Paradise at the End of the World

Twilight opened her eyes. Even though not much could be seen from her current position, she knew immediately that something was wrong, as the outside world seemed to reflect her name... gradual sunrises were not something to get used to quickly, and she had been waking up at random times for a while now. The lack of a proper alarm clock may have been solvable by an improvised spell, but there was nothing she could do against waking up too early, even if she wasn’t able to tell if it was light or the absence of light that woke her up half the time.

Only granting herself a few more moments of rest, Twilight groggily slid out of the bed and lit her horn, casting a difficult but completely silent teleportation spell which lead her straight into the kitchen. Next, a light was summoned, a fire ignited, and a can filled with water.

Waiting patiently, Twilight let her thoughts drift forward. She didn’t have any plans for today, maybe she could make it a quiet day of studying, something which had become increasingly rare ever since the apocalypse. It mostly depended on whether or not Rainbow Dash would want to fly on her own for a change.

A series of unnecessarily loud knocks made her wince. Grimacing, she cast a look at the door, then back at the can. Miraculously, it would need to stay above the fire for a span of time which was both too long to keep her visitor waiting, but likely too short to come back after greeting him. With a small sigh, she teleported right in front of the entrance, wasting no time to pull it open. She could hear a yawn and the rustling of a blanket behind her.

“Good morning.” A pegasus stallion Twilight had never seen before stood in the entrance. “The princess wishes to see you and Rarity as fast as possible.”

“Sure.” Twilight yawned. “Just knock a little quieter next time, please.”

Her mind still with the now boiling water, Twilight ended the conversation as quickly as possible, closing the door as once he was gone.

“Morning,” she mumbled into direction of the mattress behind her. “Can you go upstairs and wake Rarity?”

“We have detected a disturbance.... here,” Luna said, highlighting a point southeast on the ‘map’, a plate with magical rings and symbols centered around an image of Twilight’s library, about half as far away as the tree Rainbow had brought her to yesterday. “We don’t know what it is, and we want you two to examine it. Twilight, I assume you are versed in traveling spells which will make this possible?”

“Why can’t I fly them there?” Rainbow frowned. “Wouldn’t it exhaust Twilight’s magic to get them all the way?”

“You can carry two ponies, Rainbow Dash?”

“Well...” Rainbow cast Twilight a look. “Two unicorns is pretty tough, but the bag I carried yesterday must have been about as heavy as another pony. Twi took some of the weight off it.”

“Which would require about as much energy as traveling there by herself,” Luna commented. “A little bit less, I would assume. It depends on how much help you need.”

“Not much. I could probably do a good bit of distance by myself, if necessary. If Twi just takes away like, dunno, a third, it should be enough.”

Celestia, who had not said anything until now, led them a few steps away from the closest bed before responding. “Your strength is not the primary concern. Sending all three of you means risking one more element, and more importantly, it will make it harder to pull all of you out in case of an emergency.”

“If I may ask.” Rarity cleared her throat. “Why include me? Why not just send Rainbow and Twilight?”

“It would be unwise to send Twilight alone,” Luna said, “and it is fairly unlikely that the phenomenon can be sensed by pegasi. You are the most useful choice for backup that we have.”

“But if we go together, can’t they warn me?”

“They can. It’s merely a matter of reaction time. We don’t know how far in advance you’ll sense it, if at all.”

“Then we’ll be careful. I can just fly them close, and then we walk the rest. Me last, if necessary.”

“Very well,” Celestia said, the words not an argument like those of her sister, but a declaration. “Twilight, if you think it is wise...” She cast her student a look, who nodded. “... then Rainbow may take both of you. However, know that three is the maximum we can still manage to pull back, and it is a strict emergency measure. While it is fine to request a teleport home when you’re out alone...” She cast Rainbow Dash a stern look. “This time, you may only do so if it is absolutely necessary.”

“Sure.” Rainbow Dash saluted. “I mean, yes princess. I promise.”

Celestia brought a hoof to her muzzle, stifling a giggle. Taking the hint, Twilight made for the exit, but turned around as she remembered something.

“Uhm... what is the landscape?”

Luna’s gaze hung at her for a few moments. “Mountains.”

Twilight gulped, a small dose of a well-known, deeply rooted fear pressing against the outlines of her heart.

“You need not worry, Twilight. As I told you yesterday, the decay has stopped spreading early. The wall this will leave is likely to be erased in about a week’s time.”

Twilight nodded, swallowing her fear, and even managed a smile.

“Okay, hop on.”

“Ahm.” Rarity stood still, eyeing the pegasus’ back like a dress of outdated fashion. “Rainbow Dash, how do you expect Twilight and me to both hold on to you?”

“Dunno, Twi hops on like she normally does and you hold onto her?”

Rarity coughed. Twilight snickered.

“I don’t think that would work. But I have another idea. Rainbow, tell me if it gets uncomfortable, okay?”

“Uh, sure.”

Twilight nodded, tilting her head to light her horn in a purple glow.

“Ouch! I mean, uh... cold.”

“Is it uncomfortable?”

“Uhm...” Rainbow didn’t answer immediately, curiously poking a point somewhere near her belly with a front limb. “... nah, I think it’s okay.”

Twilight nodded again, closing her eyes while she continued her spell, still without any visible effect. A short while in, the glow grew fainter.

“Alright. Rarity, mind if I give you a lift?”

“Come again?” Rarity raised an eyebrow. “A lift where to?”

“Your cabin. I do hope it fits the needs of a true lady.” She smiled, suppressing another giggle. “I summoned an invisible platform of sorts to carry you,” she explained. “It should be fairly comfortable, and it has a railing, so you can’t fall out as long as you don’t try to. It’s anchored to Rainbow’s body.”

“Very well then.” Rarity gave a nod, allowing Twilight to lift her up in purple cloud, putting her into a spot at seemingly nowhere, about one foot away from Rainbow’s body, and a few inches above ground. Once there, Rarity tentatively stroked the invisible walls around her. Apparently satisfied, she gave a confirming nod.

“Alright.” Twilight carefully climbed onto Rainbow’s back. “How much weight is it?”

“Too much to fly for long.”

“Right. I’ll decrease it, you just tell me when it’s enough.”

“I think that’s cool,” Rainbow said, a few seconds in.

“Already?”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s heavy, but I’ll hoofle it. No reason for me to be there if it doesn’t make it easier for you, right?”

“Right.” Twilight coughed. “Except for the fact that I love you and want to be near you whenever possible and that we might be about to see something really special and that you might be able to defend us along the way. Are you sure you don’t want me to take away more?”

“I love you too.” Rainbow turned her head, a smirk on her face. “And yes.”

A sigh. “Go on then.”

“I think there’s something down there.” Standing upright in mid air, Rarity was leaning over the invisible railing, squinting her eyes at a point somewhere below. It was a strange sight, though one Twilight had gotten used to by now. “Rainbow Dash, dear, can you be so kind as to land real quick?”

The pegasus didn’t respond, and with Twilight’s ears being only inches away from her muzzle, it wasn’t hard to guess why, but she still followed Rarity’s request and descended swiftly, coming to an unusually rough landing on a piece of rock that stood out from the steep mountainside. With barely enough room for a single pony to stand, Twilight had to use telekinesis to prevent herself from falling once she slid off Rainbow’s back. Rarity, of course, was safe in her cabin and unaffected by the landscape.

“It’s that way,” the fashionista said, pointing in a direction leading down the mountainside, while Twilight readjusted her spell so that the weight of Rarity was no longer carried by Rainbow Dash. She nodded. The steepness of the slope wasn’t an issue, but finding the right spots to place her hooves on was. Nonetheless, it didn’t take her long to find the item in question, and once she did, she was able to interrupt her descent, summoning it from afar.

“It’s a harmonica,” she said as she got back to the others. “Good catch, Rarity.”

“Thank you.” Rarity titled her head. It was impressive how she managed to preserve a graceful appearance despite being trapped inside a cage in mid air – although the fact that she was positioned about a feet above Twilight might have helped. “Say...”

“We really didn’t have to land for that,” Rainbow interrupted her, apparently having been unaware that Rarity had been about to say something. “Sorry, Rares. Just meant, I could have flown lower and Twi could’ve picked it up with her magic. You were saying?”

“Oh, just...” Rarity made a small pause. “How often do you think you... miss chances like these? It was the first discovery of today, and already you wouldn’t have found it had I not come along. Aren’t your trips meant to find valuable items, above everything else? Oh, and Rainbow Dash, I might have suggested a landing because I thought you also needed a break. My apologies if that wasn’t the case.” She tactfully ignored the fact that Rainbow had laid herself onto the uncomfortable ground by now, panting heavily.

“I totally didn’t,” Rainbow grumbled, but it was a half-hearted comment, and she couldn’t suppress a chuckle.

“She has a point,” Twilight said, too caught up in the thought to pay the comment any attention. “Coming to think of it, we probably wasted a lot of potential findings. I can’t see that well from Rainbow’s back... not well enough to spot small items on the ground, I mean. And I don’t think my eyes are as good as yours, anyway. And Rainbow can’t scan the ground the whole time while she’s flying.” She frowned. “Actually, kind of weird that I’ve never thought that through until now.”

“You could use something like this for yourself,” Rarity suggested, tapping at the walls of her invisible cabin.

“Uhm...” Twilight stocked, a blush creeping onto her face.

Simultaneously, Rainbow gave a slight cough. “Yeah, I think we’d rather not.”

Rarity’s look bounced between them, then she gave a short laugh. “You two are adorable, you know that? Though I’m not sure what else you could do.”

“Why don’t you just come with us more often?”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Well, I’m flattered by the invitation, Rainbow Dash, but do you really think that will be possible? The princess made it rather clear that today was an exception.”

“She said that three was the maximum,” Twilight corrected her, pondering on the suggestion herself. “And there’s not really a reason why what worked today shouldn’t also work for the future, is there?”

Rarity let a few seconds pass, then she shrugged. “No, I suppose there isn’t. Except...” she titled her head, pointing toward the pegasus. “We should only be about halfway there, and it hasn’t exactly been easy for her so far, has it?”

“Yeah, but...” Rainbow heaved herself into a sitting position before she continued. “We’ll get better at it, right? That’s how it works. We’ve been doing it for the first time, and already we’re making it work. Rarity has spotted this harp thing, and I carried us this far with barely any help from Twilight. If we start doing it every day, it’ll become a piece of cake.” She made a pause. “Come on Rares, what are you even doing all the time when we leave you at home?” She didn’t say more, but her words hung heavily in the air, causing Rarity to nod slowly.

“Not much of significance, I’m afraid,” she admitted. “I’ve been helping out other ponies from time to time, but my skills are rarely suited for that purpose, much unlike our dear Applejack’s, and the work in the library only takes so much time.” She bowed her head. “I would indeed much prefer to come with you two, if you’ll have me.”

“Uh... sure, that’s what we’ve been saying, haven’t we?” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Now hop on, Twilight, you can adore the view from up there, too.”

“It’s a beautiful view,” Twilight said, and it was. There had been no mountains close to Ponyville, not like these. Here, the many summits stood tall and majestic, piercing far into the air, each one beautiful in its own right, covered with mossy grass, craggy rock, and occasional trees and bushes. Yet no snow, no glaciers, no thin air... and no animals.

“Sure... and you can look at it from above.”

“Not the same way.” Twilight sighed. “Give me a moment, will you? Rarity, do you want me to give you a lift outside?”

“Thanks, darling, but I’ll pass. I’ve grown quite fond of your... cabin, was it? It allows me to adore the beauty outside without actually having to... you know, step outside. Eww.”

Twilight gave a snicker. “Alright.”