Chapters Equestria 500 Years Later
It's been five centuries since the life of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, now they are legends ponies admire and look back on as heroes. Now their descendants live around Equestria proud of their lineage while living their own lives. Our story begins with one unicorn pony named Star Whirl the Clever, one of Twilight's descendants, a scientist with a knack for finding things most don't and a lot of knowledge to boot. In recent months she has been excavating lost scientific treasures her ancestor left behind, blueprints and prototypes for most of the technology used today, technology invented by Twilight and a friend of hers who according to history, was the one who came up with the ideas, Star Whirl made it her mission to find the precursors to the technology used today, although she has so far found nothing. But her luck finally changed after she found a clue hidden away in Twilight's castle, this clue was in an old journal in the castle library which was right under her nose the entire time, according to said journal, there is a hidden lab somewhere where Twilight and her friend worked on the prototypes of today's technology, including a secret project that the friend was working on, she wanted to know more but the journal did mention more. Feeling more motivated than ever she immediately made the necessary preparations. "Supplies check, guides and books check, tools check, ok I'm ready!" she said enthusiastically. She left the castle in a hurry, as she ran she felt excitement. "What could that secret project be? It depends, is it related to any of their inventions? Maybe something that introduces new technologies? I'm so excited!" she thought to herself. She's spotted from above by a Pegasus stallion with a gray coat and rainbow mane, he flies towards her.
"Hey there egghead, where are you going?" he asked her. Star slowed down her pace.
"I'm going to one of my ancestor's hidden labs." Star answered him with enthusiasm.
"You finally found something huh? Here I thought you were never gonna find anything." he said with a sarcastic tone.
"This time it's different, I found this clue in the castle library." Star answered as she took out a journal. "According to this, my great great great great grandmare's friend left behind a super secret project that not even she knew much about, he described it as a means to see the future, doesn't that sound amazing?" Star said to him.
"Sure I guess." he responded with a bored tone in his voice.
"Come on Rain Cloud, I thought you were the adventure type?" she asked.
"Just because a lot of my relatives are wonderbolts doesn't mean ill always go out on one." he responded sounding a bit annoyed.
"Or explorers like your distant uncles and cousins." Star said.
"Yeah yeah, look ill go with you but only to keep you out of trouble, remember last time?" Rain Cloud asked her.
"That wasn't my fault, he wouldn't let me in." Star responded.
"Then you ran in anyway and started running around to look for stuff, I had to smack the guy and fly you away." Rain Cloud sassed.
"Let's just go." Star said sounding annoyed.
Rain Cloud gave a chuckle.
"So where too?" he asked.
"The lab is supposedly in Ponyville, right under her friend's old home." Star said.
"Isn't that where Mage and Ursa live?" he asked.
"Yeah, I wonder if they know it's there?" she answered. They picked up the pace and headed to the house, it wasn't far from the castle and while it used to be smaller it has been expanded as time passed and families grew. They approach the house and stand at the front door, Star Whirl knocks on the door and waits, the door is opened and they see Mage, a mare with a light pink coat and a crimson mane with cyan accents.
"Oh hi Star Whirl, Rain Cloud, good to see again." she greeted warmly.
"Hello Mage, we were wondering if you would allow us to search for a hidden lab in the house?" Star asked. Mage stares blankly, trying to process the question.
"Um, may I ask why? Is this another one of your excavations?" Mage asked. Star nods. "Well I guess but can you show me what you found that led you here?" she asked. Star takes out the journal and hands it to her, Mage starts reading and her expression changes. "Huh, below the house." she mumbles. She flips the pages and finds something odd, two pages have what appear to be a sequence. "These two pages here have some kind of sequence, the image looks just like the wall under the stairs." Mage said. Star smiles wide and barges in, she approaches the wall and sets down her saddlebag. Mage approaches her. "You really need to contain your excitement." Mage said. Star blushes.
"Sorry I can't help it." Star said apologetically. "Let me see the sequence." she said. Mage hands it over, Star Whirl looks at the sequence. "According to this, there's a button right." she said as she locates it and presses it. "Here." she said as she pressed it. They hear a click then several panels extend from the wall, she begins rotating them and pressing them in a specific order, each time she does they can hear what sounds like locks inside the wall unlocking, the wall opens, revealing a hidden passageway.
"I didn't know this was here." Mage said, looking surprised.
"Let's go inside, the project must be down there." Star said with determination.
"Hold on, lets all go in together, we don't know what's down there." Mage said being cautious. Star nods in agreement. They go in together and walk down the hidden stairs.
"You seriously didn't know this was here?" Rain Cloud asked. Mage shakes her head.
"No, I don't think anypony knew except him." she answered. "Now I'm curious about this secret project, it must be valuable if he went through all of this trouble." she said. They continue walking until at last they find themselves in a room. "I think we're here." she said while looking around. Rain Cloud raises an eyebrow.
"That's it? I don't see anything." he said. He spots an object in the middle of the room, covered in a blanket. "Except that." he said while pointing at it. They approach it and removed the cover, revealing a strange device. "This it?" he asked. Star shook her head.
"No, if it was there'd be tools and blueprints, it's an empty room with this in the middle, it's planted here." she answered. Mage looks at it closely.
"I can sense a strange magic coming from it, it's so... Foreign, as if it wasn't from here." Mage said.
"Perhaps it will lead the way?" Star asked. She gets close to it and touches it, it activates causing glowing magic runes to appear in the ground, then before they could react, she's teleported to a place unknown.
"Star Whirl!!" Mage shouted.
"Oh boy!!" Rain Cloud shouted as he begins to have a panic attack. They start looking around the room for her. "Where is she?!" he asked in a panic.
"I don't know, that device sent her to who knows where." she answered.
"What do we do?!" he asked.
"We can't touch it and risk being sent somewhere we can't go back from, oh I hope she's ok." Mage said looking worried. Meanwhile, Star Whirl reaches her destination, she falls to the ground.
"Ow." she exclaimed. "Where am I?" she asked. She stands up and looks around, she appears to be in a dark hallway. "Did that device send me here?" she wondered. She starts walking down the hall, her steps echoing around the stone walls, she notices a strange mist in the air. "What's this strange fog? Or is it mist? It doesn't look like ordinary fog or mist." she thought to herself. She continues onward until she sees a light at the end. "Finally an exit." she said. She picks up the pace until she finds herself outside in an open clearing, surrounded by the walls of a fortress, or what looked like a fortress. "Where am I?" she asked out loud. She looked ahead of her and notices something blinking in and out of existence, she goes to it and touches it, suddenly a giant airship is revealed with a giant golden winged creature at its helm and covered in vines, Star Whirl is in awe of the magnificent airship she sees before her. "Is this it? Is this the secret project?" she wondered. "This is clearly an airship, but it's nothing compared to what's built today, how do I get inside?" she said. She uses her magic to lift herself up into the sky, from up high she can see an entrance at the roof of the airship, she goes to it and stands at the door. "Ok this must be a way in, I never seen a door like this before, hmm, how to open." she said as she approached it. She pokes the door, then presses her hoof onto it, then hits it, it doesn't budge. "Maybe it needs power?" she wonders. She zaps the door with magic, causing a green light to shine then it opens, she goes in but finds herself in a dead end. "Dead end?" she wonders. She walks over and notices she's in an elevator. "It's not a dead end after all, I guess I'll have to power it up." she thought. She uses her magic to power up the elevator but as a result, the door closes behind her. "Drat, looks like I can only power one thing at a time." she thought to herself. " Let's see how deep this goes." she said. She uses her magic to lower the elevator all of the way down to the bottom floor, once there, she steps out of it and starts walking down the hall, the walls had windows on both sides of the wall but the vines obstructed the view slightly, she continues walking till she reaches another door, she uses her magic to open it and steps in, she immediately sees a pony laying on the floor, she rushes to her and nudges her. "Hey are you ok?" she asked concerned. The pony opened it's eyes and stood up, it was wearing a black body suit with a pink vest and pink skirt, and white shoes on her front hooves and high heeled pink and white shoes on her back hooves, it had a blonde mane and cream coat. "Oh good, you're alive." Star said sounding relieved. The pony stared.
"Who are you?" the pony asked.
"My name is Star Whirl, and you are?" Star asked.
"Ciel, my name is Ciel." she greeted.
"So Ciel, is this the secret project my ancestor's friend built?" Star asked. Ciel shook her head.
"No, he did not build this, don't you think if it was it would've been finished by now?" Ciel said.
"Good point, then what is it?" Star asked.
"First let's restore power to the ship." she said. She closes her eyes and looks up, then the whole ship comes to life, Star felt impressed and amazed. "There, follow me." she said to her. She leads her back to the elevator and takes her up a floor, she leads her to the door to one of the labs then opens the door, they both enter the room and in the middle of the room was a pony body. "Here it is, his project, a new body to inhabit after he dies, so he can see the future." Ciel says.
Equestria 500 Years Later
Chapter 2: Discovery and Awakening
Star Whirl couldn't stop looking at the replica body. "Wait, so, his secret project was creating a replica of his body so he can inhabit it?" she asked. Ciel nodded. "Why?" she asked.
"Because he wanted to see what the future looked like, when he worked on his inventions, he did so because he wanted to make things easier for ponies and also give them something to enjoy. He's been forgotten by history, no that he would care." Ciel explained. "Sorry, I went on a tangent." she said.
"It's ok, but what about you?" Star asked.
"What about me?" Ciel asked.
"How did you survive this long?" she asked.
"Because I'm not biological, I'm mechanical." she answered. Star's eyes widen.
"You're a robot?!" Star asked sounding excited.
"Pretty much." Ciel answered.
"I must look at your blueprints." she said enthusiastically.
"What year is it?" Ciel asked abruptly.
"Oh uh, well its-" Star said until she got interrupted.
"Actually let me be more specific, how long has it been since Twilight and Muyo died?" Ciel asked, interrupting her.
"Five hundred years." Star answered.
"Then I guess it's time for him to awaken, when he died, his soul was sealed inside a crystal, this crystal was then given to a dragon named Ember for safe keeping." Ciel said. "His instructions were clear, could you please go get that crystal? I have to stay here and run diagnostics, make sure the body works exactly as designed." she explained. Star nodded.
"How do I get back?" Star asked.
"Hmm, follow me." Ciel said. She takes her to another room in another part of the ship, inside the room is a device of some kind. "Step inside, it'll transfer you back home." she said. Star nods and steps inside, after pressing a few buttons, Star is quickly teleported back home. Meanwhile in Ponyville, Rain Cloud and Mage are in Sugar Cube Corner, trying to decide what to do.
"I'm getting tired of not being able to do anything, I wish she would just appear." Rain Cloud said feeling frustrated. Suddenly Star Whirl appears behind him. "Hi Rain Cloud." Star said.
"Yipe!" Rain Cloud shouted as he's startled. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" he said, shouting.
"Where were you?" Mage asked.
"Oh do I have a story for you two." Star said. She sat down with them and told them everything she knows. "And that's why we should go see Ember." she said.
"Hold up, so the project was a robot body for him to posses so he can see the future?" Rain Cloud asked. Star nods. "That's kind of cool." he said.
"He worked so hard for the betterment of Equestria, only to be forgotten, that just feels wrong." Mage said. "Do you think Ember would be ok with this?" Mage asked.
"I think so, her job is to keep it safe until five hundred years pass, she'll give it to us when we tell her everything." Star said. "Let's head there as soon as possible." she said. Before they could move, two guards approach.
"Princess Star Whirl, you're needed in the castle." one guard said. She groans.
"I have more important things to do." she said.
"We're sorry but, our orders are to retrieve you." the other guard said. She gives a defeated sigh.
"Fine, you two head to the dragon lands and seek Ember." she said. They nod and watch her being taken to the castle.
"Ok, I think we should talk to this Ciel first, get everything from her." Mage said.
"Right, let's use that device that got her there in the first place." Rain Cloud said. Mage nods and starts walking with him back to the house, when they enter the house they see Ursa who just got back.
"Mage there you are, oh and Rain Cloud, what's going on?" Ursa asked.
"Oh you're back, well let me show you." Mage said. She goes over to the wall and opens the secret door. Ursa's jaw drops.
"When did that get there?" she asked.
"Come with us and we'll explain." Mage said. They enter the passage and make their way to the device, all while explaining what's going on. "And that's why we're going to meet Ciel." Mage said, ending the explanation.
"Huh, guess her work paid off." Ursa said. "Always trying to find an excuse to get away from her sisters." Ursa said.
"Let's not talk about that." Mage said, avoiding further discussion. They arrive at the room and approached the device. "Stick together, I'll activate it." she said. They stand together then she touches it, it activates and sends them to the place Star Whirl ended up in. "So this is it?" Mage wondered.
"Let's see where this leads." Rain Cloud said as he starts flying ahead. They move at a quick pace until they find the exit, they see the huge airship in front of them. "Whoa, that is cool." Rain Cloud said feeling impressed.
"How do we get in though?" Mage asked. Suddenly they hear a voice coming from the airship.
"You three, I'll let you inside, hold still." Ciel said through the speaker. Before they can even say a word, a floating platform moves towards them, they look at each other and shrug, they get on it and it takes them inside the ship. They enter the ship and take the elevator to the floor that leads to the bridge, once they reach that floor, they step out of the elevator and start walking to the bridge, once there they are greeted by Ciel.
"I take it you're her friends?" Ciel asked.
"I'm Mage, this is Rain Cloud and Ursa." Mage introduced.
"Hi." Rain Cloud greeted.
"Hello." Ursa greeted.
"Hm, I see." she said.
"How did you know we were coming?" Mage asked.
"After I sent her back I took the liberty of using the house's old security systems to see who else was there." Ciel answered.
"Wait, the house has security cameras?" Ursa asked. Ciel nods.
"Yes, but they've been deactivated for centuries." Ciel said.
Equestria 500 Years Later
They finally reached the boutique after Rain forgot which way they were suppose to go, they stood in front of the store and Muyo stared for a bit. "Looks somewhat the same." he said.
"Really? How so?" Star asked.
"Well, I don't know how to describe it." Muyo answered.
"Let's go inside." Rain Cloud said.
"You sure one of her descendants works here? It's been years so I can't totally remember Rarity's kids and grandkids." Muyo asked.
"So it's true that you never say moons?" Star asked.
"Yes, because years is easier to understand than moons." Muyo answered.
"See? I told you moons was a stupid way to measure time." Rain Cloud said to Star Whirl. She groans and enters the boutique and they follow, they look around the store and looked at the outfits.
"She should be in her office, I should mention that after you died, one of Rarity's great grandsons married a great grand daughter of Sassy Saddles, their grandkid works here." Star explained.
"Neat, what her name?" Muyo asked her.
"Mandela Trend, she's a nice mare but a workaholic at the same time." Star answered. She approaches the clerk. "Excuse me is Mandela in her office?" Star asked.
"Yes, here to see her?" The clerk asked.
"There is someone who wants to meet her." Star answered. The clerk looks at Muyo.
"Hmm, he sure is handsome, are you trying to hook her up?" the clerk asked.
"What? No!" Star responded.
"Sorry but I'm not looking for a date, mainly because despite being currently single I'm loyal to my late wife." Muyo said.
"You look awfully young to be married, I don't buy it." the clerk said.
"Look I'm a relative she hasn't seen in a while so if you could please let us see her?" Muyo asked. She relents without saying a word, they walk to her office and knock.
"who is it?" Mandela asked.
"Star Whirl and Rain Cloud, we have somepony who wants to meet you." Star answered.
"Costumer?" Mandela asked.
"Yes." Star answered. Mandela opens the door with her magic, they enter.
"So what can I do for you?" Mandela asked as she turned to them.
"You must be Rarity's descendant." Muyo said.
"Yes, thank you for noticing." Mandela said. She looked at him and noticed something familiar. "Huh, you look awfully familiar, have we met?" she asked.
"I knew Rarity, saw her kids grow up then have kids." Muyo answered. She stared at him until finally she realized.
"No, t-this is impossible, I've seen you in family photos but... But how?" she asked.
"Let's just say that I wanted to see the future so I built this body." Muyo answered.
"No wonder why many of my relatives and friends of the family were holding that grudge." she said.
"Grudge?" he asked.
"Basically the ponies you shared the tech with took credit, and since then our families have had a strong grudge against them." Star explained.
"I see, remind me to gather everypony on the matter later." Muyo said.
"So what are you going to be doing?" Mandela asked.
"Other than exploring Equestria to see what has changed, I want to meet with the descendants of Twilight's friends, including Cadence's and a few others I have in mind." he answered.
"Well I have a cousin in Pony Ville who is a direct descendant of Rarity's, though he's kind of a fan." she said.
"Ok great, now tell me about yourself." Muyo said. She smiles and starts talking about herself and other family affairs, it lasted the entire day and poor Rain Cloud was bored out of his mind, finally after finishing they travel to Pony Ville, when they arrive at the station and step out, Muyo looks at the town. "Wow, still a small town but definitely looks newer." he said. They walk to Carousel Boutique and upon reaching it, Muyo enters without hesitation. "Hello? Fash?" Muyo called for him.
"Yes? Who calls?" Fash answered. He sees Muyo and before he can say anything. "It's you!" Fash shouted as he approached. "You are the friend of my dear ancestor Rarity, but how? You haven't aged and I have seen your grave." he said.
"Created a second body to see the future." Muyo answered.
"If only you made one for her, she could be here and I could ask her questions." Fash said.
"Trust me she did not like the idea, she never had a curious mind or an adventurers soul." Muyo explained.
"Wait, they spoke to you before this?" Star asked.
"There is an afterlife, that I can confirm, ill explain once we meet everypony." Muyo said. "If I don't run out of time first." he mumbled.
"Please tell me about my ancestor." Fash pleaded.
"I'm out, call me when they are done." Rain Cloud said as he left. Muyo and Fash start talking all day about things, then the next day. "So who is next?" Rain Cloud asked. Before Muyo answers him he hears a conversation east of their position. "Hold that thought." he said. He listens closely.
"I swear that princess is such a dumb mare, she's nothing like her predecessors, if only princess Twilight had been immortal like Celestia." an irritated mare said.
"Prince Apollo is also at fault, ever since he took over after his mother's death he's been way too complacent with her and her sisters, as if his handling of our country's laws wasn't bad enough." her friend said. Muyo started to feel concern.
"Star Whirl what has been going with Apollo?" Muyo asked. Star became quiet. "Star?" Muyo called.
"Who do you want to meet next? A pie? An Apple?" Star asked. Muyo decides not to push further.
"Let's go meet the apples, I bet the pies are even better than how AJ made them." he said. He looks up. "No offense Applejack." he said with a smile. Rain Cloud looks up.
"What are you looking at? Wait why do I see a smiling pony faintly?" Rain Cloud asked looking confused.
"Come on, you're pulling my leg." Star said.
"Let's just say certain tricks are learned when you are in the afterlife, even cause shooting stars." Muyo said.
"Ok now I know you are messing with me." Star said.
"Maybe, maybe not." Muyo said. Star rolled her eyes. "By the way, you are the same age as Fash and Mandela right?" Muyo asked.
"Yep, though we don't hangout often." Rain Cloud answered.
"Pretty much, anyway we should be on our way, we've been spending too much time here." Star said.
They head to Sweet Apple Acres, how will this generation of apples look like?