Aftersound

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Written by: Oneimare & Geka

Preread and edited by: Jay Tarrant, IAmApe, DuvetofReason

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Good intentions

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The girls’ concerned expressions dissolved into grins as Rainbow opened the crate, revealing food rations. However, their joy lived for only as long as it took them to realise the Crown’s generosity brought the TCE’s cardboard-tasting meals.

Still, they munched on the pale synth-hay, if despondently, glancing warily at Rainbow and I involved in a glowering contest; Trixie awkwardly and impatiently shuffled nearby.

“By my estimation, we should reach the Badlands in a week,” Rainbow declared as the girls managed to shove the rations down their throats, “with one rest at midday and another at night.”

Trixie absolved me from doing it myself, objecting, “I don’t think the others will be able to keep up.”

Close enough, but not striking at the marrow of the issue.

“Why not give us a ride?” I brought up the obvious solution. “You are in a hurry after all.”

“For once the Command Centre and I agreed—we don’t want to give the TCE more training dummies.”

Delight, Flower and Wire exchanged nervous looks—the understanding of what they had gotten into was beginning to sink. The little unicorn abruptly stood up.

“Can I visit my family first?”

“No.”

Not as much as denial—a threat. The filly stepped back, fear etched in her face.

“So awesome of you, Rainbow,” I hissed, earning a brief and tired glare.

The rest of the rations hung from our backs in saddlebags as we trudged through the Junkyard.

Less than half an hour into its maze, it became clear that Rainbow, chained to the ground, struggled immensely with finding a way out of the Edge. So, Flower took the lead, much to her chagrin. Delight, her wing rubbing the back of sobbing a Wire, tailed the procession.

As we neared the abandoned quarries, Flower suddenly stopped as if yanked by a piece of scrap—a nearly unbelievable occurrence. Even more surprisingly, she dug into the pile of corroded refuse.

Looking over her shoulder, I found nothing deserving attention, yet the filly stubbornly kept shovelling the rust away.

“Flower?”

“Just help me,” she grunted, trying to haul away a particularly girthy girder.

My telekinesis helped her and served as the signal for the others to join.

Our combined effort finally revealed the object of Flower’s acute interest—a relatively well-preserved cart.

The wagon’s simple design suggested a purely utilitarian purpose, however, it could still be used as transport for ponies.

“Well, isn’t that a Hearth’s Warming miracle!” Trixie joyously exclaimed, dusting flakes of rust from the slightly perforated hull.

From under the cart Flower grumbled, “What’s ‘Hearth’s Warming’?”

The Former One awkwardly deflected the question, “It must be from the abandoned mines—the TCE just dumped most of the stuff here after they were done with them.”

Rolling my eyes, I asked a much more important question, though I already suspected the answer:

“Who is gonna haul it?”

“You two,” said Rainbow, a very subtle hint of humour playing in her voice.

Trixie pressed her lips together, but I had little reservation against acting as a beast of burden—did she expect two children to haul her metal ass around?

Anyhow, the time to use it had yet to come.

I levitated the carriage above us and the metal scrap threatening to tear on its already damaged exterior. All of a sudden, the weight became lighter—Rainbow held the corner of the wagon, hovering low.

Flower and Wire looked around in fascination as Trixie and I carried the rattling cart across the plain of withered grass. From time to time a shadow passed over us—either belonging to Del, revelling in the freedom of the open sky, or to Rainbow, scouting ahead.

In the distance, the silver stripe of the Black River gleamed—our first mark on the long journey; too far away to discern the bridge spanning over the churning inky waters flowing from the Everfree. Hopefully, the abandonment of the land wouldn’t force us into fording the sinister stream.

My concerns about crossing the obstacle grew when Rainbow abruptly cut her circling ahead of us, setting onto an interception course. Seamlessly turning her flight into a trot, the pegasus caught up with Trixie and me, to which we slightly slowed down.

“The bridge is functional, but occupied,” she reported, her voice betraying nothing.

“Butterflies?” Trixie warily offered.

“Seems to just be squatters. Stop at my signal.”

Refusing to elaborate what that would be, Rainbow took off. I glanced at Trixie, but she only pressed on, prompting me to return to our previous brisk pace.

In no time the ground under my hooves gained a gradual incline to it, leading to the banks of the Black River. Above its tenebrous depths tainted by the chaotic forest, an equally dark bridge hung. Some miracle must be holding the mass of makeshift dwellings together as they gave me the distinct impression that a particularly strong gust of wind would put an end to that settlement.

Hauled from the Junkyard, scrap formed a wall with skewed gates and a rickety catwalk; on top of them, half a dozen hunched equine figures bristled with gun barrels.

A rustle came from behind me—following Del’s command, the fillies moved the saddlebags into an improvised barricade.

When we came close enough to make out the facial features of the ponies on the gate—twisted in terror—Rainbow landed and waved her hoof to us, herself continuing to approach the bridge.

“Lower your weapons, citizens, assault on the Crown is a capital offence punishable by death,” she shouted.

One of the ponies, a stallion, pointed at a scar on his neck, where Del had been scanned once, and cried, “We left your cursed city, we’re citizens no more!”

“As long as you’re on Equestrian land, you are to abide the Crown’s law,” Rainbow emotionlessly retorted; her next words held not a subtle hint to them, however. “Lower your weapons. Now.”

“What difference will it make?” Some mare yelled. “You came for our village anyway.”

“We came to pass through. A reminder—obstruction of justice is a major criminal offence. Cooperation with the Crown, however, won’t go unnoticed.”

The gatekeepers huddled together, and argued; eventually, they left the catwalk and the half-doors swung open with a loud creak.

The moment that happened, Rainbow motioned for us to proceed to move. When we caught up to her, she commented:

“Don’t linger there.”

Tin Flower’s timid voice suddenly answered her.

“Um, Miss Dash? We have to stop—I’d like to check the cart’s axis—the sounds it’s making are unhealthy.”

Rainbow grimaced, yet after a moment of hesitation conceded, “Make it quick.”

The settlement met us with misery.

High humidity perforated one-story huts of driftwood and corroded metal sheets. Aside from the gleam of fearful eyes inside those dwellings, only seven ponies could be seen—the gatekeepers. Wrapped in dirty rags, they clutched their improvised guns, glowering at us, shivering.

When we stopped in the middle of the squalid village to remove ourselves from the harness, an elderly stallion parted from his comrades to hobble to us.

“Ye said yer just passin’ through,” he rasped, defiantly looking at Rainbow, “What else do ye need from us?”

“A repair kit and machine oil,” she demanded towering over the elder.

He held her cold gaze for a long moment, then spat and disappeared into one of the shacks to return with a can and a bundle of greasy cloth rattling with tools. Without a word, he dropped them before Rainbow and angrily shuffled away.

Wasting no time, Flower wriggled herself under the carriage and her muttered curses began to lisp from under it. The rest of us huddled closer, mirroring the locals.

“Something’s weird about this place,” Delight whispered.

My eyes studied the settlement once again, looking for clues.

Fishing gear, lots of fishing gear—nets and rods. What I took for a sign of poor living conditions was actually the smell of fish coming from numerous barrels and crates. And despite half of the houses built obviously from the Junkyard scrap, no working technology could be seen.

“Pink Butterflies…”

Del gasped and I caught Rainbow’s approving glance.

“Does that mean we’re trapped?” Red Wire’s quiet fear joined the conversation.

“They seem to be left alone in return for food, nothing more to it.” Rainbow dispelled the tension.

The irony couldn’t escape me—those ponies gave a lark to catch a kite.

“Maybe they know something about Dodge City, then,” Trixie muttered, “Rainbow—ask them.”

“It’s gone, I told you,” she shot back with annoyance. “Butterflies took care of the Junction long ago.”

“You don’t know and we have to know that for sure—it would affect our route significantly.”

My mental calculations proved Trixie’s point—in the case Dodge City had to be avoided, our path would have to circle it, adding at least one more day to our already too prolonged journey.

Rainbow seemed to come to the same conclusion.

“Senior citizen!”

The stallion spat and grumbled, “I hope ya ain’t gonna ask to stay fer the night, cos we ain’t have no food fer ya lot—ya seem to have more than enough yerselves.”

“Tell me about the territory south of the bridge,” she ordered, ignoring his words and attitude.

“What,” the elder jeered with a scoff, “don’t ya have a fancy map tellin’ ya this?”

“I asked you a question, citizen.”

“There ain’t nuffin,” he barked with another spit.

“What about the city?” Impatience snuck into Rainbow’s voice.

“What city?”

“Dodge City,” Rainbow growled, “Stop playing dumb.”

“I just told you—nothing. Ruins,” the stallion sneered. “The winters ya fucks brought upon us took it many years ago.”

“Dismissed,” Rainbow snapped and turned away.

“Oh, thank ya so much yer Excellency,” her elder sassed and bent his knees in a mock bow.

As if on cue, Flower crawled from under the wagon, a few fresh stains added to her collection of grime. She dusted her hooves off and nodded to the harness, inviting us to take our places.

We did it without hesitation, our procession followed by the hidden yet acutely perceptible glares of the squatters, not to mention the passively hostile gatekeepers.

The gates on the other side, already thrown open, waited for us.

As we passed them and put some distance betwixt us and the unsettling settlement, I looked back.

Its entire population gathered on the catwalk to see us out—a mass of dirty and ragged ponies, all without exception glowering at us. And above them, the elder stood, smirking.

The village left a heavy impression on everypony. Delight even abstained from flying; she sat in the cart along with the fillies, with her ears pressed to her skull.

Eventually, I began to realise that my shadow had grown in its length and it had become harder to discern where to put my hooves.

Though we technically could continue to travel at night, thanks to Trixie’s and my untiring bodies, doing so in the light of the waning Moon posed certain risks. The landscape started to turn into that of the arid southern lands, treacherous and too rocky for any passengers to catch any sleep.

It took me one glance at my carriage companion for her to slow down, and we searched for a place to call a halt.

Unfortunately, the open plain offered nothing but itself and we simply stopped.

Rainbow landed beside us and headed to the cart to produce a small lamp from her saddlebags; Flower and Wire met the device’s appearance with joy—with the setting of the Sun, their breath came in little clouds and they hid under Delight’s generously offered wings.

Our small company gathered around the source of light and heat.

As before, the rations failed to lift spirits, giving only sustenance. Not that much could be expected from discoloured dry waffles and a paste of a greyish colour starkly reminding me of plaster. Such food possessed only the merit of being able to clog one’s stomach for a while and ruin an appetite.

I volunteered to stand guard—unlike me, Trixie and Rainbow still had to sleep; being Former Ones hadn’t absolved them of that need.

Other than the gibbous Moon, countless stars kept me company this night, shining brilliantly from the darkness, no longer hindered by the blinding light of the never-sleeping Canterlot.

The centuries-long absence of their mistress had brought subtle changes to the constellations. However, the unkempt firmament didn’t make me bitter; the memories of stargazing did.

Once one of my favourite activities no longer felt appropriate and I had burnt the midnight oil away wondering why the twinkling stars failed to pluck my heartstrings.

Rainbow woke up first.

She yawned widely, fogging up her visor, and stretched like a cat, making the plates of her armour softly clink.

That sound yanked Trixie from the depths of her slumber—with a jerk she came to life, her liquid face-mask becoming a surreal mass only loosely resembling a muzzle as if she couldn’t decide what expression she wanted to show. She settled on the slightly discontent grimace of somepony who could get through a morning only with a cup of coffee.

Flower wriggled, massaging her back, stiff from sleeping against the lamp, whilst Wire rubbed her healthy eye, Del’s wing used as a blanket, draped across her shoulders.

Delight still had her eyes closed, though the occasional flicks of her ears betrayed her as awake, just too lazy to get up.

Rainbow distributed three rations and bottles of water, and, after some thought, added a can of preserved carrots to the miserable breakfast—one of the few Trixie had brought from her visit to Scuff’s place.

The night of rest and the unexpected but still welcome addition to the breakfast lifted spirits quite noticeably—Flower threw at Del her horrible yet lighthearted jokes connecting her previous occupation with carrots.

However, before long, Trixie and I pulled on the harness and the carriage rattled across the plain—we had no time nor supplies to spare.

Unlike the day before, Rainbow’s excursions forward became shorter and as such grew in their frequency. She, most notably, shared her results, prompting us to correct our path to avoid patches too rocky or just to correct our course.

As she was returning from such a trip, I couldn’t help but watch her with worried confusion.

Her main turbine roared, propelling the cybersuit at a needlessly blistering speed. The armoured plates obscured her visor. Her guns pointed at us.

In an attempt to simultaneously turn back and leap from Rainbow’s warpath, I yanked on the harness, waking Trixie from her trance. Only then did my mind finally come to a sensible conclusion—there must have been something right behind us. And as such, I turned to see what or who Rainbow intended to attack.

A bright flash blinded me and I was deafened by the cacophony of an explosion and the girls’ cries.

The blast didn’t hit the cart directly but sent its rear in the air. The girls yelped in terror, trying to hold onto the saddlebags until Delight grabbed them—Tin Flower in her hooves and Wire by the scruff with her teeth—and bolted away from the to-be-wreckage, frantically flapping her wings

My body moved on its own—still connected to the thill, I was about to be slammed into the ground and be buried under the metal carcass. I hit the metal pole with all my magical power and partially succeeded. Though no longer steadfastly bound, I still had some reins loosely connecting me to the carriage. They went taut, as the metal twisted and jerked under the sheer mass of the crashing cart, and slung me sailing through the air.

With a loud thud, I landed on the hard ground, rolling a couple of times before stopping in a tangle of limbs.

Free from the clutches of disorientation, I scampered to my hooves, whipping my head around.

The cart, supplies strewn all over the stone around it, would serve us no more—wrecked beyond any repair.

Trixie hadn’t escaped the crash—the metal of her face-mask dripped onto the cracked ground from a metal pole piercing her skull right betwixt her sparkling eyes, bleeding oil.

That dark liquid coalesced into a coiling shadow and it shot into the sky, towards where silhouettes flared under the clouds where two winged creatures—gryphons—and Rainbow Dash circled each other, her pelting them with spitting fire from guns.

Delight drove the fillies to the nearest hill. Del and Flower lingered behind Wire, due to the latter trying to fight—successfully, judging by the pegasus’ yelps—her way back to the wagon.

I quickly glanced at the sky again—the attackers seemed to be feeling from Rainbow, futilely lunging at her from time to time. With Trixie’s shadow closing on them, the outcome would be decided as soon as she arrived.

As I galloped to Flower, she finally broke from Delight, leaving her clutching her muzzle with a grimace. She all but slammed into me, embracing me with her hooves, accidentally hitting my side with her metal leg so hard that my body rang from the impact.

“I thought y-you died in t-there!” she squeezed through her sobs, still pressing herself to my chest.

Delight yelled in a nasal voice, “I told you she didn’t!”

Her wings allowed her to catch up with us only a moment later. She clutched her nose, dripping crimson; for some reason, she glared at me instead of Flower.

Realising my mistake, I hugged the crying filly.

In the sky, Trixie finally reached one of the gryphons, and they dissolved into dust. The other gryphon let out a strangled cry at the eldritch demise of their comrade and briefly paused; Delight cringed when Rainbow’s guns tore off the gryphon’s wing.

However, Rainbow didn’t let them fall, she grabbed the screeching half-eagle and headed right towards us at a high velocity.

She dropped the gryphon a few paces away from us. They rolled and tumbled with the audible cracks of breaking bones.

Rainbow landed at the body and, absolutely undisturbed by the gruesome state of the remains, searched them. Finally, she tore something off the corpse and tossed it to me.

My magic caught a bent and singed breastplate, a hole blasted through it.

It bore Fluttershy’s crudely drawn mark on it.

“Those fucking squatters must have ratted us out!” Wire instantly yelled.

“Unless that fossil at the bridge forgot to tell them about a Royal Guard, signing their death sentence, this was a random patrol of two rookies who didn’t know better than to attack without assessing the situation first.”

A heavy silence reigned until Del asked in a worried voice, barely above a whisper, “What should we do now?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Nothing different from what we were doing.”

“But the Butterfucks will notice them missing, won’t they?” Wire pointed at the corpse.

“We should be too far away by that point.” Slightly raising her voice, Rainbow added, “To make that true—gather that we have left. We’re burning daylight.”

Shooting her discontent glances, the girls moved to the scattered supplies, me joining them after awkwardly putting the damaged armour by the mangled body.

Rainbow picked it up and intercepted Flower on her way.

“Hey, kid.”

The filly raised her eyebrow in response, coolly regarding the pegasus.

Unfazed, she offered the battered plate to Flower. “What can you tell me about this piece?”

“Do I look like a factory worker to you? Even if I was old enough, I’d be melting shit down, not out.”

Yet she still took it, twirling the metal in her hooves, meticulously studying it.

“No stamp, but it came from the Heavy Industry moulds, for sure.” Flower pointed at the hole left by Rainbow’s gun. “See that layer of dross? Their moulds are garbage and it’s only made worse by the remelted steel we send them.”

The pegasus took the breastplate from Flower, staring at it with a distraught expression. Absent-mindedly, she mumbled, “Dismissed.”

The filly glowered at her. It got no reaction and she walked away, grumbling, “No need to thank me, really.”

Disturbingly, the number of supplies left didn’t need my help with them. But one matter required my attention, however.

I slowly walked to Trixie.

She no longer towered over me—I did now. Translucent coiling darkness formed her body, the inky wisps perpetually evaporating from her evershifting coat. I could swear she seemed to have two outlines.

Trixie turned her head and our eyes locked. I peered into glowing soft white circles with no pupils or eyelids. They gave her a look of constant shock.

She had been involved in the Great War and it pointed at an obvious source of her magic if the trademark appearance alone wasn’t enough. I might not know her as well as ‘Twilight after me’ did, but I knew her as Great and Powerful, and that suggested she might be not a victim of one of his spells.

Still, this wasn’t the time or place to bring that up.

Looking at the metal skull gazing blindly at the sky with its empty eyes, I asked instead, “Can it be fixed?”

Something moved around me—the shadows!

Every object able to cast one, lost its shade, gaining a headache-inducing unnatural look lacking its third dimension.

The stolen darkness condensed into tendrils slithering around Trixie’s artificial body. Whilst the arcanium withstood its touch, the metal of the cart crumbled into flakes.

A lifeless frame hung before Trixie’s true form on black strings like a marionette.

“Not here,” she sorrowfully uttered; her voice slightly echoed, more noticeably now.

“We can’t leave it here either,” Rainbow said from behind me, nearly making me jump.

“Do you want us to take it with us then?” I asked incredulously, raising my eyebrow.

She shook her head. “I’m calling the Command Centre to pick it up. We don’t need the terrorists to get their talons—or hooves—on such a valuable piece of tech.”

“Strange,” I hissed, “that you can ask them to lug a metal corpse all the way back to Canterlot, but for some reason, we have to trudge across half of Equestria on hoof risking our lives.”

Rainbow met my furious glare with a tired and pensive expression.

“It is not my caprice—I was explicitly denied any transportation,” she finally said, irritated. “If you have any complaints, feel free to say them to the Queen’s face when you meet her; I’m doing everything I can already.”

Whilst only a fifth of our supplies had been destroyed, Trixie, rendered unable to carry anything, severely limited the amount of what we could carry. As such, the preservatives had to be left behind, much to the girls’ disappointment.

That also bound Rainbow to the ground and now she tailed our caravan to keep watch on the northern horizon. Trixie awkwardly trotted by her side since her appearance caused… a certain discomfort; only Wire seemed to don’t mind a living shadow walking amongst us.

However, as enough time had passed since the incident and the scenery being as boring as ever, quiet talking began to occur.

Flower and Delight jumped from one topic to another, heavily relying on slang, making it futile to try to join them. Wire approached our resident dark mage. Unsurprisingly, Rainbow kept to herself.

Curious of where a Former One and a filly had found common ground, I drifted to them.

Wire bombarded Trixie with a barrage of questions about her arcanium body—she didn’t use it like I or equinoids, instead ‘possessing’ it in a sense. Then the conversation shifted to the enchantments it held and other vaguely magic related topics.

The torrent of questions suddenly ceased—the filly seemed to be hesitant with her next words. Still, carefully and unexpectedly shyly, she asked:

“Could you teach me your magic?”

“Don’t,” I said.

Wire reacted immediately and vehemently, snapping with the most venom in her voice I had ever heard from her, “I didn’t ask you! You don’t get to tell me what to do!”

“And I’m not telling you,” I retorted calmly; Trixie slowed down to a stop, looking at us in confusion and I addressed her, “You might not know her well—”

Wire stopped as well—everypony did—and faced me.

“You don’t know me at all!”

“I know you well enough to see that you’re prime warlock material.”

My eyes were on Trixie as I said that, but I found it impossible to gauge her reaction—her smoky features offered little expressiveness. However, my words stunned Wire.

To drive it home to her, I added, “You attacked your friend.”

Surprisingly, Flower didn’t support me; she watched the whole exchange with… sadness.

Still, I pressed on, “Learning dark magic will only make it worse, amplifying your negative emotions like what it did to Nightmare Moon.”

“Well, I… I…” A single tear glistened in the corner of Wire’s eye. “I’d like you to look at yourself, Miss I-am-a-pony, after you lose so many you love!”

I levelly regarded the heaving and crying filly.

“I’ve lost more than you have any idea.”

She snarled at me. “You’ve lost nothing because you never had anything.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Strange to hear that from a pony who was the first to convince me I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

“It was a mistake. I watched you—you are just a machine.”

Now, that hurt.

Frowning and trying to keep myself composed, I tried to change the topic back to the issue. “My nature is not your business—”

“It is!” Wire didn’t let me say much as her hoof poked my chest with a dull metal clang. “You ‘re taking Flower from me!”

To her growing exasperation, I rolled my eyes—just couldn’t help it.

“I’m definitely not.”

“Then you’re a stupid machine,” she barked.

“Let’s say you are right,” I conceded with a sigh—I had no intention to delve into her delusion and whatever had been happening betwixt her and Flower. “And if you’re claiming to be so smart, I want you to take a good look at Trixie and tell me if you want to be the same way.”

Wire did look at her and the shadow of a mare became a shadow of doubt on the filly’s face; Trixie winced.

The little unicorn grimaced and quietly hissed, “I just want to be able to protect my family and my friends.”

It can’t be helped, I’m afraid.

Delight’s words and the way Wire constantly lashed out already gave me enough hints to guess the root of her bitterness, but hearing her confession finished the puzzle.

I could respect her goals, but not her methods, no matter how understandable. Perhaps, that conversation would make her reconsider her choices.

To cement that, I amiably noted, “If you think she’d be able to teach you that, then you’re not a smart filly.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Only Trixie’s voice betrayed her discontent with my comment.

“Care to tell us how you got that way? How did you learn King Sombra’s secrets?”

Trixie cringed and stepped away as if struck.

Everypony stared at her wide-eyed; except for Rainbow who observed the entire ordeal dispassionately.

Then Trixie walked away.

Needless to say, none of the conversations resumed—the girls huddled together, sombre. Wire seemed to be deep in thought, frowning at nothing as Flower trotted close to her, silently supporting her friend, a worried expression etched into her muzzle. Delight occasionally glared daggers at me, though I couldn’t tell exactly what for.

Rainbow’s position in our procession remained unchanged.

And Trixie now trailed way behind us, her head low.

As we journeyed across the rocky steppe, so did the Sun across the sky. When it went past the zenith, we stopped for a brief rest of tired hooves and a quick meal.

The plain became more of a desert—sand crunched under our hooves and the girls brought the canteens to their lips every so often; the arid air and rising dust, conjured thirst even in the chill weather. Desiccated bushes clinging to the shadows of brownish-red rocks replaced the rare patches of dry crusty grass. To our left, green darkness marred the horizon—the Hayseed Swamps, a mighty bulk of rotten woods forever drowning in the poisonous mire.

By sunset, the ruins of Dodge City appeared from the haze ahead.

Delight, as a sharp-eyed pegasus noticed it first; Rainbow had probably done so even earlier, but hadn’t bothered to comment. With the lantern lost in the gryphons’ attack, nopony looked forward to the cold night and even the dilapidated buildings promised enough cover to lift the spirits.

However, I failed to share that enthusiasm and not only because I cared not for the icy bite of the night.

The closer we came to Dodge City, the more the air quivering above it bothered me—evershifting Fata Morgana that disappeared the moment I tried to focus on it.

When I mentioned it to the girls, nopony seemed to agree outright; perhaps the lure of a roof over one’s head was too tempting. Flower even suggested checking my eyes when we stopped there and Wire remained silent, though rubbing her horn and squinting at the mirage; Delight dismissed it as nothing important.

“Rainbow, maybe we should go around the city,” I said, pulling level with her.

She watched refracting images for a few moments, concern slipping through the cracks on her mask of ‘professionalism’. Still, she replied, “We can’t go around even if we wanted to.”

I gave her an unsatisfied look and she explained with a sigh, “The Swamps are too dangerous, more so at night. And to the west of the city, there’s a large quarry—non-traversable.”

Trixie was right back at the bridge—we should have planned our route, it was too late to change anything; especially now, when we couldn’t afford any detours. We had to trust the words of the old stallion.

Pressing my lips together, I sped up to lead the procession.

I assumed the town had been abandoned at some point after the Great War, but four centuries worth of neglect and whatever other external factors still left it too preserved. Unless some of its population remained, yet not a single light, nor any signs of life, suggested that.

The girls’ anticipation had evaporated as we waded through sand and darkness closer to the ruined settlement. They followed me in tense silence, their steps growing ever hesitant.

Finally, my hoof found purchase on a street of decrepit one-story houses.

My vision cracked, reality splitting without a sound.

Fear gripped me as the memories of madness rushed into my mind, but as the seconds passed, I remained completely lucid and whilst the experience felt hauntingly familiar, it wasn’t the same—it wasn’t happening in my head.

The second explanation suggested my lenses giving up for whatever reason—but the cracks weren’t moving along with my eyes.

As I turned my head back to ask the girls, the sensation of reality falling apart abruptly ceased.

But only Flower stood behind me, jaws slack in shock and I couldn’t help but join her.

A sunlit street with ponies going about their business betwixt intact buildings lay before my eyes, divided from the ruins by absolutely nothing. Two towns, night and day coexisted in my field of view and it didn’t bother anypony.

A group of five mares—two pegasi, two unicorns and an earth pony—animatedly chatted with a cream-coloured earth pony, a mare with a cherry-coloured mane.

Rainbow Dash was one of the pegasi, but she wore no suit of armour.

And I was one of the unicorns.

Author's Note

Special thanks to Jay Tarrant.

I hope you've enjoyed reading this story so far.

If you notice any mistakes sneaked in through the editing, let me know.

Stay awesome.