m not sure I trust Danielle...’ Fluttershy said with a frown.

'At least someone here has a head on their shoulders', Dizzy said with a sigh.

'Are you kidding? They have to be lucky that Fluttershy even spoke up at all, if my grandmother's stories about her are to be believed, which I most certainly do', Sparky said matter of factly, before being shushed by the rest of the group to listen in on the conversation.

‘Fluttershy! I am surprised at you! Danielle has done nothing but help us and wants nothing more than to get off this island, and can you blame her? All those uncouth ruffians running around?’ Rarity said, shuddering to herself.

‘That’s just it Rarity’, Fluttershy said with a frown. ‘I mean, let’s stop and think about it for a moment. This island is controlled by the Cheval Fourth Republic, as a prison for its’ most dangerous criminals’.

‘Yes...’ Rarity said nodded her head.

‘Well, the cheval are all pegasi right?’ Fluttershy said. ‘They can’t fly away because of that big cannon that’s keeping them all trapped here’.

'What big cannon?' Hopely asked, her eyes widening at the idea of it.

‘Yes...’ Rarity said, nodding her head again, unsure of where Fluttershy was going with this.

‘Well... Danielle is cheval... and she’s here, on the island’, Fluttershy said with a nervous squeak.

‘Yes...’ Rarity said as a look of horror began to form on the unicorn mare's face. She was starting to understand what Fluttershy was getting at.

‘So... what is she doing on the island?’ Fluttershy asked.

Rarity swallowed hard, they heard rustling in the bushes behind her, and Rarity slowly turned to see Danielle standing behind them, looking incredibly angry. ‘Couldn’t leave well enough alone could you?’ the mare asked, bringing her submachine guns to bear.

Rarity instinctively snapped the rifle to eye level and trained it on Danielle. ‘St... stay back!’ she cried out. Danielle took a step forward, undaunted by Rarity, who, as intimidating as she was trying to be, it was unfortunately not working out very well for the unicorn mare. Rarity pulled the trigger of the rifle with her telekinesis.

click!

‘Wha!?’ Rarity cried out, pulling the trigger again.

click!

'Work the bolt dumbarse! Work the bolt!' Hopely cried out to Rarity in frustration as her advisement fell upon deaf ears.

Danielle reared up and swung her hind legs, landing a blow into Rarity’s face and sending her toppling to the ground. ‘I would have taken you with me when I got off the island! I would have let you go! But you couldn’t just leave well enough alone!’ Danielle cried out in frustration.

Fluttershy's face filled with fear, and she instinctively backed away from the enraged cheval mare.

‘Mon Dieu! Five years! Five years of my life, wasted on this island! I will be free, and you will not stop me!’ Danielle sneered.

Fluttershy backed into a tree root, tripping over it and falling onto the ground. Danielle had seemed to have forgotten about her entirely, and moved in close, pointing her submachine guns at the fallen filly menacingly. ‘P... please don’t hurt me!’ Fluttershy cried out.

‘Hurt you?’ Danielle asked with an insane sneer. ‘You say that like I was not sent here for murder...’ she said adding a grin, she kicked her left leg outward, the storm harness’ levers went to work and slid a new magazine into her submachine guns. ‘Can’t exactly let you tell anyone who I am and what I did...’ Danielle took the storm harness’s control yoke in her teeth, cocking the weapon. Fluttershy covered her eyes, she couldn’t bear to watch.

The passive observers had been far too focused on Fluttershy to notice that Rarity had risen from the ground, she quietly walked up to Danielle Voltaire, rifle in her telekinetic grip, she turned it around and raised it over her head, bringing the butt stock down upon the prisoner as hard as she possibly could, knocking the cheval mare unconscious and tossing the otherwise useless rifle aside.

Rarity enveloped her telekinetic grip on one of the submachine guns that had been clipped into Danielle's storm harness, pulling it free with all her might. The submachine gun came free without much effort from the rage fuelled Rarity.

‘Fluttershy? We really should be leaving now’, Rarity said, resting the submachine gun on her shoulder.

Fluttershy nodded and got to her hooves and the two mares ran into the jungle, neither of them entirely sure where they were going, but it was a lot better than being here.

...

The passive observers quickly found themselves alongside Pinkie Pie, Princess Luna, and Spike as they took cover in the trees. They didn’t take their eyes off the beach for a single second and it wasn't long before they found what they were looking for. Large metal landing craft beached themselves, dropping the loading doors and allowing their cargo to roll out onto the beach.

'Mark IV Spencer Infantry tanks', Hopely said as she looked over to them, watching as the vaguely pickle shaped armoured vehicles rolled up to the tree line.

'How do you know what they're called?' Sparky asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend, who merely shook her head in disappointment.

'You need to get out more, Spark', Hopely said with a sigh. 'For your information, one of those tanks happens to be in the Republican history museum in down town Ponyville.'

Sparky jumped as she turned to watch a column of fire burst from the Spencer tank from a flame thrower attached to the front hull, spitting fire into the trees and burning itself a path through the thick foliage.

There was a loud crunch, as more of the boats hit the beach, dropping their loading ramps and dumping large swaths of kangaroo infantry and a couple more of the Spencer flame tanks.

‘Get those Spencer Crocodiles up and in front! First section, fall in behind me’, a kangaroo wearing a red beret and holding a submachine gun cried out as he hopped around from boat to boat, shouting out his orders. This was clearly the jack in charge, and Kelso was quick to notice that he was looking right in their direction. ‘All right you lot! Out of those trees and into the open where I can see you!’ He cried out, raising his weapon, and pointing it towards the tree line, at Pinkie Pie, Princess Luna, and Spike. They were hardly in a position to argue, and slowly stepped out of the trees, Spike went as far as raising his hands in the air in surrender. The kangaroo looked at them in confusion. ‘You’re not cheval...’ he said, and then looked down at Spike. ‘And I don’t even know what you are!’

‘I’m a dragon’, Spike said in a huff.

‘Yeah, sure, and I’m the bloody Queen of Welara’, the kangaroo said, rolling his eyes, and taking his attention back to Luna and Pinkie Pie. ‘So then, who are you lot? One of you the... oh... what was it? The “Rainbow Dash” we were told about?’ He asked.

‘Rainbow Dash? I... no, I’m Pinkie Pie!’ Pinkie Pie said, and then introduced Spike and Luna to the kangaroo. ‘We’re friends with Rainbow Dash though... how do you know her?’

‘I don’t, your friend called us, we didn’t call her’, he said with a shrug. ‘I’m Lef-tenant William Cutting, Royal South Island Regiment, now, how about you step aside and let my jacks do their bleeding jobs, eh what? You can wait on the boat’.

‘But... our friends...’ Pinkie Pie began to raise her voice in protest, only for Cutting to silence her.

‘We’ll bring them back, they shouldn’t be too hard to spot, assuming that they’re like you and are candy-coloured marshmallow horses’, Cutting said, and pointed to the boat he’d came on. ‘March. It’s for your own safety, we’re professionals’.

‘This guy must not know who he’s talking to’, Kelso said with a frown as she looked to Pinkie Pie. The pink party pony had been in a number of rough situations in the past and had come through alright.

Pinkie Pie was not going to argue further, and reluctantly took to a seat on one of the landing craft alongside Spike and Princess Luna. ‘Do you think Rainbow Dash and the others are okay?’ She asked, looking to Princess Luna for any words of comfort.

‘Knowing our friends? I am sure of it’, Princess Luna said with a reassuring smile.

‘Well, she’s been wrong before’, Hopely said with a frown.

The rest of the passive observers said nothing, merely nodding in agreement.

Chapter 34

Chapter 34

The changes in scenery were welcome ones, no longer were Kelso and company in the sweltering heat of the tropical jungles of Sainte-Hélène, but instead now found themselves in a place where the climate was much more pleasant.

It was late at night, the stars shone brightly, the full moon cast enough light to see clearly, and in the distance, they heard the faint noise of hooves stamping against the ground. Kelso turned to look to find that Twilight Sparkle and Heinrich Büschsenmacher were galloping along the dirt path through the forest that they found themselves in. Heinrich was as silent as the midnight wind; Twilight Sparkle, on the other hoof trotted along behind him panting heavily, and struggled to keep up.

'Heinrich...! Heinrich, I need to stop...' Twilight said between laboured breaths.

'We cannot stop, we have too far to go before we are safe, and our foe follows us on silent wings', Heinrich said, looking back towards her, and slowing himself to allow her to catch up.

'Heinrich... I can't... I...' Twilight said, unable to finish her sentence before being interrupted by her own hacking cough. Heinrich frowned, stopping in his tracks and going back over to her. He pushed his head under her belly, kneeling down and picking her up on his back and continuing on down the road.

'Rest, meine liebe, I shall continue on for the both of us', Heinrich said, and continued on down the road.

Kelso and company took to a brisk pace to keep up with the two of them, Dizzy, could not help but be saddened by the event. 'He really loves her', Dizzy said with a sigh. 'He really loves her and she treats him like rubbish'.

Kelso nodded her head in agreement, there were few people in the world, pony or schäferhund who were as kind as Heinrich Büschenmacher, he was too good for Twilight Sparkle; he was too good for anyone.

‘Heinrich? How can you keep going like this? Aren’t you tired?’ Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow at the schäferhund.

‘Heh, this? This is nothing, when I was a soldier in the Legion Adler, forced marches like these were commonplace, I can keep going for some time’, Heinrich said with a smile.

Kelso had to admit, she was most certainly impressed with Heinrich’s vigour, he would have walked to the ends of the world for the unicorn he now carried on his back, and now, Twilight had to know it. Twilight smiled warmly at him, offering the first genuine smile that the passive observers had seen from her since her fall to the influence of the Tome of Alhazred. Twilight leaned forward, planting a kiss on Heinrich’s cheek before she closed her eyes, and quickly drifted off to sleep as she rode on the schäferhund’s back as they marched to the east.

Heinrich smiled back as Twilight drifted off to sleep, but his smile quickly turned to worry as he turned his head towards the sky.

Kelso looked up, and discovered the faint silhouette of a winged pony for just a second before it disappeared, the view blocked by the branches of the trees.

‘Rest Well, Twilight Sparkle’, Heinrich said softly. ‘When morning comes, you will need your strength’.

...

Morning came in an instant, as it always did in the world of memory, flashing between points cutting out all need to wait.

Twilight Sparkle was awake, and trotting behind Heinrich with a tired look on her face. Unicorns weren’t built for endurance.

‘We are close Twilight! Fifty kilometres to go, and we will be across the border and into Bundesrepublik Schäferhund!’ Heinrich called out to her enthusiastically. Twilight did not respond, clearly too tired to make one, she merely nodded her head in agreement.

Kelso frowned at the statement. From what she remembered, at this point of history, Bundesrepublik Schäferhund was not a member of La Police Internationale, making it a safe haven for fleeing criminals while they moved elsewhere around the world, usually to the Capran Empire, or the Peking Republic. Policing during this period had to be a nightmare here on the continent, one step over a boarder, and criminals were home free. La Police Internationale could not ask a government to locate and detain a wanted criminal. Instead, they had to wait for them to commit a crime in the land they escaped to and serve the time in that country... and then be free to go afterwards, all the while waiting for the statute of limitations to run out at home.

Kelso looked up, there was a glint of light that shone off something metal and bounced into her eyes. There was a pegasus flying high above, and he turned and dived down upon them.

Heinrich was quick to notice and turned on his heels and hit the manual adjusts on his submachine guns turning them towards the sky and biting down hard on the control yoke of his storm harness.

Pierre La Roche jaunted to the left, increasing speed and smacking hard into Heinrich’s flank, knocking him unconscious.

Twilight soon became aware of the cheval and drew her revolver, taking it in her telekinesis and pointing it at the inspector. La Roche leapt at her, knocking her to the ground as he struggled to disarm the revolver in her telekinetic grip.

Twilight’s saddlebags split open, and the Tome of Alhazred went flying. Twilight could only watch helplessly as the book flew away from her, landing with a loud splash in the river. ‘No...’ she cried out weakly.

Kelso and company were overjoyed that such a negative influence on Twilight Sparkle’s life was finally gone. She had bigger problems unfortunately.

There was a loud shrill noise that pierced the passive observer’s ears, and they all dropped to their knees. They threw their hooves over their ears to try and block out the noise and could only watch helplessly as Pierre La Roche had bit down on the revolver with his teeth, and fought to turn the weapon back on Twilight.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of red light and the world began to fade away once more.

...

Kelso opened her eyes... or at least, she thought they were open, she blinked a couple of times, but the world was dark. Panic began to set in, she was blind! Kelso stuck one of her forelegs out in front of her, and was relieved to discover that she was in fact not blind. She was able to see her hoof as she waved it around in front of her.

Kelso sighed in relief as she rose to her hooves and turned to discover the other members of her party were lying in a similar daze. ‘Everyone okay?’ Kelso asked as she helped Viola to her hooves.

‘Yeah... Yeah I think so’, Sparky said with a frown. ‘The hell was that? Where’s Twilight? Where’s La Roche?’

‘I... I don’t know’, Kelso said with a frown, glancing around for any sign of what happened. Unfortunately for her, there was none. Not only was there no sign of La Roche and Twilight; there wasn’t any sign of anything. The world was a blank black landscape devoid of all colours and shapes that made up the real world.

‘I’m not going to lie... I’ve never been more scared in my entire life’, Dizzy said with a frown as she leaned forward and wrapped her forelegs around Sparky.

Kelso couldn’t help but agree.

That was when they heard it, there was a low humming sound in the distance, someone... or something was humming a tune! Then, that’s when the singing started.

‘Nobody can tell ya; there's only one song worth singin'. They may try and sell ya, 'cause it hangs them up to see someone like you!’

‘What is that?’ Hopely asked as she and the rest of the passive observers looked frantically around for the source of the singing. That’s when they saw it, off in the distance, a soft white glow.

‘But you've gotta make your own kind of music! Sing your own special song! Make your own kind of music even if nobody else sings along!’

The glow began to move closer, and Kelso and company were able to get a better look at it. As it turned out, ‘it’, was a pegasus mare, with a straw yellow mane poofed up similar to that of Pinkie Pie’s. Her eyes were a brilliant purple, and that was when they realised, that they knew who this was.

‘You're gonna be knowing the loneliest kind of lonely. It may be rough goin', just to do your things the hardest thing to do. But you've gotta make your own kind of music! Sing your own special song; make your own kind of music even if nobody else sings along!’ Surprise sang as she touched down on the ground before them, ceasing her singing and looking up at them and smiling brightly. ‘Hi!’

Kelso looked at the mare in amazement, she was awestruck, and she had no idea what to even say at this point.

‘Cat got your tongue? DS Kelso?’ Surprise asked with a cheeky grin.

‘I don’t understand...’ Kelso said with a frown.

‘We’ve got time! I’ll answer a few questions, if I can’, Surprise said with a smile.

‘What’s going on?’ Viola asked, thinking of the first thing to pop into her head.

‘Oh, the memory you were just watching was a baaaaaad one!’ Surprise said in an incredibly cheerful manner, far too cheerful. ‘The one you call the Unknowable Mare? The one who is showing you all this? She wasn’t ready for it, and I used that as my in! You see, I’m like her... well, sort of, kind of... well not really...’

‘Who are you?’ Kelso asked.

‘I’m Surprise! Silly!’ Surprise said with a grin. ‘I’m an angel!’

‘What?’ Dizzy asked, her head poking up at the mention of angels.

‘I know right? Who’d have thought? I mean, me? An angel? The universe has a really fucked up sense of humour! I mean, I killed people for a living!’ Surprise said with a grin. ‘LOTS of people!’

Kelso glanced to Sparky, and then to Viola, and then to Sparky once more before looking back at Surprise. ‘That doesn’t exactly make us feel better’, she said with a frown.

‘Yeah’, Surprise said with a shrug. ‘I’d imagine not, if it helps though, I feel bad about most of them! Except for Firefly, she was a bitch!’

‘Riveting...’ Viola said with a frown. ‘Did you mean to tell us something?’

‘Oh! Yeah! I almost forgot, here we are almost out of time and I’m wasting it, silly me!’ Surprise said with a giggle. ‘The eyes! They’re the windows to the soul!’

‘What?’ Kelso asked, a deadpan expression falling on her face. Was that supposed to help them?

‘Yeah! Believe it or not, that phrase is actually the most important thing in... someone’s life, I actually don’t know who, I was just told to tell you that!’ Surprise said before spreading her wings and floating into the air.

‘Told by whom?’ Dizzy asked, looking up at Surprise as she flew back from them. ‘By God?’

‘No silly! God isn’t real! God is just something you all made up so that you’d feel better about yourselves!’ Surprise said. ‘Bye!’

Soon enough, the black landscape began to wash away, turning white, and Surprise began to sing once more.

Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Something was wrong.

Kelso thought it was something wrong with her ears, because when the world faded back into view there was no sound to be heard. They were watching as Princess Luna and the rest of Twilight Sparkle’s friends stood over her, poking and prodding the unicorn awake, mouthing words silently to each other.

‘What is going on here?’ Kelso asked, startling herself at the sound of her own voice. ‘Can... can you all hear me?’ she asked, turning to face her friends.

There was a slight murmur between the members of the group, each of them double checking to make sure that their senses weren’t off. ‘I don’t understand what’s going on...’ Hopely said with a frown.

‘I don’t either’, Kelso said, returning Hopely’s frown with one of her own, she turned back to where Twilight Sparkle was lying on the ground, to discover Pinkie Pie shaking Heinrich awake. She watched for a moment before turning back to her friends, unable to hear the conversation as it went along. Kelso opened her mouth to speak again, before they were suddenly caught up in another scene change.

They found themselves standing in a brick and mortar building that looked very familiar to all of them. Kelso turned and looked to each of the walls around her, and recognised where she was immediately. This was the entrance building to FutureTec Headquarters. Unsurprisingly, the room was pretty much identical to what it looked like in the present; the only major difference was the propaganda posters. FutureTec was well known for the posters that it plastered all over the walls of their installations, nonsense about building a better world and what not. One of them caught Kelso’s eye, it was a large poster on the far wall, depicting one of Emerald Sparkle’s combots walking a group of children across the street. ‘FutureTec, Old Friends you never knew you had’, Kelso read aloud before scoffing at the ridiculousness of it.

The messages were basically the same in every FutureTec propaganda poster that was ever made, FutureTec is wonderful, FutureTec is great, FutureTec is your friend, trust FutureTec. Same message in every poster, but as the years go by, the messages just get updated faces.

The door silently slid open, Kelso and company almost missed the silent opening, were it not for someone very important coming through the door.

Sparky turned her head towards the door. ‘Aw fuck, it’s Mister Happy!’ she cried out as a look of terror formed on her face. Kelso turned to face it, to discover the familiar smiling face on a combot’s telescreen; he rolled about silently on the combot’s tracked wheel base, occasionally gesturing with his arms as he rolled along. He was not audible to them, but they could tell he was speaking.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends trotted in after him. The same group that had travelled around the world was now missing Princess Luna, but was joined instead by Vinyl Scratch and Surprise.

Kelso’s eyes fell to Surprise, and she was quickly lost in thought about the strange pegasus mare that had visited them scant minutes ago to give them information that was apparently going to help them out. The meaning of the information given to them had yet to become clear.

‘The eyes are the windows to the soul... the hell is that supposed to mean?’ Kelso asked herself before looking back up at Surprise. The pegasus mare seemed to be off in her own little world, staring blankly into space... or at least, that was what she seemed to be doing, no sooner than Kelso laid her eyes upon her did Surprise snap from her stupor and met the detective sergeant’s gaze, giving her a wink before returning to her own little world.

‘Did anyone else just see that?!’ Kelso said, crying out in alarm at what had just happened. This was memory, and Surprise had just given a direct acknowledgement to their presence.

Viola, Hopely, and Sparky snapped their attention to Surprise, just in time for the pegasus mare to mouth something to them. ‘Don’t worry, it’ll all be over soon’, she said, or at least, that’s what they thought she said, the world was quiet to them, leaving them to guess the shapes that the pony’s mouth had just made.

Unfortunately for Surprise, her antics had not gone unnoticed. Vinyl Scratch glanced over at her, removing her goggles and raising an eyebrow at the pegasus mare. Surprise merely shrugged, and Vinyl Scratch dismissed the incident completely as just another odd ‘moment’ in the life of the world’s oddest pegasus.

To be fair, that was something they could at least agree upon.

…

Pinkie Pie was not happy.

Shocker, right? Not that it should be, considering the fact that she was not really Pinkie Pie. She looked like Pinkie Pie, she sounded like Pinkie Pie, she even thought like Pinkie Pie, but this? This was all a lie. She was a changeling, that had been made apparent to her by the one called the Unknowable Mare.

Pinkie Pie, no, she needed to stop referring to herself as Pinkie Pie. As much as she wanted to be, she was not really Pinkie Pie... but what would she call herself? She tried to think back to her earliest memory. Her earliest memory was of Pinkie Pie throwing her first party... but that was the problem, it wasn't hers.

She was a changeling, yes, but she had no memory of her time as part of the hive, whatever FutureTec had done to her, they had wiped her past clean, and now, here she was sitting in Doctor Fontaine's office, looking through the personal files of the mare that had made her this way.

She had taken Doctor Fontaine's MIP off of Viola Auditore two or three hours ago or so, while they were off viewing the past with the Unknowable Mare, she wasn't going to be using it. Pinkie Pie didn't need to go back and view the past, she remembered it plain as day, up to the point when the National Health Service had taken her DNA samples that FutureTec used to turn the changeling that she was into a falsetto Pinkie Pie.

Now, here she was, sitting at Doctor Fontaine's desk, reading the files on Doctor Fontaine's computer terminal, looking for anything related to who she had been in the past. She had found the files on the project, but it didn't give her any insight into who she was. The only mention of who Pinkie Pie had been before was of a changeling dubbed: Subject Epsilon. There was little on the way of information on the identity of Subject Epsilon, who she had used to be.

Then, a thought occurred to her, what if there was nothing here, because there was nothing to say? What if changelings were nothing more than mindless drones taking direction from the queen? Twilight had told her once that changelings were kind of like bees, in bee hives, there are no individuals, and everyone works for the betterment of the entire hive. Were changelings like that?

Pinkie Pie didn't know, but it only made her more depressed. She had already tried to drown her troubles, and that hadn't worked. She glanced over to the three bottles of rubbing alcohol that she'd tossed rather haphazardly onto the floor. She'd chugged all three of them a couple hours ago, discovering that alcohol had absolutely no effect on changelings. Pinkie Pie had calmed down a bit since then, and had started to think rationally again... or, well, at least close enough to rationally that Pinkie Pie could get to; she was Pinkie Pie, after all.

She had to wonder, had she drank the bottles trying to get drunk? Or had she been trying to commit suicide? She wasn't sure what the original motivation had been.

Pinkie Pie let out a sigh and shook her head. What would Twilight have said if she knew what Pinkie had done? She wasn't sure any more, and it wasn't like she could go ask. FutureTec had created her and changeling clones of her friends, but they were not her friends. They were hollow shadows of themselves. FutureTec had somehow created artificial intelligences out of them, and it had changed them completely.

Pinkie Pie had not spoken to any of them, and likewise the AIs of her friends had barely acknowledged her existence. Being around them had made her uncomfortable, particularly around the Rainbow Dash one. Rainbow Dash had always had something of an aggressive personality, but it had since become warped into hyper-aggressiveness, lashing out at anyone who came close to her.

Pinkie Pie turned her eyes back to the terminal; she had just come across a file marked highly confidential. Her interest was piqued, and using Doctor Fontaine's MIP access, she opened the file and read it over.

'Oh my gosh!' Pinkie Pie cried out. She had to see this for herself.

Pinkie Pie pushed open the door to Doctor Fontaine's office, she walked down the corridor to the lift at the end, swiping the MIP at the lift and taking it down to the seventh sublevel. The lift door opened, and Pinkie Pie's eyes widened. She could not believe what she was seeing.

The room she found herself in was a tall one, ten metres from top to bottom. On the far left side of the room was a large black, vaguely pyramid shaped object. Pinkie Pie pulled up the MIP, and took a look at the files. 'The Selena Tetrahedron?' Pinkie Pie asked.

Looking at the files, Pinkie Pie learned that this object was discovered at a FutureTec dig site on the moon, at a place near the Claudius crater on the moon, apparently, FutureTec had conducted a number of experiments on the device, which they figured was some kind of transportation device, it had apparently transported several scientists over some vast distance, and then returned them... burned to a crisp. The tetrahedron had transported seven or so ponies before it burned itself out. There was another file on here that indicated that FutureTec had apparently discovered another one of these devices in orbit of the planet Tartarus and sent a spaceship out to find it, but Pinkie Pie saved reading it for later.

Instead, she turned to the right side of the room, where she discovered a very strange looking statue. It was a statue of a tall creature that seemed to be composed of differing parts. It had the head of a pony, the body of a snake, a lion's paw, and eagle's talon, mismatching antlers... Pinkie Pie had seen enough, she knew what she was looking at. Standing there in all his glory was none other than Discord in his stone prison.

Arranged in a hexagonal shape around him were six gemstones, Pinkie Pie recognised them immediately to be the Elements of Harmony. The elements were thought to have been lost after the Fall of Canterlot, that was clearly a lie, FutureTec had to have picked them up during the clearing of the wreckage of Canterlot from Whitetail Wood had hid them here ever since. Every couple of seconds or so, lightning arched out of the Elements of Harmony and Discord, impacting on the Tetrahedron on the far side of the room.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what FutureTec was trying to do, they were using Discord and the Elements of Harmony to try and re-power the Selena Tetrahedron.

Pinkie Pie let out a shriek of terror, and took off back towards the lift, heading back up to the fifth sublevel. Kelso and the rest of her friends needed to know about this.

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Pinkie Pie wasn’t sure what to do. She looked up at her friends as they stood motionlessly with their eyes closed, with the so called Unknowable Mare in the centre of them. This device, the so called ‘psionic resonator’ had essentially become their prison. They were trapped here with no control over their own faculties.

Pinkie Pie glanced down at the MIP on her foreleg and brought up the clock. 0415, they’d been in this thing for hours. Enough was enough. They had more important things to do than to sit here all night. A look of determination came over Pinkie Pie’s face as she brought up the holographic keyboard and began to type. It was time to wake them up.

...

Kelso dropped to her knees, as a loud piercing shrill filled the air; she let out a cry in pain as she struggled to keep her eyes open. She blinked and the scene changed, they were in Ponyville, and could only watch as the scenes flashed before her.

A battalion sized group of ponies clad in metal armour marched through the streets of Ponyville. At the head of them was an elderly unicorn clad in purple robes. Kelso recognised him from a previous memory, Archimedes, the leader of the Fillydelphia chapter of the Cultus Mechanius, he and his people were invading Ponyville.

Archimedes raised a hoof and brought it back down to the ground, signalling his soldiers to open fire on the unsuspecting town ponies. The air was filled with the sound of gunfire and the citizens of Ponyville ran for their lives.

‘Today! The secrets of the Everfree Plains Missile Base shall be ours!’ Archimedes cried out triumphantly. ‘Paladins of the Fillydelphia Chapter! Forward march!’

The scene changed, they were in the town square, and an azure unicorn mare stood, wielding one of the Fillydelphia Chapter’s heavy machine guns opening fire on any and all who dared to oppose her. At Trixie’s flanks were none other than Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon, Spike, and Mr. Happy, and the group all stood together, arranged in a circle trying to hold off the horde of Fillydelphia chapter Paladins as they closed in around them.

Lyra held a lever action shotgun in her telekinetic grip, firing it off every chance she could, as Bon Bon pulled a stick of dynamite from a bandoleer and passed it over to Spike, the dragon used his fire breath to light the stick before tossing it as hard as he could into the advancing lines of Paladins.

‘Hey!’ Spike called out.

‘What is it Spike?’ Trixie asked as she inserted a new box of ammunition into her machine gun, cocking the weapon. ‘We’re a little busy!’

Spike merely pointed off to the distance, there was a train approaching, an Equestrian steam engine pulling a single cargo container. The train came to a stop, and explosive bolts fired off on the container. Kelso had to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.

She most certainly was not.

‘Laufen! Los los los!’ cried out a voice with a thick accent. Kelso looked up to discover none other than Heinrich Büchsenmacher. ‘Panzer Lehr Angriff!’

Nearly a dozen Schäferhund soldiers, along with a tank mounted with four auto cannons dismounted from the train car and rolled out into the street. The Schäferhund Flakpanzer rolled into view and opened fire on the cult troops. The Fillydelphian paladins watched in terror as their ranks were cut down and turned to flee, many of them attempting to abandon their gear to flee faster.

It was to no avail, the might of the Flakpanzer was too much and it wasn’t long before the fighting force of the Fillydelphia chapter was completely destroyed.

‘Not so good when you have to fight an equal’, Trixie smirked.

‘Stop running! Fight! Fight!’ A booming voice called out to the few remaining Paladins who were in the process of fleeing.

Trixie looked out to see Archimedes himself wading through battle; a powerful energy shield augmented by his own telekinetic ability shimmered around him as he personally engaged the soldiers of the Panzer Lehr division, darting around the battle field quickly and with skill. Trixie’s anger flared again. She abandoned her heavy machine gun and charged the elder unicorn.

Archimedes hadn’t taken notice of her yet, he dashed by the Panzer Lehr division’s flakpanzer, slapping a small detonation charge on the tracks. It exploded breaking the links of the flakpanzer’s treads, stopping it, literally, in its tracks.

Trixie leapt at the aging unicorn, passing right through his telekinetic barrier, which was designed to stop faster moving objects, like bullets, but allowed slower moving people, like Trixie, through, she caught the chapter master by surprise, breaking his barrier with his focus shifting. Trixie planted her fore hoof into his face, striking as hard as she could, a single blow landed, but when she moved to strike again, Archimedes moved his head out of the way and responded with a kick that sent Trixie off him and broke her hold over the shotgun, sending it clattering to the ground. Trixie got back up and both of them eyed the weapon.

Trixie and Archimedes both dove for it, struggling to take control of it in a fight for their lives.

Heinrich blindsided Archimedes, leaping at him to knock him off balance, it didn’t work however, as Archimedes had ducked at the last minute. However, the distraction had caused him to release his hold on the shotgun, when he turned back towards Trixie; he discovered that the barrel was pointed right at his face.

‘Well fuck’, Archimedes said.

Trixie grinned at him, and pulled the trigger, watching with a certain amount of pride as the chapter master's head exploded.

…

Something was fighting Pinkie Pie, it had to be the Unknowable Mare; she had to have been directly interfacing with the psionic resonator’s controls, and she was blocking each of Pinkie Pie’s attempts to shut the device down.

The why of it was in the back of Pinkie Pie’s mind. What was going on in there? What was so important that the Unknowable Mare needed to keep them in? Pinkie Pie pushed these thoughts away, the why of it mattered little. She needed to get her friends out of there. Whatever the Unknowable Mare was doing, it couldn’t possibly be good.

…

The scene changed and Kelso and company found themselves at the deserted gates of Canterlot, standing behind none other than Twilight Sparkle. The image before them flicked and distorted as they followed Twilight deeper into the abandoned city.

‘What’s going on?’ Sparky asked as they followed.

‘With the events of the memory? Or the flickering?’ Viola asked.

‘Well… both I guess?’ Sparky asked as she and the rest of her friends followed Twilight as she walked along the eerily deserted streets of Canterlot towards the castle.

‘This… this has got to be it, the big one, where Twilight Sparkle overthrew the Princesses’, Hopely said. ‘They say that Princess Celestia saw this day coming, and secretly evacuated Canterlot so that they could have their final battle without any innocent bystanders getting hurt’.

‘Downright noble of her’, Sparky said with a sarcastic huff as Twilight Sparkle pushed open the door to the castle and entered the Great Hall, they climbed the stairs in silence, and pushed open the door to the throne room.

Sitting on her throne at the far end of the room was none other than Princess Celestia herself, she sat silently, as if she had been waiting for this moment for a long time. ‘Hello Twilight, I knew you would come’, she said softly.

‘You did?’ Twilight asked, looking dumbfoundedly at the Princess.

Celestia nodded slightly. ‘I’ve known that this day would come for a long, long time. It’s unfortunate, now that it is finally here’.

‘Then you should have done something about it! You won’t do anything to help us! But instead, you’ve sat up here on your throne for the last thousand years and held us back from reaching our full potential!’ Twilight yelled. ‘You’re a danger to all of pony kind and I’m here to put you down!’

Celestia shook her head slowly. ‘Twilight... no, it’s not me that you need to worry about’, Celestia said with a frown.

Twilight gave her mentor a look of annoyance. ‘Fine, I’ll bite, who’s so much worse than you?’

Princess Celestia did not respond, and at that moment, Kelso jumped as Princess Luna herself walked through the passive observers as they weren’t there. They watched as she tapped Twilight on the back and gave her an eerie smile. ‘Surprise!’ she said and hit Twilight with a powerful telekinetic attack, sending her flying into a stone pillar.

Princess Celestia flinched as she watched her student hit the wall with such tremendous force. Twilight cried out in pain as she slid down towards the floor.

‘Princess Luna... why?’ Twilight asked weakly as she struggled to pull herself up from the floor.

Luna did not respond, instead she hit Twilight with another telekinetic attack, sending her flying into another pillar. ‘Don’t tell me you’ve been so naïve?’ Luna asked as she walked slowly up to Twilight Sparkle. ‘Do you remember me telling you that it was ME, who was the outgoing one, and Tia the one who was shy? Well that was always true, did you really think that she would be the one capable of being your real enemy? When she, even as a little filly, required others to push her into any confrontation at all?’

The passive observers watched in silence as Twilight struggled to get back to her hooves, their vision began to blur, and the sound became static. They could only watch as Princess Luna continued to speak, unable to hear what she was saying.

‘But... the elements of harmony! We cured you of the darkness in your heart! We defeated Nightmare Moon and saved you!’ Twilight eventually said after a few seconds of static, and coughed up blood.

Princess Luna sighed. ‘Naïve fool! My plans were formulated LONG before I became Nightmare Moon! In fact... why don’t you ask your beloved teacher the real reason why she held back our technological progress?’

Twilight looked towards Celestia in pain. She discovered that the princess of the sun was crying. ‘Twilight, you must understand... I would never do something that wasn’t in the best interests of the people! Personal feelings never took into account! If technological advancement was the best step for our people! I would have encouraged it! But it wasn’t! Don’t you now see why?’

Luna acted before Twilight could respond, driving a hoof into her face. ‘Yes, see, Tia couldn’t bear to hurt her baby sister! She knew what she needed to do, for the good of all, I needed to be destroyed, but she couldn’t do it, so she banished me to the moon instead! She knew that I would escape eventually, and she was afraid if our technological progress were to keep on the track that it was in. When I came back, I would have a powerful army at my disposal, Equestria would roll over the rest of the world, and I wouldn’t stop there! Today the world, Tomorrow the rest of the Tau Ceti star system, next week? The entire galaxy!’

‘You’re... you’re insane!’ Twilight said weakly.

‘You are small!’ Luna said. ‘You cannot possibly comprehend a mind like mine. So go ahead, think I’m insane. Won’t matter much longer’.

At this point, Luna was done talking; she began to kick Twilight hard in her chest, and her stomach. She intended to beat the unicorn to death. Twilight looked over to Celestia communicating her pleas for help through her eyes. Celestia couldn’t bear to make eye contact, and looked away as her sister continued to beat her prized student to death.

‘She is not going to help you! She cannot even help herself!’ Luna cried out.

Twilight cried out in pain as the beating kept coming. Luna decided that she was done. She had had her fun with Twilight Sparkle and it was time to put her out of her misery. She raised her hoof for the final blow, ready to bring it down upon her.

A flash of white darted across Twilight’s eyes, as a cloud of white smoke slammed into Luna at full force, sending the princess of the night clattering to the floor. The white smoke rematerialised into Celestia as she pinned Luna against the ground.

‘Get off me!’ Luna cried out in anger.

‘No!’ Celestia said defiantly, she looked towards Twilight Sparkle with sad eyes. ‘I am so sorry’, she said. The two royal sisters turned into clouds of white and purple smoke, and rose into the air. Twilight watched as the smoke clouds tangled and entwined with each other. She heard Princess Luna’s voice shriek, as the two clouds became enveloped in a bright light. The light filled the room completely and then went out. The echoes of screaming filling the halls, and then became silent.

Twilight sighed and fell back onto the ground, closing her eyes to rest. It was over. Princess Celestia had sacrificed herself to kill Princess Luna.

...

It was working! Pinkie Pie had done it she had finally wrestled control away from the Unknowable Mare, now it was time to bring her friends home. She dashed over to the psionic resonator, there was space for six here, she stepped into the unoccupied space and closed her eyes. Time to enter the dream.

...

Kelso couldn’t believe it. This was not how it was supposed to have gone, this was not what the history books had said. They had been lied to their entire lives.

Crack!

Twilight’s eyes shot back open as the whole mountain city began to shift. ‘Oh no!’ Twilight cried out. She forced herself to her hooves and began to drag herself out of the castle.

Of course, why had they not seen it sooner? Canterlot was not structurally sound, and it had to have been the Princesses themselves holding it up with their powerful telekinetic abilities.

Twilight pulled herself out of the castle to discover that her hypothesis was right. Large cracks were forming in the ground and the streets of the city. Canterlot was going to fall.

The entire city gave way at once, falling from the mountain and down towards Whitetail Wood. Twilight fell along with it down towards the ground, she didn’t scream, she didn’t struggle. She just fell.

Suddenly, Kelso looked up to discover a new bright pink figure materialising before them. ‘Pinkie Pie?’ Kelso asked in disbelief.

‘Hey Kelso!’ Pinkie Pie said with a bright smile. ‘Time to come home!’

The world began to fade once more, a bright white light formed around them; they were exiting memories for good. Good riddance, Kelso had to say. She looked over to Twilight once more, noticing the unicorn mare’s horn begin to glow. Twilight disappeared in a flash of white light, and the passive observers finally woke up.

Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Kelso opened her eyes. Much to her surprise, they were back in the Ghastly Gorge Industrial Complex. It was over; they were done watching the memories that the Unknowable Mare had been showing them. Not a moment too soon. Kelso brought up her Police Information Processor, darting her eyes back and forth to bring up the clock, 0432. Oh and she felt it, she was exhausted, she was ready to collapse and go to sleep right here if not for the simple fact that they needed to get the hell out of here.

0433, people would be starting to show up for work in a couple hours, and they fully intended to be long gone by that time. Kelso glanced around at her friends, all of them looked absolutely exhausted, with the exception of Pinkie Pie; the obnoxious pink party pony was smiling brightly for some particular reason. ‘Okay then... now that’s over with...’

There was a flash of blue before her eyes, and before she knew it, Pinkie Pie was on the ground. Fuck! Kelso had almost completely forgotten about the Unknowable Mare, she was now on top of Pinkie Pie, attempting to strangle the life out of her.

‘I... was... not... done... yet... FACEDANCER!’ The Unknowable Mare cried out in anger as she struggled to choke the life out of Pinkie Pie. Kelso and company’s jaws dropped wide open, dumbstruck by the event. Kelso instinctively lashed out at the Unknowable Mare, leaping at her and knocking her to the ground.

‘Get off her!’ Kelso cried out as she tore at the Unknowable Mare’s face, slashing the bandages that covered her eyes.

‘No! Stop!’ The Unknowable Mare cried out as the bandages fell away.

Kelso was surprised to discover that the Unknowable Mare had kind eyes. Incredibly ironic considering her behaviour, they were a deep blue, and they looked up at Kelso with confusion.

‘You... you’re not dead...’ the Unknowable Mare said with confusion in her voice.

‘Uh... no’, Kelso said, raising an eyebrow. ‘No I’m not’.

The Unknowable Mare was silent for a moment, and glanced around to the others in the room. ‘I’m... looking at all of you, and you aren’t dying...’ she said again, this time, sounding more confused that before. ‘They told me... they told me if anyone looked into my eyes that they would die’.

‘Who told you this?’ Kelso asked.

‘Doctor Fontaine...’ the Unknowable Mare said as her voice trailed off. ‘She lied. Obvious now, don’t know why I’m so surprised, should have known, looked into their minds every day, but never bothered to see’.

‘Who are you? What’s your name?’ Kelso asked.

‘... Siddley’, she said softly. Kelso offered her a small smile and allowed her to rise to her hooves. Siddley took a look around the room, taking in her surroundings, she took a good long look at Kelso, and then to Viola, and then the rest of the group. ‘I know what you plan’, Siddley said as she sat down on the floor. ‘I will not stop you...’

‘Hey! The way I see it, you’ve got just as much reason to dislike FutureTec as the rest of us do! They lied to you about your eyesight!’ Pinkie Pie cried out, causing Kelso to jump in surprise. Kelso looked over to her, to discover that the pink party pony was unharmed, showing no physical signs of assault, must have been something to do with the mare’s changeling physiology.

‘Perhaps’, Siddley said with a shrug before picking her bandages up and tying them back over her eyes. ‘Perhaps I may help you. In any case, I will do things as I always have, in my own way. You should leave now; it will not be long before FutureTec’s employees come to start their day of work’.

...

Kelso kept her eyes closed as she sat back in her seat. They had since departed from the Ghastly Gorge Industrial Complex, and they had all piled into the prison transport truck that they had taken to get here in the first place. The more Kelso thought about it, the more that things didn’t make sense.

She was exhausted, but her mind was far too active to allow her to sleep. She looked up at Pinkie Pie, who was sitting doubled over in the seat next to her, fast asleep. Did changelings even need to sleep? Or was this just a case of the memories influencing actions? Kelso didn’t know. Probably would never know. Changelings never left their regime, and she would likely never meet another one. Or at least, not meet another one and know it.

She thought back to the confrontation between Siddley and Pinkie Pie, and the more she thought about it, the less it made sense. There was something going on between the two of them, almost as if they had a certain history that the rest of the group was not aware of. The reasons for which, they would probably never know. More likely than not, Pinkie Pie didn’t remember her past with Siddley, and Siddley was pretty much guaranteed not to share. At this point? Kelso had no idea what to even make of this Siddley / Pinkie Pie conflict. Maybe there was more to find out. She would have to do some digging, that was for sure, but then again that was her job, that was what she was good at.

She’d start tomorrow; she was far too tired to think about this anymore tonight. She closed her eyes once more, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

...

The transport truck made a detour to drop Sparky and Dizzy off at Sparky’s house in Freetown. Sparky pulled up the time on her MIP, almost 0530. Oh today was going to suck, she had to be up and out of bed for work in three hours. She swiped her MIP over the door lock, listening to the small electronic whir as the door unlocked for her, and slid open. Sparky and Dizzy quietly shut the door behind them, and trotted upstairs, hoping that they didn’t wake up Grandma V in the process.

Dizzy had been staying at Sparky’s house since their return from Tartarus, Dizzy had explained that she wasn’t ready to go back home to New Maneaan yet, and since the two had entered a relationship with each other during their transit to Tartarus aboard the Anatoliy Leninov, she especially wasn’t sure how the others of her faith would react to her being in a homosexual relationship.

Sparky had understood Dizzy’s hesitation; family meant a lot to both of them, and the last thing that either of them would have wanted was to lose them.

‘Hey, Dizzy? Is everything okay? You’ve been awful quiet these last couple of hours’, Sparky said with a frown.

Dizzy looked up at Sparky with a frown as she sat down on Sparky’s bed. ‘I’ve been thinking about what Surprise said... about God being something we made up to feel better about ourselves...’

Sparky sighed and sat down on the bed next to her. ‘Come on Dizzy! We’ve had this conversation before, Surprise is crazy, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about, If there’s any truth to what she’s saying, then it’s that God isn’t quite what you expect him to be, doesn’t mean that there is nothing out there’, Sparky said offering Dizzy a small smile.

Dizzy looked up at Sparky brightly, leaning forward and giving the mare a tight hug. ‘Thank you... Sparky’, she said softly.

Sparky placed a hoof on Dizzy’s head and lightly ruffled her mane. ‘You’re welcome... now come on, let’s go to bed; tomorrow is going to be an even longer day if we don’t get any sleep... Station BRIGHTHOUSE is supposed to make the announcement tomorrow’. Sparky said with a smile.

‘Sparky... you’ve been keeping this a secret for months... tell me? Please?’ Dizzy asked, offering up her best puppy dog pout.

‘Ah! Too adorable! Fine! Fine!’ Sparky said playfully pushing Dizzy away. ‘FutureTec’s been tracking a large mineral rich asteroid that’s going to pass between Belleau and our moon, Selena in five months. We’re planning to bring the asteroid; dubbed X57 into orbit, where we’ll strip mine it for resources, this is big, because the asteroid is rich in helium-3, and I don’t need to tell you that our planet basically runs on it, It’s going to be a big day...’

Epilogue: 90 Years Prior

Epilogue
90 Years Prior

Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath and flicked open her lighter. She held the flame up to her face, lighting the cigarette that she had placed in her mouth, and took a nice long drag on it. She let out a sigh of relief, Twilight Sparkle had been a smoker for the last ten years, and she could hardly go a couple of hours without having one.

Being Prime Minister of the Equestrian Republic was a stressful job, she didn’t have to tell anyone that, and smoking was one of the only ways that she could relax anymore. She had done a lot of good over her two five year terms, and here she was in the final months of her second, and what would be final term.

She was popular, popular that she could remain in power until her death if she continued to lead the Pony’s Progressive Party. The people looked up to her as a shining beacon of hope... but she couldn’t continue to run. She knew that for sure.

It was against the point of a democracy, something that was still relatively new to the Equestrian peoples. She had five months left in her term before she would dissolve Parliament, and a new election would be held. After dissolving Parliament, she would resign from her position as head of the Pony’s Progressive Party, and another would take her place.

She’d been grooming Scootaloo to take her place for the last two years, ever since the pegasus mare’s accident had forced her to resign from her position as Captain of the Wonderbolts. Scootaloo would do a good job, she was sure of it.

Twilight took another drag on the cigarette, and nearly jumped at the sound of a knock on the door. ‘Come in!’ Twilight called out, and watched as the door pushed open. In walked Spike, her former assistant looking as good as ever. Dragons aged slowly, and Spike looked almost identical to the way he did ten years ago when Twilight had first taken office, except for his height, he was about five or so centimetres taller. Twilight smiled warmly at Spike, happy to see him for the first time in nearly a year.

‘I thought you were quitting’, Spike said, pointing to the cigarette that Twilight was smoking.

‘I... I’m trying, but it’s really hard...’ Twilight said with a frown as she extinguished the cigarette in the ashtray sitting on her desk. ‘How are you Spike? How is everyone else?’

‘I keep busy’, Spike said with a shrug. ‘I’ve been mostly in charge of the AP/VI project, Sprocket took some time off to care for Scootaloo after her accident, and has only been in to work two days a week pretty consistently for the last two years’.

‘Something tells me that Sprocket doesn’t particularly understand the idea of “time off”’, Twilight said with a chuckle.

‘Heh, no’, Spike said with a smirk. ‘No he doesn’t, I haven’t really seen any of the others lately, I had lunch with Rainbow Dash last week, but that was it... she misses you, you know?’

Twilight frowned at Spike and nodded her head in understanding. ‘I miss her too... this is why we broke it off though, we just don’t have time to be with each other...’ Twilight said with a look of disappointment on her face.

‘But you didn’t ask me here to talk about the good old days, did you, Twilight?’ Spike asked.

Twilight always liked this about Spike; he was always a sharp one, despite the fact that he was still considered a baby dragon. Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle, Spike was twenty-seven years old at this point; he was hardly a baby from any other point of reference. ‘No, Spike, no I most certainly did not... I just want to preface this by saying that you don’t have to do what I’m about to ask of you, you have every right to say no and go on about your life...’

‘Save it Twilight, you wouldn’t have called on me for it if it wasn’t important’, Spike said determinately. ‘Now tell me, what is it that you want me to do?’

Twilight nodded her head in agreement, leaning back slightly in her chair as the thoughts of days long gone by found their way back into her head. ‘The Tome of Alhazred is still out there... Spike, and quite frankly, if there is anyone that’s well equipped to handle it, it’s you’.

Spike nodded. ‘Dragon fire is one of the few things that can destroy it... actually, the only thing we know that can destroy it...’ Spike said, his voice trailing off.

‘Correct’, Twilight said with a nod. ‘I... I want you to go and find it, you’d be acting as my personal representative and you would have full diplomatic honours...’

‘Do I get a gun and a badge?’ Spike said with a small chuckle.

Twilight grinned at him and opened her desk, pulling out a round badge and an Emerald Ordinance No.4 Revolver and set it on the table in front of Spike. Spike picked up the badge and took a look at it closely.

‘Special Executor of the Prime Minister of the Equestrian Republic?’ Spike read off the badge as he looked up.

‘Authorised by act of Parliament just yesterday’, Twilight said with a smile. ‘You’ll have full access to our overseas assets, and diplomatic authority similar to that of our ambassadors and consuls, including diplomatic immunity... in the nations that recognise our authority... that is...’ Twilight added her voice trailing off.

‘I see...’ Spike said with a nod.

‘You understand why you have the right to say no to this appointment, right? Your search might take you into nations that don’t respect our authority, meaning that they won’t respect your diplomatic immunity, if you get into trouble while you’re out looking; you know that I would do everything in my power to help you... but this search might take you longer than five months. I just can’t guarantee that if you get into trouble, that whomever is Prime Minister of the Republic will help you’, Twilight said, a look of worry forming on her face. She cared much for the dragon, he was her oldest friend, and he had been with her since the very beginning. She felt guilty for asking him to do this for her now.

Spike, however offered Twilight a reassuring smile. ‘Don’t worry Twilight; I understand completely, I’ll do the job. I’ll find the Tome of Alhazred and destroy it!’ Spike said triumphantly, taking the badge and gun from the table.

Twilight sighed in relief and offered Spike a smile in return. ‘Thank you Spike, I knew I could count on you!’ she said, getting up from, her chair and around the desk, giving Spike a tight hug.

‘You can always count on me, Twilight’, Spike said with a bright smile.

‘Spike, I don’t want to lie to you... this is going to be dangerous. Once the Tome of Alhazred knows that you’re looking for it. It will start sending people after you to try and stop you; it may even try to kill you...’ Twilight said.

‘I’m aware of the risk, Twilight’, Spike said simply. ‘I’m going to do the job. I’m the only one who can. And one day I will return with that book’s ashes in a pickle jar to put in a museum!’

Twilight said nothing, but continued to smile at the dragon. ‘I wish you good luck, Spike’, Twilight said after a few moments of silence.

‘I should go, I need to get ready to take a trip’, Spike said with a look of determination in his eyes. ‘I’ll start in the Nederlands, and work my way out from there. I promise you Twilight, I will be back, and I will be back victoriously!’

Twilight and Spike gave each other their goodbyes, and Spike left her be to ready himself for his new job. Twilight returned to her desk, pulling another cigarette out of the pack sitting on her desk and lighting up. She didn’t know it yet, but this would be the last time that she would ever see Spike the dragon in her life.

Chapter 1

Sleeping in the Light
Chapter 1

The silence was broken by the rumblings of an empty stomach. She jumped in surprise at how loud that had been, almost wanting to shush her stomach, though, that would have been far more embarrassing than anything.

'Damn', called a voice from the other end of the room. 'I heard that from over here!'

Ana Kelso frowned as she looked back down at her stomach; she had gotten distracted by her work, and had allowed the time to slide by her. This was not an uncommon occurrence for the earth pony mare, when she got into her work; there wasn't much that could interrupt it. Except for the clarion call of her stomach to food, so it seemed. Kelso looked up at the clock on the wall; she discovered that the time was 1835. Not an unreasonable hour for dinner, in fact.

Kelso looked up to the origin point of the voice. The voice, of course, belonged to Viola Auditore, the odd combination of being Kelso's room-mate, boss, and lover at the same time. The olive coated earth pony mare trotted over to her, and sat down next to her on the sofa, brushing her chestnut mane out of her violet eyes. Viola Auditore always had the high class look about her; Kelso had always liked that, though she expected that might have something to do with her upbringing. Viola was the granddaughter of Octavia Auditore, who, a hundred years ago, was regarded as the finest, and really only good, earth pony cellist ever to grace Equestria. From description, Octavia Auditore had been a high society mare, and nothing less than a true lady. Viola seemed to have inherited that straight from her grandmother. Kelso had always liked that about her.

'Oi, I know you're hungry, but stop looking at me like that!' Viola said with a grin. 'Our oven is still broken, so we're looking at take out again'.

'What?' Kelso asked raising an eyebrow. 'I thought the repair pony came out today?'

'He did. The problem wasn't what he thought it was, and he needed to special order a part that I can't remember the name of', Viola said with a shrug. 'We may be eating Māo Xióng take out for a while'.

Kelso frowned, but nodded her head in agreement. 'I'm going to go take a shower and go out and get some', she said as she rose from her seat on the sofa and trotted off into the bathroom to get ready.

'Get spring rolls! I love those!' Viola called after her.

Kelso nodded her head, and trotted into the bathroom; she stepped over to the shower and turned the water on, allowing it a moment to heat up before risking stepping inside. She stuck out her hoof and felt the water, satisfied that it was warm enough; she took a step inside and allowed the water to run over her. She grabbed a scrub brush with her teeth and set it on the floor, allowing it a few moments to get wet before grabbing a bottle of liquid soap and squeezing some of it out onto the brush head. She picked the brush back up and placed it against her back and began to scrub herself clean, running the brush back and forth, struggling to get every square centimetre on her body. Eventually satisfied, she raised the brush up near the shower head and allowed the water to wash over it, rinsing the brush out completely before returning it to its place on the wall.

Kelso sat down and reached out for a bottle of shampoo, and fumbled with it in her hooves as she struggled to squeeze some onto her mane. Kelso grumbled, this was the only time of the day that she was annoyed to not be a unicorn. She raised her hooves up and began to scrub her mane clean.

After a few moments of scrubbing, she was eventually satisfied, and she stood back up and rinsed herself off, before turning the water off completely. She stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel to dry off, and trotted over towards the bathroom mirror and looked into it; her cobalt eyes looked back at her. In the mirror, she discovered one of the half circle giant combs that were popular with earth ponies and pegasi. She took the comb in her teeth and ran it through her teal mane and tail, allowing her hair to fall back into its normal shape. Satisfied, she stepped out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Opening the closet and pulling out her black overcoat and matching fedora, skilfully dawning both despite her lack of unicorn telekinesis. She glanced into the mirror, and straightened her hat, smiling as she balanced it perfectly, using where her teal mane met her yellow coat for reference. She fiddled with the buttons on her black overcoat and snapped them shut, she was ready to go.

Kelso trotted back into the main room and smiled at Viola as she picked up a small headset that was sitting on the kitchen counter and placed it in her ear. 'I'll be back soon', she said.

'Don't forget the spring rolls!' Viola cried out after her.

'I won't!' Kelso said as she pushed open the front door to their flat and trotted down the stairs and outside onto the street. Kelso looked up at the horizon of the late august sky. The sun was setting, and it glistened off the tall buildings of the Ponyville skyline. The capital city of the Equestrian Republic had always been known for the impressive architecture. Equestrians were a hardy people, they weren't ones to be told no. Someone says that something is impossible; an Equestrian will prove them wrong. It had been a hundred years since the founding of the Equestrian Republic, and in that time, Ponyville had swelled from a small village in the middle of nowhere with a population of under one hundred, to a bustling metropolis with four and a half million people living here.

Kelso trotted down the sidewalk towards her car, and froze. Her car was in its usual parking spot, to be sure, however. There was someone sleeping on the hood. Sleeping! Kelso was mortified, and trotted up the person sleeping on it. ‘What are you doing on my car!?’ Kelso shouted.

‘Huh?’ the sleeping pony said groggily as she lifted her head up. ‘What?’

Kelso took the moment to take a better look at the perpetrator. She was an earth pony, her coat was an obnoxious pink, and her mane was a completely frizzled mess, a darker pink than her coat, but a still obnoxious darker pink nonetheless. The earth pony mare rubbed her sapphire eyes sleepily, and let out a yawn before poking her head up and taking a look around. ‘Where am I?’ she asked groggily.

‘You’re sleeping on my car! Get off!’ Kelso shouted at her.

The pink pony took a look around, and discovered that she indeed was on the hood of Kelso’s car. ‘Oopsie!’ she said as she climbed down off from hood and onto the kerb, and began to look around. The more she looked around at her surroundings, the more confused she got. ‘This isn’t where I took my nap!’ she said eventually.

Kelso frowned, this was just perfect, and this mare was lost. She’d probably been at a party or something nearby, gotten drunk out of her mind, wandered over here, and fell asleep. Kelso would have to help her out, damn her morally inconvenient line of work! It was going to delay her from filling her stomach! Kelso was a police detective, a Detective Sergeant in the Ponyville Police Service Serious and Organised Crime Group. Viola Auditore was her Detective Chief Inspector, and the head of their group, and she would have words for Kelso if she didn’t help this earth pony mare out.

Of course, not that Kelso was actually considering not helping, that was a deplorable thought and she hated her stomach for thinking it. It’s no joke that the stomach becomes the brain when hungry. ‘Are you all right? Do you know your name?’ Kelso asked.

‘Pinkie Pie’, the mare said, nodding her head.

Wonderful, even her name was obnoxious. Kelso reached up to the ear piece in her left ear and gave it a light press. A holographic display materialised before Kelso’s eyes as she turned to look at Pinkie Pie. This, was her Police Information Processor, it would be able to pull up Pinkie Pie’s police record and tell every vital statistic on the pink pony before her, most importantly, a home address.

Kelso frowned however, when she discovered that it did not bring an address up. In fact, it didn’t bring up anything! No name, no address, nothing! Pinkie Pie did not have a police record with the PPS. She expanded the search to include Equestria’s other major metropolitan areas. Nothing in Manehattan, nothing in Fillydelphia, nothing in Canton, and nothing in Ponyville, not a single traffic ticket, not a single drunk and disorderly, not a single anything. According to what Kelso was able to pull up, which was nothing, Pinkie Pie was an upstanding citizen.

Wonderful, the only time that not breaking any laws, ever, had ended up being inconvenient.

‘Ooooh! What is that?’ Pinkie Pie asked, pointing to the PIP over Kelso’s eyes.

‘Uh... it’s my Police Information Processor; it lets me look up your police record... which is something that you don’t seem to have’, Kelso said.

‘It’s got pretty lights!’ Pinkie Pie said, in reference to the holographic display.

‘Yes’, Kelso said, nodding her head with disinterest. ‘Do you know where you are?’

‘Um...’ Pinkie Pie said unsurely, the pink pony glanced around the street taking in her surroundings; she studied the street for a very long time, absorbing every detail of it before turning back to Kelso. ‘No’, she said, offering the detective a small shrug.

Kelso frowned at her. Pinkie Pie didn’t appear to be intoxicated, but she might as well have been with how helpful she was being. ‘What is the last thing you remember?’ she asked.

Pinkie Pie closed her eyes for a moment as she thought back to her last memories. Kelso didn’t know why, but she had a feeling that whatever she was going to say, it was going to be obnoxious.

‘I was skipping through a field full of flowers...’ Pinkie Pie began, pausing as she thought about it some more. Kelso was right, it was obnoxious already. Why had she expected anything different? ‘Then I felt really tired, and there was a tree with plenty of shade, so I sat myself down underneath it and took a nap! Then, I woke up after you started yelling at me!’ Pinkie Pie said. Kelso opened her mouth to respond, however a loud stomach rumble interrupted her. That wasn’t Kelso’s stomach, it was Pinkie Pie’s.

Pinkie Pie looked down at her stomach and offered an embarrassed smile. ‘I’m sorry, I guess I’m hungry’, she said as she rubbed her hoof against her neck.

‘Well, I think that’s something we can agree on... come on, I was just heading out to get food, we can get you something too’, Kelso said.

Pinkie Pie’s face turned to a bright smile, and she yipped loudly in excitement as Kelso unlocked her car door and took to the driver’s seat.

Kelso was going to regret this, she could already tell.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Say what you will about Pinkie Pie. She may have been obnoxious, but she was certainly polite. When it came time to go to bed, she insisted about sleeping on the sofa, and wouldn't take anything more than that. Kelso did have to admit, despite her obnoxiousness, Pinkie Pie was starting to grow on her.

When Kelso awoke the next morning at the usual time of 0600, she discovered that Pinkie Pie was already awake, and she was making breakfast for them. A wonderful dish of toast de cheval, fried eggs, and sugar coated strawberries.

When Kelso first saw the delicious food that Pinkie Pie had prepared for breakfast, her jaw hit the floor. Pinkie Pie said that she could make pretty much anything, but Kelso hadn't exactly paid her much heed when she had.

Pinkie Pie noticed Kelso standing in the room and smiled brightly at her. 'Good mornnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggg!' Pinkie Pie said as she hopped up and down with excitement. 'I made breakfast!' she declared proudly. Kelso did not reply as her jaw was still on the floor. Pinkie Pie giggled and trotted up to the sleepy mare, reaching up with a hoof and closing her mouth for her. 'You're welcome', Pinkie Pie said with a smile as she went back to finishing breakfast.

Not long afterwards, Viola stumbled out of the bedroom sleepily, freezing in place as she smelled the breakfast cooking. ‘Kelso... you can’t cook’, Viola said. ‘It smells too delicious to be you!’

‘It’s not me’, Kelso said, and pointed towards Pinkie Pie. ‘It’s all her’.

‘Uh huh!’ Pinkie Pie said, nodding her head in affirmation. ‘It’ll be ready in five minutes!’ she declared cheerfully as she went back to her work.

‘Okay good, I’ve got some calls to make anyway’, Kelso said with a nod as she trotted back into the bedroom. She picked up the ear piece of her PIP from its resting place on the nightstand and slung it over her ear. She brought up the holographic display, and flicked her eyes to and fro as she brought up the application that she wanted, her mobile phone, and placed the call. The line rang once before answering.

‘Hopely, go’, said the voice on the other end of the line.

‘Good morning! You’re in early Anastasia, are you at your desk?’ Kelso asked.

‘Don’t call me that, and yes, yes I am’.

‘Good to hear, going to visual’, Kelso said as she reached up and touched the earpiece of her PIP. The holographic screen melted away from her eyes, as a secondary emitter sparkled to life, and a glowing orange holographic image of an earth pony mare appeared before her.

‘What can I do for you Kelso?’ DC Hopely asked as she fiddled with the holographic projector on her desk down at headquarters.

‘I’m going to be sending you some information on a person I want you to run through the system, ours, national, Police Internationale... hell, check the NKVD if you can’. Kelso said as she brought the holographic display on her PIP back up and transferred Pinkie Pie’s name and a picture that she had taken of the mare when she had first caught her sleeping on the hood of her car.

‘This is going to take a while’, DC Hopely said as she accepted the transfer.

‘I know, that’s why I want you to get on it as soon as you possibly can’, Kelso said. ‘Head down stairs and use the Crusader, make that lazy dog do something for once’.

‘Will do Detective Sergeant, I’ll have something for you when you and Guv get in’, DC Hopely said with a nod. Her holographic image was looking down at the place where her computer terminal should have been, though it was not visible to Kelso. Something was up; DC Hopely was looking at it far too intensely.

‘Everything okay? Hopely?’ Kelso asked.

‘Yeah... it’s odd though, this name... Pinkie Pie? Sounds familiar... well, I’m going to go run it for you, I should have something for you when you get in, Hopely out’, DC Hopely said with a nod as she extended a hoof towards her terminal, and closed the communications channel.

Detective Constable Anastasia Hopely did not like Kelso; this was something that she knew for sure, and to be fair, Kelso didn’t blame her. Hopely had been a detective for longer than Kelso had. She was a veteran of the Serious and Organised Crime Group of two years, and a uniformed constable for another two before that.

Then, four months ago, the Serious and Organised Crime Group entered its darkest days. In those days, the group had been wracked with corruption from the top down, including Viola Auditore herself. DC Hopely had been the first to stand up to the corruption, and had been forced to flee from the Republic all together, lest she be killed.

Then Kelso came along, and helped Viola to reform, and SOCG stamped out the corruption by pure will alone. Kelso had been promoted to Detective Sergeant, and Hopely had been able to return. Maybe Hopely thought that she should be the one in Kelso’s place.

Frankly, Kelso agreed. Hopely had been the first to stand up to the corruption, she deserved the job just as much as she did, if not more.

She pulled her PIP headset off of her ear and headed back into the kitchen, now it was time for breakfast.

...

DC Hopely took a deep breath as she stepped out of the lift and onto the ground level of the Ponyville Police Service headquarters. She took an immediate turn down a long hallway towards a large steel door. Upon reaching it, she placed her eyes against the security scanner, unlocking the door, and taking a step back as it opened before her.

Hopely trotted inside and looked up at the super computer that filled the centre of the room. This was the Crusader, the most advanced civil computer system ever created. Designed by AppleTec specifically for the PPS, it had more computing power than the central computers of the Canton Police Service, the Greater Manehattan Police, and the Fillydelphia Constabulary put together.

Sitting before the holographic control console was a large grey mass, covered in fur. Otto Büchsenmacher was a schäferhund, a member of a race of large wolf like creatures from Bundesrepublik Schäferhund, a fascist, authoritarian state on the continent Europa, and a long time ally of the Equestrian Republic, and most importantly, a state that understood the threat of communism from the Præsidium.

Otto, was a computer hacker, or as DCI Auditore liked to call, a freelance information retrieval specialist. Despite being a giant meat eating dog, Otto had one of the finest minds of anyone that Hopely had ever known.

‘Wake up!’ Hopely called out to him.

Otto’s head shot up and he reached out for the control panel instinctively. ‘Wasn’t sleeping, just resting my eyes’, he said.

Hopely rolled her eyes in annoyance, she didn’t really care either way to be perfectly honest. Otto rarely left this room except to go to the restroom, and get food. Otherwise, he practically lived here, it was his domain, if he wanted to sleep overnight here, that was his business. ‘It’s six in the morning Otto’, Hopely informed him.

‘Oh... well then’, Otto said letting out a loud yawn. ‘What can I do you for?’

‘I’ve got this one dog boy’, Hopely said as she stepped forward. ‘Apple Bloom?’

At the mention of the name, a holographic image of an earth pony mare appeared before them. ‘Howdy y'all! What can I do you for?’ the hologram said.

This was Apple Bloom, the Crusader Super Computer’s Virtual Intelligence construct. Virtual Intelligences were specialised computer programs that allowed for better interface with computer systems. Cleverly programmed, VIs were able to simulate interaction with a real person, though they were not actually self aware. Apple Bloom had come with the Crusader, and apparently, had been patterned after AppleTec’s founder.

‘Apple Bloom, I need you to run a name though several databases, local, national, and Police Internationale, the name is Pinkie Pie’, Hopely said.

‘Well sure thing! I can do that!’ the VI said with a toothy smile. ‘Estimated time to completion is two hours forty five minutes!’

Hopely let out a small sigh and nodded her head. ‘Yeah, I figured... oh, and check NHS too! Might be worth a look’, Hopely added as she turned around to head back out. ‘Send the results to my desk please’.

‘Of course!’ the VI said. ‘I will have those for you as soon as they’re ready DC Hopely!’

‘Thank you’, Hopely said as she put her eyes to the security scanner to open the door. ‘Try not to drool on the keyboard again, huh Otto?’

‘That was one time, Detective Constable, and I was hungry’, Otto said coldly as he sat up in his seat and pulled himself up to the console. Hopely smirked, the schäferhund was so easy to get riled up. She headed out the door, and back over to the lift. The door slammed shut behind her, and Hopely went on with the rest of her morning, business as usual.

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

They recognised this place. The memory that they had just entered was taking place in Princess Celestia’s bedroom, completely identical to the memory of it that took place a thousand years prior. It was late in the morning, and Princess Celestia was lying on her bed, looking very tired. She eventually managed to drag herself out of bed and let out a yawn.

‘She looks exhausted’, Dizzy said as they watched Princess Celestia cross the room to her private bath, she turned on the water at the washbasin and allowed it to fill completely, before she splashed some water on her face.

‘Not sleeping well, are we Celestia?’ a tinny, metal voice called out from behind her, causing the princess to jump in surprise. Kelso watched as one of Emerald Sparkle's spritebots materialised from thin air. Princess Celestia opened her mouth and was about ready to call for her guards when the voice continued. 'Don’t even bother, call for the guards and I’ll be gone before the words even escape your lips'.

Celestia turned around slowly and looked at her ‘guest’ and was clearly surprised to discover what had invaded her private bath. ‘A robot?’ Celestia asked. ‘There have been no robots in Equestria in nearly a thousand years!’

‘I can understand why you would think that. Unfortunately, you are stupid for thinking it. Your little pogrom against technology hasn’t worked nearly as well as you hoped. I, and the Cultus Mechanicus should have made that perfectly clear to you’.

‘I will not stand here and be insulted in my own bedroom!’ Celestia said hotly. ‘Who are you!? You have a lot to answer for!’

‘Stupid indeed. Is it not obvious to you? That I should disappear one day without even the slightest trace? I really wouldn’t have been that hard to find if you had really wanted to’.

Celestia looked over the robot intensely for a moment before it dawned on her who she was speaking to. ‘Emerald?’ she asked.

‘Nice to see you too, bitch, hope you enjoy today, because today is the last day that you are ever going to be in power’.

Celestia was taken aback by the words of her former friend who she had thought to be long dead. ‘Emerald... What happened to you?’ she asked, her voice filled with worry as she carefully stepped forward towards the spritebot.

‘Oh you know, the usual story, filly gets raped in a dark alleyway in the middle of the night, gets pregnant, has foal, is forced to abandon said foal on some stranger’s doorstep because princess of the universe decides that she is going to destroy everything that Equestrian society needs to prosper, and puts herself in stasis so that she can save the world, not that you would care about any of that, all you care about is what you want, always has been, always will be’.

‘Emerald... I... I don’t know what to say...’ Celestia said, while the voice through the spritebot’s loudspeakers was artificial, monotone, and without emotion, she could tell that Emerald Sparkle was angry from word choice alone. ‘I just tried to do what was right...’

‘Oh, you did what was right! Right for you! Damn you Celestia, do you know how close we were? We were THIS close to civil nuclear power. Clean, cheap energy for everypony! And it wouldn’t have stopped there. A thousand years went by, and we went back in time, only to get back to the place that we were at. A thousand years wasted because of you. Well, enjoy this day, because it will be the last one you see. Because when we meet again, I will kill you’.

‘Emerald...’ Princess Celestia began; however, Emerald Sparkle did not stick around to speak with her further. The spritebot disappeared into thin air, and was nowhere to be found. Celestia glanced around, making sure that she wasn’t hallucinating.

'Announcing your intentions to your enemy', Hopely said with a frown. 'That’s a bold move and not something that you do unless you're ready to play your hand'.

Kelso nodded her head in agreement. 'Emerald Sparkle's about to make her attempt'.

...

As they entered a new memory, this one in the centre of Ponyville, they could tell that things were off. As they landed the earth beneath their hooves began to shake, and they all struggled to keep their balance.

‘An earthquake!?’ Kelso cried out.

‘Impossible! There are no fault lines for hundreds of kilometres!’ Sparky cried out in response.

They looked up and saw themselves standing in front of what was obviously a bakery, decorated as if it was a gingerbread house. The ground beneath the building shook wildly and cracked, eventually faltering completely. The building collapsed as the ground began to move apart. Large steel doors pushed the rubble away and opened up a large chasm. Ponyville had been built on top of the Everfree Plains Missile Base’s launch silo.

What launched from the silo, however, was not a missile like they had been expecting, rather, a horde of Emerald Sparkle’s spritebots ascended into the air in a cloud of fluid metal; they rose high, passing before the sun as if it were some twisted version of a solar eclipse. The spritebots ignored Ponyville however, and the metal cloud turned its attention towards Canterlot, descending on the capital city.

The threat was not ended there, as a large ringed cargo lift rose to the top of the silo. Sparky’s jaw dropped wide open as she saw what was on it. More robots, and worse still, it was a design that she recognised from the same dream that she had first seen the spritebots in. The robots had a large body with thick armour plating, with two manipulator arms jaunting out from each side, built into each was a submachine gun on the right arm, and either a grenade launcher or flamethrower on the left. The centre mass held a small television screen, displaying which was the imposing, and disconcertingly friendly looking, image of Emerald Sparkle, and the robots rolled around on a tracked wheelbase.

These were Emerald Sparkle’s soldiers. These were the EPMB Combots.

...

‘Shining Armour! Be careful!’ a mare’s voice cried out.

The scene had changed to the streets of Canterlot. Kelso clutched her head in pain as she fell to the ground, the rapid scene changes were getting worse, and becoming more frequent.

‘Kelso!’ Viola cried out, quickly rushing to her partner’s side.

‘I’m okay...’ Kelso said as she pushed herself back up to her hooves. Her head was killing her, she felt as if someone had taken a hammer and mashed it against her skull to give her the worst migraine she had ever had, this was starting to take its toll upon her, when it was all said and done, Kelso didn’t know if she was going to have enough strength to get out of the Ghastly Gorge Industrial Complex on her own four hooves, or if Viola and Hopely would have to drag her out.

Kelso turned to watch the focus of the memory, though it was difficult to determine what it exactly was. The streets of Canterlot were highly chaotic and disorganised. The residents of the city fled from the spritebot strafing runs. Members of the Royal Guard engaged in a highly disorganised and ineffective resistance to the flying horde before them, and the escort troops of the World Leaders Conference weren’t doing much better, a section of schäferhund soldiers turned their weapons towards the sky, peering through the zeroing sight on their storm harnesses to try and hit any spritebot that they could, as their tank rolled along besides them, firing high explosive shells into the air to disrupt the flight patterns of the attacking spritebots.

In front of them, standing back to back were two ponies, a unicorn stallion, dressed in the armour of the Royal Guard, the other, was a pink coated mare with both a unicorn’s horn and a set of pegasi wings. Both of them levitated long swords besides their heads, and took a moment to swing, and usually miss, any spritebot that happened to get close.

The mare however swung and caught a lucky break, hacking off a spritebot’s wing and causing it to crash into the ground. ‘Ha! That’s five! How many have you gotten Shining Armour?’

The unicorn stallion mumbled something inaudible, even to the passive observers, who were just as close to them as they were to each other.

‘What was that?!’ the mare cried out.

‘Three’, the stallion repeated with a huff as he swung at another spritebot that attempted to strafe him, smashing it between the eyes with the sharp edge of his sword. ‘Make that four’.

‘You’re going to have to do better than that! Captain of the Royal Guard!’ the mare said taking another swing, clipping the wings of another spritebot as it fluttered rapidly trying to stay afloat, the mare was unimpressed and finished it off with a quick roundhouse kick, sending it flying into a nearby building and smashing to bits.

‘Cadence... I love you, but I am not above tossing you off the mountain!’ the unicorn stallion identified as Shining Armour said with annoyance.

‘I have wings!’ Cadence responded as she hacked at another spritebot, sending it crashing into the ground at her hooves, and giving it a hard kick, sending it flying into the side armour of the nearby schäferhund tank.

‘And I have a sword sharp enough to hack them off!’ Shining Armour replied.

Cadence couldn’t help but smirk. Her head turned up as a full squadron of spritebots dove upon them, clearly discovering the value of these two targets, they had changed their tactics of just sending in one at a time. ‘Shining Armour! Look out!’ she cried out as she leapt at her companion, pushing him out of the way as the spritebots passed over them, firing their submachine guns at full speed.

Shining Armour hit the ground hard, but he quickly jumped back up to his hooves and turned towards her. ‘Cadence!’ he cried out. The mare was bleeding.

‘I’m okay!’ Cadence cried out as she picked herself up. ‘Just a graze!’ she said, reassuring him. Her eyes turned back to the sky as the squadron of spritebots turned back around. ‘We need to go!’ she cried out as she pulled him along. They took off running, as the spritebots increased speed to match them. ‘They must have figured out who we are!’ she cried out.

‘And here I thought our wedding was rough!’ Shining Armour cried out as he turned around to look. As the spritebots were getting closer, the two ponies increased speed, making it harder for Kelso and company to keep up, they rounded a corner and nearly collided head long with a group of pegasi clad in tan uniforms, and they were the escort troops of the cheval delegation. The cheval were a race of pegasi ponies hailing from the continent Europa, and while they were similar in appearance to Equestrian pegasi, they are completely unrelated.

‘Tomber!’ the leader of the cheval, a brown coated pegasus armed with a bolt action rifle cried out. Cadence and Shining Armour needed no further encouragement, and dropped down to the ground. ‘Tirez vos armes!’ the cheval shouted as the soldiers surrounding them discharged their weapons in a hail of gunfire, sending the spritebots hurdling into the ground.

Cadence looked up at their saviour and gave him a small scowl. ‘Cheval...’ she hissed at the pony before her.

‘Oui mademoiselle!’ the cheval said nodding his head, ignoring the annoyance in her voice. ‘Je m'appelle Maréchal des logis-chef Dmitri Moreau’, he said, offering a hoof to the fallen mare to help her up. She refused to take it, instead getting to her hooves by her own means.

‘Your assistance is appreciated, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it’, Cadence said with a scoff.

‘Oui mademoiselle!’ Dmitri Moreau said with a nod. It was clear that he understood what she said, but didn’t particularly care. ‘Stay behind us! My men will give you cover!’