Out With The Old, In With The New
Author's Note
Hello reader,
Thank you for checking out my story. I have been working on this story for about two years now. This is only chapter one. There are many more to come. Before reading this you should know that this story remains true to the shows cannon up to season five. Meaning anything that happened between season 1 and season 5 happened in this story. This story takes place three years after the end of season 5. If you have any questions about how this world works feel free to ask. I will try to provide an answer. Once again thank you for checking out my story and I hope you come back for more.
Mr. Wright
Out With The Old, In With The New
My name is Franklin, don't have a last name, or at least if I do I can't remember it. Same thing with my age, the doctors say i'm in my late 50's, but they can't pinpoint it. I'm a human from earth, i think i'm from earth, I mean, I did wake up there, but that doesn't mean I couldn't be from another colony. Perhaps I should explain, you see about 20 years ago I woke up in an office building in the middle of a destroyed city. I had no memories of who I was or where I came from. I soon found that there where only about a thousand humans left on earth. no one seemed to remember what happened or who they were. As the years passed i saw more and more people give up and accept their new life, but not me. I needed answers. Who was I? Who am I? Where did i come from? What happened? Do I have a family? Are they looking for me as well? All these question, and yet no answers, but that all changed when i began the greatest journey of my life. A journey that taught me that I should stop worrying about the past and look to the future. What better place to start then the beginning.
Chapter 1
Out With The Old, In With The New
I had received info from a reliable source that an old derelict colony ship from earth had been sighted in a solar system in the outer rim, so of course I rushed out to see for myself. A find like this doesn't happen often, and when it does I'm usually not the first to get the info, meaning it had already been picked clean by scrappers. I paid good money to get this information first, and I knew my source wouldn't hold on to it for long, after all she "has to make a living" so she says.
"15 minutes to destination." the on board computer informed me.
"Good, drop us just outside the system. I want to get a good look at what we're dealing with," I said.
"As you wish, sir," the computer responded. I had just started setting up the sensors when the computer made another announcement. "I'm picking up a strange energy reading from in front of the ship."
"Show me," I commanded, the image on my screen changed.
"Should I drop us out of FTL?" he asked.
"That might be a good..." I started to say when suddenly there was a flash of light and i found myself in the lower atmosphere of a planet.
"FTL offline. Stabilizers offline. Life support offline. Artificial gravity offline. Communications offline. Systems failing." the computer yelled. We were quickly approaching the planets surface.
"Damn it! Are the transporters still working?" I asked.
"Transporters are operational."
"Quick, transport me and any equipment you can to the planets surface," I yelled. There was another flash of light as I was transported down, having to run a short distance to keep my balance. I turn and watched the ship hit the hillside, skidding quite a distance before coming to a stop, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. "It seems to still be in one piece maybe I can fix it." I said hopefully. Out of nowhere the ship exploded in a ball of fire. "Or not."
I turned to investigate the crate that had been transported with me. Pushing upright I opened it and pulled out my weapons and equipment. After slinging the rifle on my back and clipping my gear on I resumed look though the crate. Adding a few things to my pack, I dematerialized the rest, with the help of a nifty little alien device I had found on my travels. It basically put things into a sub-space bubble, and allowed me to pull them out at any time. I found it to be quite usefully.
I was happy to note that among the various object in the crate was the computers central core. Meaning with the right parts I could get him working again. Turning back towards the ship I decided it would probably be best to see what I could salvage from it.
I was about half way up the hill when my armband start beeping. The screen said that the area was being scanned and placed the source of the scan on my HUD. It was coming from high in the planets atmosphere. Looking up i saw something up there, adjusting my optic i took a closer look at it. It seemed to be some sort of sub-orbital station.
Suddenly, there was a 'thunk' behind me. Taking a closer look at the object that fell, it seemed to be a small cylindrical object with some sort of antenna on top. Backing away from the object, my head hit something. "Ow" I cried out, "What the...?" I put my hand out where my head had hit and felt a wall, an invisible wall. Running my hand across the wall, I found that it went all the way around me. I was trapped. "A force field perhaps?" I wondered. I pulled the rifle off my back, aimed it at the wall, and fired. The bullet struck the wall turning it a purple colour. The bullet then stopped in mid-air and fell to the ground. "That's new." I stated.
My armband started beeping again, this time showing several small object flying towards me. as they got closer i notice that they were drones, not old, rusty, and cheap like the other drones I've seen, but new, shiny, and expensive looking. As they got even closer I noted that none of the had weapons on them. Takeing a wild guess, I came to the conclusion that whoever or whatever these drones belong to didn't intend on hurting me. After all, if they had advanced tech like this, they could have killed me earlier.
Tapping a few buttons on my armband, dematerializing my weapons. If I was right, I wouldn't need them anyway, but I have been wrong in the past, so I kept my knife on my belt. Turning my head back towards the sky i saw what looked to be a shuttle. It was of no design I knew of and the engines were to small to be reaching the speed that it was. 'It most some sort of new tech or something' I thought. The shuttle landed a short distance away.
A door on the side of the shuttle and a man stepped out. He had dark blue eyes and long black hair with a single yellow streak going through it in a zig-zag pattern, giving it the appearance of a lightning bolt. His skin was a grayish color, which I found a bit odd. he was dressed in a military uniform. The man walked over to me, passing through the force field as if it wasn't even there, putting my hand out I found that it wasn't.
"Sorry about trapping you like that. We didn't want you runnin' off. Name's Arc Flash." he said, holding his hand out.
"Um..Franklin" I said shaking the mans hand.
"Listen Frank, I'd love to explain what's going on here, but protocol prohibits me from doing so. That being said, if you would please follow me to the shuttle, I will take you to see General Valner, and he will explain everything."
Seeing no better option I decided to go with this strange man "Alright, lead the way," I said waving him on ahead.
I followed Arc into the shuttle and took a seat on one of the benches along the wall. The shuttle was very plain. Almost everything, including the bench i was on, was made of metal. There were only two rooms, the one i was in made up the majority of the shuttle. Then there was one in the front, which i assumed was the cockpit. There were boxes and crates stacked in the middle of the floor, and cargo nets hanging from the ceiling containing various other supplies. Looking towards the back end of the shuttle I was surprised, to say the least, to see a pony sitting near one of the crates. This pony was unlike any I'd ever seen, she had a light blue coat and a rainbow colored mane, and...wings. She was wearing a purple ski cap and red scarf. 'A Pegasus pony?' I thought, hundreds of questions start filling my head. I was too lost in thought to realize that the shuttle had lifted off. I was also too lost in thought to realize the rainbow haired pony had came over and sat down next to me.
"Hello, I'm Rainbow Dash," she said holding out her hoof. I continued to stare off into space. "Hello? Anyone home in there?" I heard someone ask. Shaking my head clear, I turn in the direction of the speaker. "Ahh...there you are. Like I said, I'm Rainbow Dash." The rainbow haired pony said.
"uhh...I'm Franklin and y-you're a pegasus." I managed to say.
"Yes, now Frank, you must have alot of questions right now and i'm gonna to try to answer most of those as quickly as possible, it will make this alot easier if you would just except everything i tell you as the truth, mainly because it is. Got it?"
"I guess, but..."
"Good, let me start by saying that you are no longer in your dimension. You are currently in Equestria. Southeast Equestria to be exact. Navic will explain how when you talk to him. What i can tell you though, is that there is a very small chance that you'll ever be able to go back. So, you might as well get use to life here. I have been appointed your guardian, meaning if you want something you ask me. If you want to go somewhere you ask me. If you need anything you talk to me. You and I are going to be stuck together 24/7 till Navic says otherwise, and I would appreciate it if you would cooperate with me, because I'm trying to get on the Generals good side right now. Understand?"
"Alright, you're in charge." I said, deciding to roll with this whole thing rather then try to figure it out.
"Thank you. IRIS open folder three, manual slideshow presentation, starting with file three." A holographic screen appeared in front of us, on it was a picture of two regular ponies, One was a stallion who was pulling a plow though a field, the other being a mare who seemed to be planting some seeds. "These are Earth ponies, they are responsible for growing food and tending the land, they are also known for being hard workers." Waving her hoof in the air the picture changed, showing two pegasi. On the right was a mare pushing a cloud and on the left was a stallion looking though a magnifying glass at what looked like a snowflake. "These are Pegasi, We are responsible for the weather. We make it rain and snow, we also clear and make the clouds. Out of all the different types of ponies, we are the awesomest."
"I'm pretty sure that's not a word," I said.
"Doesn't matter," She said, doing another gesture with her hoof. The picture changed again, this time showing two unicorns. On the left was a mare who was lighting a dark room with her horn, on the right a stallion who was somehow levitating a heavy looking box. "These are Unicorns, they have they ability to use magic, and they use this magic to make their lives easier, while us pegasi and earth ponies have to work to get thing done." Rainbow said, raising her voice towards the end of the sentence.
"Oh, come on Rainbow," I heard someone say. Turning i saw a woman walking up to us. Her skin was a lavender color, she had dark purple hair with several streaks of white in it, and her eyes were a dark blue almost purple color. "You don't think that maybe unicorns wish they could fly like you?" She asked.
"HA, other pegasi wish they could fly like me," Rainbow said, sticking here chest out.
"That's not what i meant," The woman shot back.
"I know what you meant Nova, I just chose to ignore it, just like you chose to ignore me when i was moving that heavy box the other day."
"Oh, but I thought you didn't need help, after all you're the amazing Rainbow Dash," Nova said sarcastically.
"Thanks for the compliment," Rainbow said.
"That's enough you two," Arc yelled, coming from the cockpit. "Captain, you're needed in the cockpit," He said to Nova, "As for you, Major, I believe you have a job to do, so how about you get back to it?" He yelled at Rainbow, before heading back into the cockpit. The two just stared at each other till Rainbow stuck her tongue out at her. Nova just rolled her eyes and walked away. With a wave of her hand Rainbow's ski cap was pushed down around her eyes.
The man across for us laughed. He had light green skin and dark green hair that covered his right eye. It had with slightly lighter greens mixed in, giving his hair a camo appearance. "Dun mind dem two," he said looking at me, "Any time dere in the same room together dey fight. Most da time it's about somethin' pointless."
"Pointless to you, Pinpoint. You weren't the one moving that box, it was heavy, and instead of helping, Nova just sat there watching me," Rainbow said.
Pinpoint laughed again "Oh come on Dashie, dat's jus Nova bein' Nova. Ya know she ain't gonna work if she dun haf ta." He got up from his seat and walked over to us, "Ah should leave ya two be, so ya can get back ta work." he turned to me "Ya look like ya have some good stories, we should talk sometime," He said, slapping me on the back before heading to the back of the shuttle.
"Anyway," Rainbow said bringing the screen back "There are four alicorn princesses here in Equestria. Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight, but i'll tell you more about them later."
"APPROACHING SUB-ORBITAL PLATFORM!" a voice said over the intercom.
"There is still tons more you should know, but that will have to wait." Rainbow reached into her bag and pulled out a small black box. "Hur," she said.
Taking it and looking inside I asked "What are these?" Inside the box was a bracelet, a pair of what looked like contacts, and an earpiece.
"You'll need to put those on. The bracelet is a temporary ID chip and the contacts and earpeice allow you to sync to our HUD system."
As she finished her explanation I was putting the last of it on. Looking at Rainbow I saw her name and rank floating next to her in light green letters. "Neat," I said.
"The ID chip will allow you to connect to the IRIS program. You know, you seem to be pretty calm about all this."
"I've been in situations like this before. Captured by a group of people who have no idea if i'm a threat or not. You guy's haven't shot me in the leg or tied to a chair yet, so that's good."
"Right, by the way, You may want something warmer then that," She said as she got up and walked over to the shuttle's side door. "It's cold up here." Tapping at my armband I pulled out my jacket, gloves, and hat. "That's a neat trick." Rainbow said as i put put my jacket on.
"I know right, I stole it from some aliens I ran into once."
"The ones who shot you or the ones tied you to a chair?" She ask, smiling.
"The ones who tried throwing me off a clift, tried being the keyword there," I said as I finish put my gear on. As we approached the door Pinpoint came over and started helping Rainbow put some sort of respirator on.
"Da air's thin up here," Pinpoint explained.
"Right," I said, pulling my own respirator out and putting it on.
"Stay close to me," Rainbow said, sounding a bit muffle due to the respirator. I gave her a thumbs up and the shuttle door open, bringing a blast of cold air into the shuttle. It felt like thousands of tiny needles were peircing my face. Pulling my hat down farther over my ears, I followed Rainbow off the shuttle.
As I stepped off the shuttle and looked around, I came to realise just how many different ponies there where here. I saw ponies of many different colours and types. Some were connecting hoses and cables to shuttle while other where half buried in access hatches doing repairs. There were some who were dressed in suits walking to and from shuttles. Then I looked at the station it's self. It was huge, it had to be at least thirty stories tall and roughly five times that long.
"Ahem," Rainbow said, trying to get my attention. Jogging a bit to catch up, I followed her into the station. As the door closed behind us the air started to warm up again. I helped Rainbow take her respirator off then took off my own. We then walked though a doorway, as I passed though it I felt a strange feeling spread though my body. Looking at Rainbow, I saw that the crystal she was wearing around her neck light up for a second before returning to normal.
"What was that?" I asked.
"That was a magic disabling spell. It's for security reasons," She said.
"And that crystal of your lit up because....?"
"Twilight put a spell on it that protects the magic inside it from being disabled. It glows whenever I pass though one of these gates," She explained.
"If the gate disables magic, then won't it disable the protection spell?" I asked.
"No, because it's some sorta super powerful spell that only alicorns can cast. Only an alicorn can disable the spell protecting this crystal."
"What's so special about this crystal?"
"I'll show you later," she said. Nodding, I looked around the room. The room we had entered was very plain. Besides the door we came though, there was another door on the other side, a small white circular platform in the middle, and a long window with a black dot under it to our right. Rainbow walked forward and stood on the platform.
"Put your wings out and eyes on the black dot," A voice said. Rainbow did as the voice asked. There was a low humming noise. The platform turn green then blue, then the humming stopped. "You're good to go Major Dash. Next," I walk on the platform and wait for instructions.
"He's not registered yet," Rainbow said.
"Alright, Put your right hand on the console in front of you and keep your eyes on the black dot. We're going to do a body scan, retinal scan, and a finger print scan at the same time. It should only take a few seconds," The humming noise started again, there was flash from the black dot, and then the humming stopped. "We're done. All we need now is your name."
"Franklin," I responded.
"That's everything, you're good to go P18 Franklin." The door on the other side opened and we walked though it. We passed though another spell, probably one that reenables magic if I had to guess, and we were in another hallway. I also noticed Rainbow's crystal glow again.
Once we were back in the hall Rainbow started to do some stretches. "I hate not being able to fly," she said. She then outstretched her wings and started flying a few feet off the ground. Once she was in the air she did a few more stretches. "Alright, let's get going."
After going down several hallways, I decided to ask Rainbow a question. "So, what happened to your shoulder?"
"Huh, what do you mean?" She asked.
"When you were stretching, I noticed you flinch a bit when you rotating your left shoulder."
"You noticed that!? I'm impressed, no one else has ever caught that. You see, years ago when I was young, I was trying out a new trick, and it didn't go over well. Ended up messing my shoulder up pretty bad. Since then anytime I'm on the ground for a long period of time my shoulder starts to hurt," She explained.
"Can't they fix it?" I asked.
"Apparently not, it's just something I have to live with," We turned another corner and walked onto an elevator. "Floor thirty-one."
"Floor 31 is authorised personal only, scanning ID chips. Major Dash and P18 Franklin are cleared for floor 31," A computerised female voice said. The doors started closing, when from somewhere down the hallway a voice cried out
"IRIS, hold the elevator!" The doors opened again and I turned towards the voice. I was surprised to see a wolf pup coming around the corner. Instinctually, I reached for my knife, just to be nudged by Rainbow. "Relax." She said, looking back at the wolf pup. As the wolf was about to get to the elevator a ball of light started swirling around it. There was a flash of light and instead of a wolf there was a kid.
He had to have been at least thirteen years old, had dark brown skin, brown eyes, and curly black hair. He was wearing the same uniform the others had been wearing and had a rifle on his back. "Floor thirteen."
"Aren't you a little young to be a solider?" I asked the kid a few seconds later.
"Aren't you a little old," He shot back, looking at my own uniform.
"Touché," I laughed, "Franklin."
"Matthew," He replied shaking my hand. "You must be the new P18."
"Floor 13" IRIS announced.
"We'll have to talk sometime, Frank. Good to see you again Dash." waving at us as he ran off down the hall.
The doors closed again and I turned to Rainbow. "Did he Just..."
"Navic will explain," She interrupted.
"Fine, maybe you can answer this question. What does that mean?" I asked pointing at the mark on her flank. "All the other ponies I've seen since I've been here have one too."
"I suppose I have time to explain that, IRIS hold elevator and resume slideshow."
"Holding elevator," IRIS said. Instead of a holographic screen, the presentation showed up on a screen built into the elevator wall.
"These mark are called Cutie Marks," She said bringing up an image of several different marks. "Each one is unique to each pony. Every pony is born without one and it appears once he or she finds the one thing that make them special. Make sense?"
"Kind of, I still have questions, but those can wait," I said.
"Since we're on the subject of Cutie Marks and you are going to meet one of them later today. I should probably introduce you to these three. IRIS access folder three in my personal files and bring up photo twenty-six."
The image on the screen change showing three young fillies. A yellow earth pony with red hair, a orange pegasus with purple hair, and a white unicorn with light purple and pink hair. They each had the same Cutie Mark, a pink, red, and purple shield like shape with the only difference being the mark in the middle. The earth pony had an apple with a heart inside, the pegasus had a wing with a lightening bolt inside, and the unicorn had a star with a music note inside.
"These are the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. The CMC has been helping ponies find their Cutie Marks for just about four years now. I see Scootaloo as my unofficial little sister, I taught her almost everything I know, she's even taught me a few things. She's going to be stay with us during the Equestria Games which are being held at Scarlet Coast."
"The what?" I asked.
"Oh! Right, I haven't told about that yet. IRIS resume elevator. You see, the Equestria Games are a series of competitive games. Almost every city in Equestria sends their best athletes to compete and see who's the best. I am going to be flying for Ponyville," She explained,
"Well, I'll be sure to cheer for you," I said.
"Floor thirty-one," IRIS said.
As the doors opened I noticed that the hallway here was a lot different from the other hallways on the station. Instead of everything being made of metal like the rest of the station, this one had a plaster ceiling, a hardwood floor, and the walls were painted drywall. the hall was decorated with a variety of different paintings, statuettes, and potted plants. At the end of the hall was a reception desk with an elderly earth pony behind it. To her right was a door with a gold sign the said Generals Office on it.
"Impressive," I said. Rainbow just smiled as we walk up to the desk.
The mare behind the desk looked up at us as we got close. "He's in a meeting at the moment. He should just be finishing up." We sat down on a couch near the door and waited. I could sort of hear the conversation going on in the other room.
"...magic, you're no match for them," A female voice said, "Even Amber, your most advance AI is unable to hack their systems. If these machines were to storm the island tomorrow, do you think you would survive, General?" She yelled.
There was a few minutes of silence before Navic spoke. "No. We would not. Fine, if you think these two are the ones we've been looking for then follow them, watch them, and when you think their ready, send them to The Academy."
"Yes sir," The woman said. I could hear her walking towards the door as Navic spoke again.
"I hope your right, for their sakes."
"I hope so too," She said opening the door. She was wearing a cloak that made it impossible to identify her. She didn't even glance in our direction as she walked by us.
"Who's that?" I whispered to Rainbow. She just shrugged, got up, and walked into the office. Turning back towards the woman I found that she was no longer there. Shrugging it off, I got up and followed Rainbow into the office.
The office was neatly organised. The back wall being dominated by a large window. In front of this was a desk and sitting at the desk was Navic. He was an elderly man, grey hair, wrinkled face.
"There's the two I've been waiting for," He said, standing up.
"You must be General Valner," I said, shaking his hand.
"Indeed I am," He said sitting down and waving me to a seat in front of the desk. I notice that Rainbow was laying on a couch in the back of the office. "You probably have a lot of questions, but before we get started I need you to tell me how you got here," Navic said.
I told him everything that had happened up to when I arrived in Equestria. He got and walked over to the window
"That energy reading you picked up was what we call a 'Dimensional Rip'. It's a naturally occurring phenomenon that occurs when too much energy is built up between two dimensions. Normally it pulls through fast moving objects like planes, jets, shuttles, and sometimes boats," Navic explained. He walked over to a nearby cabinet and opened it. "Surely you know of a few stories from your dimension where planes or jets have gone missing, leaving no trace of where they went." He pulled two mugs out of the cabinet and poured something into them before walking over and handing me one of the mugs, taking the other back to his seat.
"I've heard a few stories like that, yes." I said, sniffing at my drink.
"It's cider. Apple Family Cider to be exact. Comes from Sweet Apple Acres, home of the best apples in Equestria." Navic said. He was about to take a sip when Rainbow came in out of nowhere.
"Did someone say cider!" She asked. Navic rolled his eyes and pushed his mug over to Rainbow with a sigh. Rainbow took it and went back the couch she had been occupying.
"I'll start by saying who we are. This station is owned by Triax Defence. A organisation created by Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight in an attempt to better protect Equestria. It was founded four years ago after an 'incident' that almost destroyed Equestria."
"An incident that was kinda your fault," Rainbow said. "Come to think of it a lot of the incidents that led to the creation of Triax Defence were kinda your fault. Let's see, there was the time the Crusaders stole one of your jump shuttles and got lost in Hyrule, or the time the Suborbital Platform almost fell out of the sky, oh and there's the time..."
"Major, you're not helping," Navic said.
"Sorry sir."
"Anyway, it all started four years ago when me and four others came to Equestria from another dimension. The five of us were known as Palnerova's Children, named after a legendary creature call Palnerova. When she died she transferred her power to us , allowing us to jump dimensions. Over the years we learned to better control it and even learned how to jump back to dimensions we had already been to. We eventually learned how to tie this ability into vehicles, allowing them and anything in them to jump with us through dimensions. At first it was a shuttle, then we got ahold of this station. We never really stayed in any one place for long, that is until we came here. We quickly became friends with Princess Twilight and she offered us a place to stay. Then the 'incidents' took place and, well, here we are," He finished spreading his arms out. "So, any questions?"
"Uh HELL YEAH! First of all, if you can jump dimensions then why can't you just take me back to mine?" I asked.
"While we can jump back to any dimension we've already been to, when we jump forward to a new dimension, we never know where we'll end up. Chances of your dimension being the next one we jump to are very slim."
"Ok, explain wolf boy down stairs," I asked.
"He means Matthew." Rainbow clarified.
"Mathew and I are Furins. Our species has a natural ability to shift between forms like that. Besides me and him there are three other Furins in Equestria, Lulu, Nazykee, and Zanthos."
"Alright, next question on the list," I said, putting on my reading glasses and looking over a clipboard. "Ah, yes, Why is everyone calling me P18 Franklin?"
"P18 stands for Protocol 18. When a person comes through from another dimension, we classify said person as P18, and place a guardian to watch them to make sure they're not a threat. I'm not saying you're a threat, it's just a precaution," Navic said.
"I understand," I said.
Navic looked at his watch then back at me. "The Platform will be jumping in thirty minutes and i can't have you two on it when it does. So, i have time for one more question."
"Alright, I have one. Who was that cloaked woman you were talking to?" I asked.
"I was wondering the same thing," said Rainbow.
"That's classified. Now before you two leave I need to talk to the Major. So, Daltei could you please escort our guest here back to the hall?"
What I had thought was a statue of some sort of light blue furred canine creature got up and walked over to me. Reaching down and touching it i found that its fur was as cold as ice. "Quite the interesting pet you have here," I said.
"Oh, Daltei is no pet, he is a friend. He's been traveling with me for years now. Now, Please follow him out into the hall," said Navic.
"It's been a pleasure speaking with you sir," I said shaking his hand.
"The pleasures all mine, we'll have to exchange stories sometime," He said. I followed Daltei back out into the hall.
"Hey, Frank. Unless you want to end up as a block of ice for the rest of the day, then don't piss Daltei off," Rainbow said.
"I'll keep that in mind," I said, heading back out into the hallway. Sit down in the seat I had been sitting in earlier, I looked over at the receptionist. She stared at me for awhile before reaching under her desk and pulling out a shotgun. It was modified so that a pony could fire it. I looked at the gun then back at the receptionist and raised an eyebrow.
"Just in case." She smiled, patting the gun, which I returned with a smile of my own.
"YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME!" Rainbow yelled angrily.
"Rainbow, calm down," Navic said.
"Why can't you just promote me already. It doesn't make any sense. The accident happened two years ago. It doesn't bother me anymore," Rainbow said. "
You have made a remarkable recovery over the last year. In fact, your therapist has given me the go ahead to let you back on the drone squad. That's not the reason I'm not giving you a promotion though. The reason is that I don't think you're quite ready yet."
"Oh come on! That crazy. I've lead my own team in the past, I can do it again. If Spitfire were here, she'd promote me right here."
"BUT SHE'S NOT HERE, DASH!" Navic yelled. Taking a deep breath he continued "I am, and unless you want to find yourself demoted, then you best adjust your attitude right now. Do I make myself clear?" There was a moment of silence, "MAJOR"
"Yes sir," Rainbow said, still sounding angry.
"Good, there's a shuttle down on landing platform three that is waiting to take you and Franklin to Central Command. Once you arrive I want you to report to Dr. Goodman for a check up."
"I'm perfectly fine, sir. I don't need a check up."
"That is an order Major. Dismissed."
I had been playing blackjack with the receptionist when Rainbow came storming out of the office. "Come on Frank. We're getting outta' here," She said angrily.
"Uh...right. Right behind you," I said standing up. "One more thing." I flipped my cards over showing a score of eighteen.
"Ah, pony feathers." The receptionist said, flipping hers and revealing a score of sixteen.
"Oh yeah!" I said, Scraping my winning into my bag. Then I took one the larger jewels I had bet and placed it on the desk. "A souvenir." I said, before running down the hall to catch up with Rainbow. "That was fun Mrs. Clip, we should do it again sometime," I yelled back at the receptionist.
Rainbow and I didn't say a word to each other until we were back on the shuttle. "You want to talk about it?" I asked.
Rainbow sighed. "I have been with Triax Defence for two years and I'm still a Major. All my friends are high rank than me. Even Pinkie Pie is a higher rank than me. Why can't the General just make me a Lieutenant Colonel already?"
"I'm sure if I knew who this 'Pinkie Pie' was that would make more sense to me. Why do you want to be a Lieutenant Commander....."
"Lieutenant Colonel," Rainbow corrected.
"Lieutenant Colonel so badly anyways?"
"If I were a Lieutenant Colonel I could lead my own team. Things could go back to the way they were before...sort of," Rainbow said, looking out the the window.
"Rainbow, listen," I said, sound more serious than I had all day. "Sometimes the things you want, aren't the things you need."
Rainbow looked at me. "What do you mean?"
"All my life I have been looking for answers. What happened to Earth? Why can't we remember? Who am I? Then I came here and you told me that there is a chance I could never return home. That got me thinking. Did I really need those answers? The answer is no, I didn't. I WANTED to know who I WAS, but what I NEEDED was to look at who I AM. I needed to forget about the past and look to the future. Maybe you want the go out into the field, to go out into the action, and to get a promotion, but have you ever consider that maybe that's not what you need right now? Maybe Navic can see that you're not ready yet. I don't know, but he is the General. I'm sure that if he's not giving you a promotion it's for a good reason," I said.
"Your friend here is very wise, Rainbow Dash," A young colt said, climbing up on the seat across the aisle from us. He was a unicorn with a neon green coat and a fluorescent orange mane. His Cutie Mark looked like a sun made out of neon lights. According to the HUD his name was Professor Neon Glow.
"Neon, what are you doing on the Platform?" Rainbow asked.
"I've been looking for inspiration for my next invention and I thought maybe I could find it in another dimension, but it seems Navic has declined my request," Neon explained.
"Seems the General is declining a lot of requests recently," Rainbow said, looking back out the window.
"Rainbow, I have known Navic for many years and have had many long dinners with him. He talks about you more often than you would think. Navic knows a good soldier when he sees one. Spitfire wasn't the only one to see your potential for leadership. Give it time, Rainbow. You'll get there eventually," Neon said.
"WE'LL get there eventually," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. "We're in this together. I'm going to help you get that promotion and I think I have just the plan to do it."
"I'm listening," She said.
"Navic gave you the job of watching me, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well then all you have to do is keep me out of trouble and all I have to do is stay out of it. If we show Navic that you can do this without anything going wrong, then we'll be one step closer to that promotion. So, what do you say? Together?"
Rainbow smiled, then put her hoof in my hand. "Together," She said.
"What could possibly go wrong?" I said, leaning back in my chair.
Meanwhile on a nearby hillside, a pony wearing a black cloak was watching the shuttle fly away. "So Franklin has finally arrived in our world. Now we can watch as the story is unfurled," She said.
"Alright, Zamara so he's here. What do we do now?" A second cloaked figure asked, coming out of the tree line.
"A recording I have for you to hear, it might make things a bit more clear," Zamara said. She took a small device out of her bag and placed it on a nearby rock. She then pressed a button on the side and an audio recording started playing. There was a moment of static then a voice could be heard.
"My name is Franklin. I don't have much time so listen up. The mare you are looking for is alive and if you want to see her again then you'll need to do exactly what I say. I need you to find a pony by the name Enigma. I don't know where she is or how to find her, that's your job. Once you find her you need to help her understand her abilities.
"Two years from now, I will arrive in Equestria . On that day I need Enigma to send herself back in time to the time and place I have provided with this recording. She is to stay for exactly 15 minutes. No more, no less. She will find me there. She needs to tell me that she is from the day I arrived. Then tell me Code 192, remember that, it's important. I will then tell her everything she needs to know." Someone in the background of the the recording cried out in pain. "You okay back there?" Franklin asked.
"You mean apart from feeling like a convenient plot device being used to introduce two new characters who have no significant value to this story whatsoever and the fact that I have a piece of wood protruding from my side? I feel fine, thanks for asking. In fact, I think I'll do this again next Tuesday. You in Applejack?" The female voice said.
"Ah think she's lost a little to much blood. How much further to the portal?" Applejack asked.
"We're almost there. Just hold on a bit longer. Look, her life depends on you. I believe in your abilities. Good luck." Franklin finished.
Zamara shut the device off and put it away. They both stood there in silence for a few moments before Enigma spoke.
"All that training and everything you have taught me has been for this?"
Zamara simply nodded.
"We shouldn't be messing around with time travel. We know next to nothing about it. Sure, we've gone back a few days, even weeks, but TWO YEARS. Who know what could happen. You've seen the report on Princess Twilight's experience. Is that really something we should be messing with? Besides, why me? You know more about time travel than I do. You should go," Enigma said.
"You are the one who must carry this burden. Of this I am quite certain," Zamara responded.
Enigma sighed. "Fine. If you think we should do this, then we will. Where am I supposed to go?"
"On this paper is where you must go, but what lies ahead I do not know. Tread carefully, my friend. For one small mistake could lead to your end," Zamara said giving Enigma a piece of paper.
Enigma looked it over used her magic to open a portal. On the other side of the portal was a snow covered mountain top. "Anything else?"
"That is all that you need to know. Now venture forth into the snow. It is time we set these series of events into motion, for the flow of time can not be stopped, just like the waves in the ocean," Zamara said. Enigma nodded, turned around, and walked through the portal, which closed behind her. Zamara turned back towards the shuttle. "Years ago my life you saved, now it's time that debt be repaid."
To be continued.
