Shadows of Eden

Chapters

Chapter 1: High Cost of Living
Chapter 2: Blast
Chapter 3: Somewhere, Somewhen
Chapter 4: The Sound Of Silence
Chapter 5: Leap of Faith
Chapter 6: Somepony To Talk To
Chapter 7: Capital Curse
Chapter 8: Data Recovery
Chapter 9: Between Two Worlds
Chapter 10: We Begin Where We End

Chapter 1: High Cost of Living

*BOOM BOOM BOOM*

"Open up, Dingy! First of the month! Rent's due, girl!"

I awoke to the earth shattering pounding of the landlord doing his very best to cave in my front door with his hooves. It was barely eight in the morning yet he was insistent that the rent be paid at this very moment. Mr. PJ had always been the 'if it's not early, it's late' kind of buck for the few years I had known him, but this was just ridiculous. You forget to pay rent a few dozen times by the due date and this is what you get. An angry, smelly buck beating your door down before the rooster even crows for the morning!

"Com'on, Dinge, I don't have all day!"

"Alright, I'm coming. Just... stop banging on my door!"

I shuffled my weary hooves to the door and yanked it open and was greeted by the foul odor of rotten eggs that followed PJ wherever he went. I did my best to clear the sleep from my eyes to better plead my case to him that I, once again, was going to be late with rent. I hadn't told him, I didn't have to, but the last year had been rather lack luster in terms of monetary gain in my field. Anypony staying here was already in as bad, if not worse, shape than I was already.

"Hi Mr. PJ... I don't have my rent for the month... YET! I'm sorry! So sorry. Could I have a few days to get it to you? I'll pay the fee, I just don't have it right now. But I will! I promise!" I said, giving my best helpless foal routine.

"Dingy, promises don't keep the lights on in this joint. This is the 8th time this year you have needed an extension on your rent. Now are you ever going to get yourself together, or am I going to have to promote you to homeless?" He said rather flatly considering the connotation. "You are an adult, not some helpless filly anymore. I like you, kid. But I got mouths to feed and books to read and I can't do either without you paying your rent... savvy?"

"Savvy, Sir."

"Now... what featherbrained scheme have you worked out this month to pay me?"

"I have a job! It's temporary, but it's a job! Over at Spark Labs! It doesn't pay much, but it will more than cover my rent for the next three months!"

"Three months eh? And I suppose you plan to pay me for all three months in advance?"

"Yes sir! I promise."

"Promises..."

"I know, I know. But I... assure you I will!"

"Spark Lab's eh? I have heard about that place. They take volunteers for magical research... Doesn't sound like you at all. What happened to all that 'save the trees crap' you were doing? Ya'll run out of world to save?"

"It's not crap, it's conservation! And as it turns out, it's a difficult field to accelerate in... Apparently."

"You have 3 days... After that, your behind will be sleeping in a damn tree. I have been more than fair to you, just one time be fair to me, eh?"

"Yes sir! Sorry sir!" I said as I slowly closed the door.

Whew! Bought myself some time. I was always buying time, when would this end!? First the botanist job fell through, then the arborist position was downsized and even my job at the plan nursery was bought out! Now I am being forced to volunteer as a lab rat at Spark Labs!? Mr. PJ was right, as wrong of a pony as he was. This wasn't like me at all. How could my life go so wrong as to pull me from my field in rare plant conservation to working for a company that was doing everything they could to harvest and destroy any and all rare plants for their magical properties!?

It was like admitting defeat! All I ever wanted to do since I was a filly was to learn about and protect the world around me, now I was becoming part of the very thing that I hated. I worked hard, I studied even harder to become a conversationalist only for the world around me to go in the exact opposite direction from it. Who needs plants when you have magic, who needs trees when you can make oxygen scrubbers, who needs clean water when you can just buy it bottled by the gallon! It was full blown insanity and I am now helping it along.

What choice did I have... I was about to be homeless in the middle of winter. I couldn't go live in a tree, there were no trees left to live in! My best chance would be to find some old garbage and hide under it until spring. I continued hating myself through breakfast and most of the way through getting dressed and cleaned up. As much as I wanted to stay mad, I was beginning to feel stupid for it. Everypony else had already jumped on the screw the environment for the betterment of ponies bandwagon, why not me too? Everyday ponies like me were being made to look more and more ridiculous. It was just a matter of time before there were none of us left.

I closed and locked my door to my little one bedroom apartment. The next time I see this place I will be a full blown sell out to the world I worked so hard to be a part of. It was so cold outside, I don't think I would make it out here for a night, let alone for the rest of my life. The winters felt like they had been dragging on and on the older I got and I wasn't even a particularly old mare. I was barely even an adult by my own standards. Scant traces of snow lined the sidewalks from the last flurry that passed through but it was slowly evaporating away little by little each day. It wasn't melting but just... going away.

Everywhere around me ponies trotted to and from little shops and buildings as they went about their day without a care in the world. None of them seemed to care that we had not seen the sun in months due to the overwhelming cloud cover caused by the factories outside of town. Massive cooling towers poked out of the horizon like stray hairs in an unkempt mane, belching out steam and smolder into the sky above like chainsmokers, filling the air with thick, acrid stenches. We were told they were complex compounding facilities for magical products to help level the differences between us all. But to me it was just another low-hanging reminder of how far we had strayed as a race. From sunny skies to black skylines in a matter of a few years, our world was changing faster than we could adapt to it.

I placed my mask over my face and pushed forward into the day, my every step feeling heavier by the moment. Mass public transit had replaced traveling by wing and hoof due to the ever growing expance of the city around us. In almost any direction I looked I saw grey and black soot stained concrete towers that rose far beyond the looming haze into the sky above. Going outside was depressing for me, it was one of the reasons I spent so much time indoors after I lost my last job. But all these ponies around me paid no mind at all to have to wear a dust mask just to go for a trot.

Pegasi, Earth Ponies and Unicorns alike were all different in their own special ways. But over time we had been taught that different was a bad thing and that differences were what started conflict. There was no place for that in a world founded on friendship, but there was plenty of room for magic. I really did hate ponies for it. In my lifetime I watched a beautiful world be raped and pillaged to save from conflict. Magical advances were at the forefront of everypony's thoughts, not the consequences. It was like a runaway train that even the conductor had no hope of stopping now that it was rolling.

The moment everypony found out that they could no longer purchase elixirs that would make their every whim a reality, there would be riots. You can't give anypony that power and take it away, they will kill themselves to get it back. I stood in a sea of addicts, junkies to the fruits of pillage and plunder, silently despising them all. This world would be so much better off without ponies, without me, without anything at all. We did not deserve this life, this place or this world that we had carved out. This world did not deserve this.

I looked down at the puddle of dirty water... Oh... That was my coat's reflection. Here I thought I was staring at a dingy pool of water at my hooves... but I was just staring at Dingy. I really hate it when this happens... It really bums me out. Would it have been so much to ask for for me to be blue, or even green? Why did I have to be brown? Coat's brown, mane is dirty blond brown and my eyes are brown... just shades of brown... If there is any money left over after this, I'm dying my damn mane and this time I mean it. I don't care if I look like one of those reactionary activists, I just want to just look at something other than brown for once.

I stepped off the curb and... fell on my face. Ok, not a puddle. That was totally ice and I just face planted into a busy street of ponies. Perfect. I looked up expecting that somepony saw my fall in hopes they might lend a hoof to help me up. I was seeing stars but even still I could make out the angry glares I was getting for blocking the crosstrot. I was holding up ponies that were more important than I ever thought about being for an extra second, how dare I. I clambered back to my hooves, only to be nearly knocked down by yet another buck rushing to his day job.

"H-HEY!" I yelped as I stumbled.

"Watch it, dirt pile!" He shouted back at me as he stormed off.

Just another day in the world I called home. As if this day couldn't get any worse, I was quickly reminded once again that ponies don't like me. Was I really mad at the world? Or was I mad at myself for letting myself sink this low? Whatever it was, it hurt. A deep, visceral kind of hurt that felt like I was letting go of something near and dear to myself. All my life I had believed the world could be changed, that life could be beautiful once again. Was that just foalish thinking? All at once it hit me. I was losing my Innocents. I was allowing my life to be taken into the very thing I hated and what was worse, I had no choice.

I had applied for job after job, stayed up all night dropping off resumes and applications for no gain whatsoever. It had finally just come to... this. I felt my heart racing as if I were trying something new and dangerous for the first time. I was having a panic attack, something I was still very new to experiencing. My doctor had told me that they were a symptom of my mental health of near constant rejection, but it felt like I was dying every time they would hit me. It was like the sky was falling on me, about to crush me at any moment and there was nothing to do but wait for it all to hit me.

I felt sweat beading on my coat in the freezing air as it started to set in. I had to pull it together, I had my examination in about an hour! I can't be late or I won't have money to make rent! That's it, Dingy. Just fan the flames of anxiety a little more. My heart was racing, I was breathing heavily and it didn't help that each breath brought in more and more of that foul smelling smog. I was in full panic attack mode when I started running for 53rd Street, crashing into ponies along the way.

I just needed to make it to the communal garden, my mare friend is there, I need her right now! I skittered around the corner and shot across the busy street to the long alleyway that led to the park area. Even though I had been there a thousand times in my life, even though I could close my eyes and find it, I couldn't make sense of the twists and turns in my confused state. I stumbled from dead end to dead end, looking for the familiar chain link gate that opened up to the greenhouse. My vision was growing dark around the edges, narrowing and forcing me to scan signs that were quickly becoming incomprehensible.

Finally, after what felt like ages, I found it. The rusted chainlink fence that would lead to salvation. I rammed into it head first, throwing it open and darting for the door to the East Side Gardens. My hooves were not working properly, I fumbled with the latch for several moments before the door swung open and I was pulled inside by a dark purple pony.

"Dingy! For peaches and cream sake, girl! What's wrong!?" Lilly Peddle screeched.

"I-I-I-I was walking! I-I-I fell! Angry! Angry ponies! Mad at me! Dingy! Panic'd! Ran here! Help!" I knew the words I wanted to say but my brain and mouth were no longer working together in harmony.

"Oh... Honey..." She said as she pulled my filthy mask from my face. "Just breathe deep! Nice and slow now. Close your eyes and just breathe deep."

I did as I was told. I can not describe what it is like to have a panic attack, but I can describe what it is like to come down from one. Heavenly. Like nothing could touch you, nothing could hurt you. Every breath of clean, muggy air was filled with the scents of sage, rosemary and fresh vegetables. Even though it was humid and heavy air, It was bliss to breath in fresh clean air. I felt my heart thump hard as it began to slow down and my muscles unclenched.

"That's a girl. Just take long deep breaths. Feel better?"

"Yes... Thank you." I said as I slumped over into the floor. "Thank goodness you are here... I need to talk to you."

"Oh? So you are not here for your monthly anxiety attack cure? And here I thought I was going to need to get my doctorate so I could start taking care of you."

"I need to talk to you about a moral paradox I am dealing with."

"Oh... So I need a doctorate in psychology. Got it." She smirked.

"Lilly, this is serious! I don't know what to do."

"Sweetie... What in the world has you this worked up?" She asked as she went back to working on the the greenhouse's cobbled together irrigation system.

"I did something... bad. I got hard up for money and my rent came due and I... I just can't believe I'm saying this."

"Dingy Beige! You are not about to sit here and tell me you found a light pole to hang on!"

"What!? No! I would never... Listen... I applied at Spark as a test subject." I shouted. Water sprayed high into the muggy air as Lilly, as best as I could describe, freaked out.

"YOU WHAT!? Dingy! I'd rather you were a prostitute! How could you! Don't you remember our time in PAN? I assure you it was Spark that set fire to our camp! Ponies nearly DIED that night! How could you enroll in that stupid elective program!?"

"That's just it! I didn't, I was randomly chosen! I got a letter in the mail offering compensation and I mailed it back in when I was drunk! I needed money, Lilly. I'm about to be homeless."

"Look, dear. I know times are getting darker, everyday we see less and less of the sun. But you can't just let them cut bits off of you for... bits! What if you come back out of there and you are missing your legs? Or worse, just missing two legs?"

"How the hell is missing two legs worse than missing all of them?"

"Oh please... One stiff breeze and you'll topple right over."

"What am I going to do, it's contractual. I have to go now or I will be sued by them. I was weak, Lilly. I was scared and I didn't know what to do!"

I had thought that Lilly was giving me the silent treatment when she went back to fixing the irrigation system. This was terrible! Now I was turning one of my only friends in this world against me! I had known her since our time in Giraffrica years ago, she mentored me when we stood together in the rain forest to protest logging. Now I was going against everything we had stood for just to stay alive!

"What if... this is an opportunity?"

"How. How can this be an opportunity?"

"Dingy, Spark and our kind don't tend to have fun dinners and sleep overs... ever. What if this is a chance for you to find out more about them, their lies and what they are doing in that lab of theirs? We know very little about them and this is the first time they have ever reached out to any of us for anything. It could be a chance to prove what we already know."

"Or, they are going to start killing us off, one by one." I retorted. I can't believe this! She was the LEADER of our team and she is going along with this!?

"Think about it. With solid proof of them willingly raping the land, maybe we could use it against them. We could take them down from the inside out!" She said, crushing a perfectly good tomato in her hoof. Oh com'on! I was hungry and I would have eaten that!

"Yes... But what if they KILL me?"

"If they wanted you dead, you would probably be dead already. I mean, they have a security team, they are in bed with most of the media outlets and they have the resources. This could be our one chance to find out more about them. I hate to say it, but it might actually be worth the risk."

"I guess we will find out, my appointment is in twenty minutes." I said as I stood up and gathered myself. "If I don't make it out of this... I'm haunting you." I said as my hoof went for the door.

"Well, if you do, be prepared to pay rent. I'm not having some freeloading sellout ghost spooking up the place unless they chip in for utilities!"

"Yeah, yeah. Money this, money that... The whole damn world runs on money." I said as I trotted out of the door and back towards the streets.

It wasn't a long trot to Spark, but I was making it one. Even with the gloomy atmosphere, I would rather it than to even begin to enter their building. Everything about it was imposing and over-built. The term 'No expenses spared' came to mind anytime I saw it. It actually made me physically sick to my stomach from fear. But as I have been told by many ponies in my life, learn about the thing you fear to take the fear away. To understand is not to fear. But even still, with my walk nearly at an end, I was shaking in my hooves.

I stood outside the great doors of the gleaming skyscraper on Trottsworth Avenue and just stared up. What I wouldn't give to just see one bird. Just one. It had been so long now, just give me a sign I'm doing the right thing. But there was nothing, there had never been anything and there would never be anything... Just grey. A sea of endless depths of danger and loathsome hate stretching far beyond anything anypony could fathom into an oblivion that we had created.

No turning back now, I was doing this to stay alive. I trotted through the doors and into the purple marble floors that stretched out like a vast ocean of amethyst, glinting under the magical lighting from far above. Truly this place was a marvel to see, but a monument to false hope is what it stood for. Far beyond the reach of the central lighting lay the admittance counter. Navigating the mass of ponies, I made my way to it with shaky hooves, still trying to rid my trembling hide of my panic attack.

I had heard all manner of things happening to ponies here. For many, this is where they would get their first taste of magical whimsy, a chance to see how the other's lived, if for only a moment. For others it could mean devastating consequences that would follow them for their entire lives. We had all heard the rumor of the buck that came here to get some extra money to pay for his kid's private school, only to leave one less leg than when he came in. There had to be a million stories like this, none of them holding any water as to what actually happened. No doubt from the lengthy documentation you had to fill out just to get the chance for them to poke at you.

"May I help you?"

"Yes. Dingy, here for my ten A.M. appointment for testing."

"U.P.I.D?"

"BM 14718 M14."

"Please, fill out these forums and have a seat in waiting room number fifteen. Somepony will be with you shortly. Next?"

Well, that was about as soulless as you can get. Would it have hurt to ask how I was doing? My mood was not helping my situation as it was, but being that my first interaction with Spark was akin to being told to go pound sand, this was not helping things. Maybe I was just in a bad mood, maybe this wasn't going to be so bad, maybe I had just built this whole thing up inside my head.

I looked up to one of their propaganda-esc posters that were plastered up and down their hallways like wallpaper. The smiling face of an unassuming pony glared down at me as though I was a small foal, eager to learn. 'Everything is possible through Equaal! Safe, low cost and all natural Equaal has changed my life! How could it change your's?'. I nearly threw up in my mouth. All natural? ALL NATURAL!? I guess when your product is made from endangered species of plants and animals, you can say such lies. All natural... because it is nature.

Soon I came to my small room away from the busy grand hall. A small, windowless door painted a sickening shade of violet awaited me with the number fifteen emblazoned on the door at eye level. I'm not a superstitious pony, but this was starting to feel like one of those defining moments in my life where the number 15 would forever be tainted to me. Like years from now I would refuse to buy things that cost 15 bits or not leave the house on the 15th of each month. What was I saying, I can't afford things that are 15 bits now!

Inside the small exam room I was greeted with gray walls, white lights and a green exam table to comfort my already growing anxiety. I found a seat near the corner of the room on a rolly chair... is that what these things are actually called? Rolly chairs? Exam room stool? Wheely-rolly-sitty-squishy... chair? I resigned myself to spinning in circles while I waited for them to come in to examine me. Why was it that these places were all designed to do little more than inspire even more fear with their non-threatening lay-outs? It was like a teddy bear with no facial features, largely benign but still incredibly creepy in its own way.

A knock at the door nearly sent me flying into the cabinets beside me. I had worked so hard to calm myself down only to nearly pee myself at the slightest noise... Graceful, Dingy. Real graceful.

"Ms. Dingy? Hello, I'm doctor Wolfbain. Pleasure to meet you."

I gave a small embarrassed smile and a timid wave. It was as much as I could muster from my place on the floor.

"Right... I see you have enrolled and expressed great interest in our accelerated magical research program. Is this correct?"

"Y-yes." I stammered as I tried to climb atop the bed. "I am interested."

"Mhm. I see. That is very interesting considering your background. Graduate from Canterlot university with a major in endangered species conservation, two years serving for Friends Of Nature and two more with Planet Action Now... Are you still with these organizations?"

"N-no... I am not longer affiliated with them... sir." That was a complete lie. It was worrying that they knew that level of detail about me considering I had marked no prior knowledge in their disclaimer, but even more worrying was that they probably knew that I was lying. "I had a falling out with them some time back."

"Interesting. Please answer the following questions to the best of your knowledge... Number 1. Have you or anypony you know ever worked for Spark in the past?"

"No sir."

"Number 2. What is your opinion of Spark as a public identity? "

"Spooky? Overwhelming? I see ads everywhere for this place."

"Excellent, the marketing team will be thrilled. Number 3... Do you agree with any manner of magical testing, including but not limited to: teleportation, transfiguration or possibly perceived time manipulation? "

"Y-yes." I knew what one of those things was. Lilly could teleport, she teleported me one time and that wasn't so bad.

"Excellent! Number 4... Given the current state of the environment, what would your overall opinion of our company be?"

Oh no... It was hard enough to keep my brain quiet through all of this, but if I were to just blurt out how I feel about this place, how I truly felt, they would boot me out! I need this money, but I can't think of anything to say!

"I think it is horrible what you all are doing to the environment! You rape the land, rivers and seas all for profit!" Good Dingy... super subtle...

"Interesting. Number 5... Given your answer to number 4, how would you improve this?"

I stood shocked. I had just blurted out that I thought this place was trash and I wasn't being kicked out on my flank? They wanted my input on how to make things better? Crap! What should I say? My brain scrambled to figure out a solution, but it was coming up as blank as a foal's butt! I had spent so much time thinking about and seeing how they have ruined the natural world but never once had I thought about how they could change it!

"Uhhh..." Smooth... Real smooth.

"Really... After such passion toward your disdain for our company I find it odd that you could not come up with a solution to these issues you have convinced yourself of."

"Wait! Maybe you could not... do those things? What I mean is... is there not some alternative? Maybe something synthetic?"

"Ms. Dingy... Without risking too much towards fueling your animosity towards us. There is not a synthetic replacement for magical augmentation. There is simply not a means to pull from without further investigation into magical property science. In order for such a thing to exist, we must push forward with current research to find such a scientific practice."

"What was wrong with how things were? When I was a filly, everypony was different! We were all special! What you are doing here is blending everypony into one homogeneous blend of nothing!"

"What we are doing here is saving Equinity. We are furthering our species as a whole. Let me ask you something. Great works of art, great scientific achievements, massive skyscrapers... Where did all of those things come from? The minds of great ponies who were outstanding in their field. They were the percent of the percent of us that checked all of the right boxes to do something great. Now knowing this, what if I were to inspire the thought to you that such great achievements are inside many ponies... But they just need that little something extra. Magic that they do not wield naturally. What great achievements would be lost to this world that could bring such beauty and great things. What could you yourself do with such powers?"

I hated him. I hated everything he said. But more than anything, I hated the idea that he could be right. Maybe things just got out of hoof. Maybe the way the world has turned out was inevitable and they started looking for a solution and are not the cause of the problem. I hated everything he had to say because... what? It contradicted what I already knew? It was the exact opposite of what I wanted to hear? Was I just closed minded, or was I being fed a line of crap? Fed... I have not eaten in days now, it was bad enough to have my morals questioned without the constant pain of hunger and the ever looming fear of being homeless. I was tired, scared and I was starving. I was not in a position to argue my point.

"If this Equaal is so great, then why not use it to make the world better? Why ruin a planet to progress a species only to have no place left to live at all?"

"Precisely why you are here!" He said in excitement. He then placed his clipboard on the table and rolled closer to me. "We are not naive, Ms. Dingy. We can see the damage done, but what makes us different from your opinion of us is that we can see a way out. We see a cure. Surely you know that we are not the only company in town, so many others are out there causing far more damage than we ever could! However, we are the only ones interested in correcting it. Ponies like yourself have no doubt found little profit from your work, not to be insulting of course. But what if we could offer you something... more."

"I guess... What could Spark do for me?" I blurted out in frustration.

"Ah yes... When all the walls have fallen, we resort to our most basic instincts. Self preservation. Ms.Dingy... WE can provide you with more gifts than you could ever imagine. Want the gift of flight? Done. Wish to be able to do magic? We can also make that a reality. Or perhaps you need the power of a gifted mind... Here we can augment reality and give you the ability to accel in all aspects of your life. If conservation is your true passion, as told by your green leaf cutiemark, then we can give you the gifts to pursue that very thing... Who knows, perhaps your motives can align with ours and we each pursue a common goal. All things are possible with Equaal."

"Will any of this... what I have to do that is, hurt?" I asked as I felt my morals begin to slip further and further from my grasp.

"No, Ms. Dingy. Nothing here will hurt you. Now... That concludes the questionnaire and your prequalification. We have reviewed your medical records and I see no reason why we can not enroll you today. In fact, I think you would be a prime candidate for a new experimental spell we are working on. I feel it might be right up your alley." He said as he stood and trotted to the door.

"New spell? What kind of spell?" I asked as I followed him out and into the hallway towards the elevator.

"We have been researching long distance teleportation and we believe we are on the verge of a monumental breakthrough in what we are calling Broken Line of Sight Teleportation or BLST. The interns have taken to calling it BLAST for short. The exact details are classified." He said as he helped me into the elevator.

"Blast... Sounds like a blast! Heh... I'm sorry."

"Sorry indeed. This is very serious research we're doing. If today's test goes as planned, we could unlock knowledge that has been lost to us for centuries! Thousands of years of lost spells and misplaced artifacts could be retrieved!"

"Forgive me for prying... But this is starting to sound more and more like time travel."

"Yes, well... I guess your name sake would have lead me to believe that muddy waters could not be cleared."

"When your name is Dingy, you get used to the muddy water."

"Yes, indeed this is in some ways... time travel. But not the fun exciting kind you will have seen on tv or in books. No, this involves selective teleportation of beings beyond the line of sight from a magical perspective. Teleportation at its root is a very direct act. A skilled unicorn can move from place to place easily through this act. They can even reach out with their magic and retrieve certain items if they know where they are placed, beyond their line of sight and teleport them to their location. The trouble comes when time becomes involved. Two or three days is not an issue, but weeks... months... That magical connection grows weaker and it is eventually lost."

"So... I'm going to be a candidate for a lost and found mission?" I asked as the door opened and we trotted out into a bright white hallway. We had been in the elevator for only moments, but it had felt like we were miles underground.

"Basically? No. The finer details and motives will be given to you later. We believe in transparency with our test subjects, any question you ask will be answered now that you are here. That being said, inside your room you will find your uniform to wear, a notebook to keep your own personal records of your stay and a place to clean up before your appointment with the Doctor. You are encouraged to rest and try to relax as much as possible between now and then. You will also find the paperwork you will need to fill out to proceed. There is in fact a gag order of protection among them. While we are transparent with you, we ask that you are not with the public after you leave. Many of our projects are still in the developmental stages and we do not wish for them to be leaked at this time."

"I understand."

"Excellent. This is your room. We ask that you stay here until the Doctor has visited you, after that you are welcome to all of the free access areas of the compound. Nice meeting you, Dingy." He said as he trotted away from me.

He was very calm in how forthcoming he was with information, but how he operated, just trotting away from me was very off-putting. Considering that many of the procedures they do cause life-long debilitating problems for many ponies, or so I am told, you would think he would have shown me in. Then again... I honestly do not know what to think anymore. My brain was so scattered with everything negative going on in my life, it felt like it was grasping for hope. Manifesting the possibility that they were looking for a solution for the problem they could have caused.

Everything I had learned and found out through my work in conservation was coming into question. There was a sizable gap between what I would hear in the news versus what I would see with my own two eyes. Bias, agenda and motive were all told to me my entire life, I had never actually bothered to dig deeper into the cause or the effect. The true motive a pony has is only known to them, at best we can guess what they mean, but are we ever truly correct? Spin was very much so a factor in driving the public to what they wanted them to believe as well. There was no true way to know if what I believed was right about this company was actually true... Not without testing it out myself.

I let myself into the small hotel like room and felt much better knowing that the sheets I would be sleeping on would actually be clean and my pillow would not smell like mold for the first time in years. If nothing else, I could report back to my friends and colleagues my findings here. Nopony in my field had ever volunteered for testing for obvious reasons, but what is fact without findings and data? The more I thought about it the more my knowledge was becoming speculation at best. Either way, I would have to wait and see what would come next, maybe even something good?

Day one:
Name: Dingy
Sex: Mare
Age: 24
Status: Pending

Chapter 2: Blast

I had just woken up from one of the best naps I could have ever hoped to have. How long had I been out? Days? I haven't felt this well rested in... well I can't remember when. The room I was in seemed to glow and pulse from the walls in a soft, dim amber light. The bed I was laying on felt like I was sleeping on a cloud of feathers and even the air had a sweet, refreshing feeling when I would breath. I was slowly beginning to see how a pony could find something like this intoxicating, I was already feeling sad that I might not ever get to sleep here again.

As much as a very selfish side of me wanted to roll over and enjoy this just for a moment longer, I was feeling so relaxed and awake that I wanted to get up and do stuff. Granted there was little to do, but I felt guilty for not being more active give how much energy I was feeling. I stood and began trotting around the room, touching my hoof to each corner as I tried to burn off some of my excess energy. Giving each of the walls a little 'tap' with the tip of my hoof, I began making laps around the room. But my fun was cut short with a tap at the door.

"Ah, Dingy. You're awake. How are we feeling today?"

"How long was I out for? I feel like I have slept for days!" I said trying to work up some sort of anger I felt I should be feeling, but I just couldn't. I was in a good mood.

"Would you believe me if I told you that you have only been asleep for an hour?"

"There is no way in h-"

"Please... Refrain from obscenities, there is no need for them. Allow me to fill in the details to your puzzle. What you have just experienced is what we call ARS, or Accelerated Rem Sleep. We use pure oxygen molecules bonded with isotopes from the defensive spray of the Knocklet Vine. Normally the plant's toxins would cause coma or even death, but when bonded to pure oxygen on a molecular level it can give you the best sleep of your life."

Oh, hello guilt, anger, animosity... When did you all get here? Oh just now? You are here to remind me that I just used a product that I had fought to keep from coming into existence? What's that? You say I'm a hypocrite? Oh, you have no idea.

"I-I didn't sign up for that! I was not told that when I was brought here!"

"Ah, well, you must not have read the paperwork very thoroughly. It states rather clearly that you submit to any and all testing including, but not limited to..."

"Yeah... I remember the form. But I was told I was-"

"You were what? Were you briefed without our knowledge?"

"I... No. I wasn't" I was lying. I knew why I was here, but something inside me felt wrong to just... out Dr.Wolfbain for sharing what was to come of my trial. Looking back I'm sure he did so to make me feel more at ease, but at the same time he seemed excited and possibly encouraged to pursue change by the way he spoke to me. That whole bit about how we could pursue common goals... It had stuck with me more than I had thought it would.

"Ah, very good. As you can imagine, information is quite restrictive here. We like to keep ourselves open to the test subjects but transparency only goes so far. Many of the tests we are looking into performing are sensitive in nature and would be sought out and duplicated by our competition given the chance. Surely you can understand this yourself."

"Yes, I can." I said, feeling rather defeated... Again.

"My apologies. My name is Dr.Egress. I will be your medical adviser, but you can think of me more as your very own medical and magical concierges. I will be filling in the details of your procedure, answering any questions you may have and even showing you around so that you can feel more at ease during the tests. I will also be the supervising unicorn during your trial." She said with a soft, lovely tone with words as smooth as her pulled back sky blue mane. If she was meant to come here to put me at ease... it was working.

"What am I doing here? I mean, what exactly have I signed up for?" I asked as I began pumping all of my nervous energy into tapping my hind hoof on the floor.

"You are here for a new experimental procedure that we are calling BLST, or Blast. Contrary to what you may think, you will not be blown up. Blast, or Broken Line of Sight Teleportation, is a concept that we are trying very urgently to make a reality. It could be the key to unlocking so many advancements in our research and quite possibly forge into a new and exciting magical era! To quote the finer details in a brief script, Blast will allow us to send a pony to any point in time if done correctly to retrieve an item lost to us at any point in time as well."

"So... Time travel? I'm sorry, but how do I fit into all of this?"

"Not exactly. Think more like... shopping on line. The thing you need will be located somewhere out there in the world, but you have no idea where it is. What we are working on here is something like the internet in this example. Much like the internet, with this experiment we hope to create a vast network map of timelines and paths to points in our history. Items, spells and even ponies that have been lost to us forever, we could have access to them and further our research. Every item, every artifact that has ever been is connected through a pathway that grows weak over time, but is never gone for good. WE, wish to map this." She said, taking a glowing pen from her coat as she begin to draw in the air right in front of me.

"We are the shopper and the items or knowledge we need are the items we are shopping for. But we have no way to find them. We have an idea where or when many things are, sure, but even more are lost to us. Blast will be to us as the internet is to many. With the power to go anywhere and anytime, we can locate more of these things we need. We can also progress our knowledge by rotating information back to a given point in time and compounding upon it over and over again. Of course, the latter is speculative as such a thing has never been done, but we are eager to try all the same."

"So I will be a time traveling delivery mare..." I said in a state of pure confusion.

"In a way, I guess you could say that. I like to think of it more as a magical net. Once you are to where we send you, a device we send with you will gather any and all data it can. It has a spell matrix that will take in details like temperature, humidity and general weather but it will also gauge varying barometric pressure and topographical land lay out of an area. It will keep track of where you go and what you encounter along the way. Think of it like a personal assistant and Pony Positioning System. It will be what allows us to bring you back. We have found the network of paths that connect everything, but we can only see what is here and now. This device has the ability to map and log these paths, but it has to in the exact time frame to do so. Otherwise we just see dead end connections. "

"Uhuh... Has anypony made it back? I mean have you tested this yet?" I asked with a touch of fear in my voice. I expected to come here, drink some weird glowing goop and leave with superpowers. Now I'm a time traveling delivery pony. This was really starting to get out of hoof all too fast.

"I understand your apprehension, but know that you are not the first for us to try this with. We began with Pegasi but learned quickly that they were not viable candidates due to their magic needed for flight conflicting with the spell. As it turns out it takes far more magic to teleport a being that is meant to cover great distances through magical flight. We then tried the logical option, unicorns. This was met with mixed results... With unicorns it was impossible to fully engage the spell due to their bodies amplifying the spell cast upon them and it shoots out of them at random. We ended up sending one of our interns to another country by accident. They were fine, mind you, but they were less than thrilled about sudden teleportation. Oh, to see the look on her face when she went from using the bathroom to the center of our facility in Trottingham."

"That's terrible!"

"Well, I guess when you spend weeks down here your sense of humor changes quite a bit. But you are missing the point, she was an earth pony. It was clear to us that a earthpony was the only viable being to undergo this test. Lacking the ability to do magic yourself or fly for that matter, the spell does not interact with you exactly, but rather the space around you. And to answer your next question, yes, the toilet she was setting on was sent with her."

"Ok, I think I understand how I fit into the box you need to check, but why me? Why reach out to me with the letter and offer me this position? You understand my stance on this kind of stuff, Dr.Wolfbain even mentioned that you knew about my time as a conservationist. Why me?"

"This is were much of what I say will be non-questionable. Meaning you can not ask further details for what I say next. I'm sure you are familiar with our product Equaal?"

"Yes. Extensively. It is why I went into conservation in the first place! What you all do to create it is nothing short of extermination of plants and animals."

"Ah, I would expect you to say as much. So it is safe to say you have never used this product?"

"Never! I refuse to use a product like that!"

"Very good. You see, what you know of Equaal and what it actually does, long term that is, are two completely different things. Equaal amplifies any attributes you already have and can be engineered to give you those that you do not. That much is apparent and yes, it is magical extraction from plant based organisms. But not animals. That is a false rumor. But what you do not know is that over time the flux that is used to deliver Equaal can accumulate within the body of the individual using it. It's harmless overall, there are no long term issues from it being there, but it accumulates magical energy over time. Subsequent doses of Equaal will heighten this effect of magical retention syndrome, or MRS.

This means that any candidate we source for this test specifically can not have used Equaal... even once. We have not tried it, but we speculate that the results could be disastrous in nature. Being that the flux binds with your being on a cellular level, it could in fact harm the test subject. We are not willing to risk the attempt." She said as she pushed the door open to my room and lead me out.

"What... They would explode? Or something?"

"More than likely, 'or something'. Since the Flux retains magical energy over time, the spell would act on the individual directly. They could have only part of them sent to a location, I don't have to explain that to you, I'm sure. Even worse is the possibility that they could in fact overheat from the magical build up. Basically they would cook from the inside out."

"Stop me here... But why are you telling me all of this?" I asked with wide eyes and suspicion burning a hole between my ears.

"Well... because you asked?"

"No... This all seems rather... restricted. Need to know kind of information? Why would you just share it with me?"

"Honestly, I am telling you because as the test subject, it is your right to know these things. It was in your contract in fact. We expect you to forget much of what happen, what you hear and what you see here after your trial is complete. The gag order helps too." She said in a bubbly tone as she swiftly trotted to the double glass window to the side of the hall. "AH! They are starting the Rapid Area Boundary Teleportation trial! I worked on the team that developed the serum for this! Come! Come! Watch!" She said in absolute glee as her beckoning hoof guided me to the crystal glass.

"Rapid... Area... It's called Rabbit isn't it?" I said flatly.

"YES! R.A.B.T! I came up with the name myself!" She said with pride. It was no longer a shock to me who it was that named my trial Blast... " Rabbit allows a pony to rapidly jump in and out of the denominational plain from one location to another nearby with minimal magical energy! Usually a unicorn would experience burnout after at best 3 jumps, a unicorn with exceptional magical prowess, maybe 10 or 20. But with this, they can milk the effects by casting one spell and simple side stepping. To us viewing, they are moving from one end of the room to the other in a blink! But to the caster, they are at best taking a few steps!"

I watched as the bright yellow unicorn drank a fowl green looking liquid with a grimace, drinking quickly to avoid the taste I'm sure. She then stuck her tongue out as if she had just tasted something fowl... I bet it tastes pretty good. She then passed the empty beaker off to a labcoat wearing buck and stepped into a large empty room.

"TEST SUBJECT R-4, PLEASE REVIEW THE INSTRUCTION BEFORE YOU AND COMMIT THEM TO MEMORY. YOU MAY THEN PROCEED." A loudspeaker boomed into the enclosure.

I watched as she studied a folded piece of paper closely, still shivering off the effects of the drink she had been given. After several moments... she was gone! Where did she go!? I was just looking at her and... over in the corner of the room she stood waving before she was gone again. I watched in awe as she popped in and out of existence second by second. each time in a new location. She was so fluid in her movements, looking to not even break a sweat at something I had been just told would cause magical burn out in 3 or 4 pops.

"Amazing isn't it?"

"Amazing..." I said as I watched in... well, amazement! She was moving so quickly that I could not keep track of her.

*Thump!*

"Whoops! Guess she got a little excited."

The dull thud of soft, fluffy unicorn impacting double wall glass right in front of me nearly made me pee myself. She gave a timid wave as her body squeaked its way down the glass as she slid before collapsing into a dizzy and swaying heap on the floor. Soon after a team of labcoats came running to her aid, helping her to her hoofs and out of the room beyond my sight.

"We are still working out the bugs... Though they seem to be more user error than chemical at this point." She said as we pressed on, deeper into the lab.

All in all, the underground lab was rather dull in comparison to the stories I had been told. There were frightening looking contraptions, sure. But the dark grey walls marked with bright yellow and purple felt more hospital like than super secret lab. I had expected bright white rooms with ponies dressed in sterile clothing and masks. But everything here was just like any other hospital I had been to in my life. Ponies in lab coats, ponies in medical gowns... The only thing that separated it from a general hospital was the lack of smell and the fact that everypony seemed healthy.

"Ah... The Testing Wing! This is were all our ideas culminate into a viable experiment! Put simply, this is where final products are tested for consumer use and where we push the very limits of our tech and knowledge!" She said, clearly drawing my attention from the wing to our left. With a large sign that read "Floria Extraction & Genetics Lab".

"What's down there?" I asked, pointing to my left.

"That is... Well...". She stumbled over her words.

"Where you suck the life out of plants and animals?" I said rather curtly.

"How CRUDE! We would never suck the life out of anything! We extract, transform and manipulate genomes into viable flux! At any rate your experiment will involve no such 'sucking' and as such is of no interest to your test."

"I'm sorry, did I hit a nerve?" I asked with a smirk.

"Yes, you did. We take our work very seriously here. If by 'suck the life out of' you mean extract? Then yes, that is what happens there. But know that we know exactly what we are doing and by labeling it in such a brash connotation is not only insulting to the brilliant minds that work there, but is also very disrespectful to the 'lives' that are removed there, by your own logic that is." She said far more sternly than I had expected from the bubbly mare I had come to know.

"Sorry... Just... Sorry." I said, this time with more sincerity.

"It is ok. I know your background, I can understand that much of this is difficult for you and I can not express my gratitude enough for what you are doing for us. We would never express negative sentiment towards you for it, please pay us the same respect?"

"Sure. I'm sorry." If this were a game, I just lost. She was good, too good. I would almost say that her emotions were genuine in nature by the sound of them. So much for playing my cards close to my chest.

"Very good. As I was saying, this is the Testing Wing, this will be where we spend the next few hours together." She said as she swiped a card over the reader and unlocked the doors before us.

Inside I was greeted with a vibrant glow of blue from hidden lights in the ceiling that felt like they were pulsing. Not seemed to be pulse, but actually felt like a soothing cool pulse that radiated all throughout the room. With walls of light gray and blue floors that seemed to fall into a abyss below me, the room felt... I don't know. Happy? Productive? I could not put a hoof on it exactly, but I had an urge to work. I felt creative and even excited by the idea of participating in a test that could in someway help with the work they are doing here. My star struck expression was not lost on my tour guide as she leaned over to me and stopped me in my tracks.

"The sensation you are feeling is something new we have put into pre-production! It's a product of my very own design meant to help ponies work harder and think deeper through the radiant glow magical radiation. Now, I know what you are thinking, but no, you wont get sick! This in non-ionizing radiation, specifically, it merely accelerated particle injection."

"So what... Like a shot?"

"Yes, but instead of an invasive injection daily, think of this more of millions or even billions of tiny shots all the time! So small that you can't even feel them! With it we can administer doses of b12, Ginko isotopes, and even pure oxygen enriched vitamins to help ponies be more productive and stay focused. Rapid Administered Dose could be the key to noninvasive Chemotherapy and other long term administered medicines. It could even be used to treat multiple patience at once! Imagine having the ability to cure plagues, administer antibiotics or even dose out vaccines in moments!"

"RAD... You named it RAD?"

"But isn't it... RAD?" She asked biting her lip, stifling laugh.

"Really? This could help sick ponies?" I asked as I looked directly into the blue glow.

"Ponies, animals... HECK, even plants! We are still testing the effects on horticulture, plants and ponies are two completely different things, but it is showing great promise as a means for vitamin and mineral enrichment. Who knows, with a few tweaks, maybe this could help wipe out blights in the banana fields. I believe that fits your narrative field?"

"That would actually be something I would be interested in, yes."

"Did I mention that this tech is plant and animal testing free?"

"That's awesome... But if you all make stuff like this, why even bother with magical enhancement at all? It seems like this is something the world needs more."

"Ah yes... a question I have been asking myself more and more... On one hoof something like this could help millions, if not more... but without Equaal something like this would never exist. It was the Cognitive serum that helped me and my team work through the complex equations and sleepless nights of studying to make it happen. In your case, think of it as turning a negative into a positive. We are here now, might as well use it to our advantage." She said as we navigated the rows of desks and lab stands to the backroom.

I was guided out of the blue glow and into a room that felt more like an office. Inside lay a large desk made of metal and glass and two chairs before it. It was rather spartan in terms of decorating, something you would expect from a multi-billion bit company's lab directors office. Apart from the computer, the nameplate on the desk and few chairs, there was little more to the room. But my eyes fell on the window that looked out onto a beautiful green lush garden that seemed to stretch on for miles. It was like outside, above ground, but far more clean, pretty and green? I felt myself drawn to it like a moth to a light as I reached out with a hoof to touch the glass, but my hoof with through the image as if it did not exist.

"Holographic dreamscape, dear. It's just a picture." She said as she sat behind the desk and opened up her computer.

"It's beautiful. Galloping Gardens?" I asked as I took in the beautiful marble buildings and cobblestone streets.

"Close, Canterlot. Circa 2018. Sure, Canterlot now is pretty, but nothing compares to the grandeur of the past. Buildings carved by hoof, plants and flower all cultivated by hoof... there is a certain magic to it all, even if magic were not involved at all. There is a certain beauty to it all, somewhat of a purity, something I have not seen in a very long time on this planet."

Interesting to say the least, if not for the fact that the resolution was so clear and perfect as though it were taken by a modern camera, then by the sentiment she displayed. She spoke of the location as if she had been there at the time when the picture was taken, almost going misty when she spoke of it. I had taken her for just another corporate drone, buzzing her life way on catchy terms and neat ideas, but it felt like she had something more to her now. For some reason I felt more aligned in her pursuit. I looked up, no weird glowing roof, no strange smell... I guess it's safe to assume the feelings I was feeling were real.

"You don't strike me as the type of pony I expected to meet here... None of these ponies do. My whole life I had seen this place as something like a ghoul, a monster. But the more I see, the less scary it all seems. I still don't agree with what this company is doing, I don't think that will ever be something that changes with me. Places like that picture used to exist, they could still exist if it were not for companies like this, even you have to admit you see that much." I said, pleading for common ground with her.

"Yes... I do agree with you in that respect." She said as she punched in a few things on her keyboard and sighed. "Dingy, you are not here for the betterment of Spark, you are not even here for product development. I requested you here. I was the one that sent out the letter in hopes for a willing candidate." She said turning her monitor so that I could see that she had a file with my name on it pulled up.

"You have a file one me? What do you mean by 'I'm not here for the betterment of the company'?"

"I mean that you and I may seem as different as night and day, but nothing could be further from the truth. We both want the same thing, we both want to see that place come back once again, we both want to change the world. Just in this case we both find ourselves at a crossroads and rather than splitting off, we are meeting. Dingy, if this works, we could find a way to reverse 300 years of neglect to our planet and keep the things we have found, maybe even build on them. My team and I work for Spark, sure, but we work as contractors. This project is funded by Spark but we are the ones steering the ship."

"So you are saying that you picked me specifically? But why me? What about that load about magical flux retention and junk?" I asked waving my hoof through the picture on the wall.

"That was all true. We didn't lie to you, we just didn't tell you everything. Even now there are things that we wont tell you out of fear of skewing the results. All you need to know is that from the moment you entered the exam room till now you have been under the supervision of my team, not Spark's. There are monsters, but you are not working for them. You only saw a small portion of our lab here, this place goes on for five more levels above us and each is easily 10 times the size." She said as she opened a drawer to her desk and retrieved a small box and placed it before me.

"Why do I get the feeling we are doing something wrong if you say we are doing something good then? None of this makes sense."

"Not everything will make sense, Dingy. Sometimes you just have to go for it and see what happens. Being timid and cautious is for the wealthy, when you have nothing left to worry about, you go for it." She said as she opened the box and pulled out a large, sleek apparatus made of stainless steel and carbon fiber. With a large circular screen in the center, it looked like a overgrown watch if nothing else, but all the various wires and sensors lead it to being low level space tech. "This little guy we affectionately call the Cuff. I wish I could say we have a snazzy acronym for it, but with the number of functions it is capable of... lends it to being hard to name."

"This is the first thing you have shown me with a normal name, you know that right?" I said as I looked it over. "What does it do?"

"What doesn't it do... It gathers atmospheric pressure, surveys land and topography, reads the host's vitals in terms of hydration, health and well being based off of saturated o2 levels, it even can dispense antibiotics to a limited amount if it detects infection. But most importantly it works as a sort of gps but more so in sense of time rather than location, but it can also work as a functional gps... but only if you have been there, depending on when you are." She said gesturing for my hoof. "You will need to have this if we want this to be a success. I wish I could say this is not going to hurt, but it wont hurt much." She said as she placed it over my right front leg and latched the 3 small clasps closed. The Cuff then tightened down to the point where I was about to scream before backing back off.

"That wasn't so ba- OW!" Two sharp stabs into my leg changed my mind in an instant. "What the hell!?"

"Yeah... sorry. The Cuff uses two probes inserted into the leg to take measurements and gather energy through thermal contact with peltier chips as well as motion charging. It might not look like much, but there are sometimes when it is working that you would think the thing is nuclear powered by the consumption of power."

I looked it over on my leg. It was light weight, kind of stylish in a weird sci fi kind of way, but otherwise kind of neat. I used the tip of my hoof to play with the dial around the large circular screen and was met with a very cathartic click with every small movement. Each time the device would click it would shift to a different screen. Weather said cloudy and 68*, topography was offline, health was monitoring as good but it had a small slash next to it that read 'stressed'. It really was a interesting device to say the least.

"Double tap the screen." Egress said leaning over the table.

With a short few taps, the screen seemed to zoom out to show an array of different functions. Gps, weather, health, bio scan, help, SOS, return, map, music... This thing can play music? She really wasn't kidding when she said 'what can't it do', it was like the latest phone with all the apps it had, but these all felt more... important maybe? When zoomed out the click wheel functioned to scroll up and down through the long page of applications. At the very bottom was one labeled 'Connectivity' with a little headset on a round blue icon.

"Oh! Tap that one." She said as she dug back through the box and pulled out a little headset and reached to put it on me. I recoiled, not wanting to be stabbed again, but a 'really' look from Egress set me back to calm with a glance. "You will need this if you wish to take notes or to send one way memos back to us. Think of it like texting but you never get a reply."

"Yeah... I know a thing or two about that." I said as I bowed my head and she affixed it to my right ear with little clamps. It felt secure enough, very small and light weight as well. With a three toned beep a little voice came through saying 'paired to cuff'. Now when I would move the click wheel I was met with a dull chirp signifying movement. "I hear stuff!"

"Good! That means it's working. Now, just sit still for a moment, I'm going to run some diagnostics to make sure everything is functioning at 100%." She began pounding on her keyboard as I watched and listen to the little devices that had been strapped to me come to life. Pops, whistles, read outs and vibrations all began happening as it did it's work. after what felt like only a moment it finished saying 'host viable for egress'. I snickered.

"What? What happened." She said as she began looking over the monitor.

"It said... I'm viable for you." I laughed, trying no to.

"Oh, silly. That means you are ready to go! It doesn't mean that you and I... I mean, I like bucks."

"I know, it was just funny."

"Well I guess I could see that as amusing. I'm going to fire whoever programmed it to say that." She said with a smirk. "Well... Dingy. This is where I brief you on what happens next. Normally I would pass you a waver, you would sign it, I would tell you what was going to happen and boom. Off we go."

"But this is not what we are doing?" I asked in confusion.

"Yes and no. We are doing that but you need to know your options first. What you are going to be doing is far beyond that RABT experiment you saw. This has a level of danger involved with it that I feel the need to offer you the chance to back out."

"So I can just leave... no consequences?" I asked, taken aback by the sudden sternness in her voice.

"You can leave, yes. I will even see to it that you get paid for being here. I want to be 100% honest with you and show you that some of us are not bad, some of us want to see the betterment of Equinity. What you will be doing, nopony has succeeded in before, there is a chance that it might not work and we won't be able to locate you. If that happens then you would be lost to us."

"Whoa now... I could be lost to you? That means dead right?" I said in shock.

"No... lost and dead are two different things. There is little chance you will die from the experiment. But there is a chance that you are sent somewhere, somewhen and we can't locate you. But Dingy, we obviously do not want that, nopony does. This is that whole, you have to trust me thing I was telling you about. Trust that we are doing this to do something good, to set things back right."

"Where am I... When am I going?" I asked as she got up from her desk and stared at the picture on the wall.

"10 years from now. We want to see what the world will be in 10 years going at the current rate. Spark has been made to believe that we are doing this to snuff out competition, but we are doing it to show them just how bad the world will be if they don't curb their habits. For me it will be to see if the tech has improved to a point where we can use a noninvasive treatment for nerve damage repair as that is my current project. For you it will be to have a chance to change history."

"So this is my call then... I get to decide if I go or not?" I asked, trotting around and getting a feel for the apparatus.

"Yes and believe me when I say you are pretty much the only pony we have found in over a year that is viable. I can't say more than what I have, I have already said too much, but just know that I have nothing but the best of intentions here. I want to see this work, I want to see this all through."

She seemed almost pleading in her voice, like she was trying with everything she had to be honest as she could be about what was going on while all the while begging me to say yes. I could leave right now, collect my bits and pay my rent. I could walk right back out the door I hated walking into with nothing more than a smile and never having had helped them. But the opportunity that was being afforded to me felt far greater than I could imagine, a real chance to show the world just how bad things were if they didn't stop. It was, for all my wishful thinking, exactly what I had been doing in conservation.

Everything within me was screaming for me to leave. Even if she had somehow fostered trust in me with her sentiment, this was still Spark, this was still the very company that set all this in motion. I had read in a old friendship book when I was little that you always give ponies a chance to do good, but you always do good by your own mark. By doing this, I was trusting that they wanted to turn over a new leaf and do right, I was trusting that they wanted to change the company they have been working for. I was trusting blindly and I hated it. But what option did I have?

"If... I do this for you ponies... I want more than the 2000 bits I was promised. My life is worth more than that to me." I said shakily.

"Dingy, I will personally see to it that you are paid well for this. But the rewards will be far greater than anything I could ever pay, I assure you." She said with a hoof to my shoulder.

"Ok... I'm in. Just don't kill me."

Chapter 3: Somewhere, Somewhen

"Blast, test subject number 12. Subject 14718." A loud feminine voice boomed into the chamber as I trotted through the doorway.

I had been given my briefing, assigned my destination and prepped for egress over the last few hours. As noninvasive as Egress had been with the probing and testing, I had not counted on the physical endurance needed to complete the last minute stress test. My coat felt clammy beneath my suit from the sweat being slowly chilled off my body by the cold room I was now standing in. Shaking hooves, chattering teeth and my coat standing on end all culminated in a faux panic attack that I was silently having all the while. The suit, though form fitting, breathed as if it were made of mesh and clung to my form with almost embarrassing intent. Despite my protest for wearing it, I was quickly silenced when I was told that the mishap with the intern had not only sent her to another country, but also removed all of her coat in the process.

"Please state your full name and today's date for the official record." A buck asked over the intercom.

"Dingy Beige, June 30th, 2203. UPID BM 14718 M14." I shouted just as I had rehearsed.

"Excellent, please take your place on the platform and activate your Cuff. Please tap on the Homing app, it will be the red circle on the home screen with a yellow arrow in the center." Egress asked through shaken words as though she were about to receive a long awaited present.

With trembling hooves I stood on the large circular grate in the middle of the room and fumbled through the menu until I matched the symbol I had been told to find. The pulsing red icon emitted a halo when tapped and a soft buzz radiated through my arm to accompany it. I watched the screen show a conglomerate of symbols and icons as it began the process of linking up to the lab's wireless signal beacon, another thing I was told would help me find my way home. Everything in my heart wanted to run, flee from this place and never look back, but I was rolling through the motions in the hope that all of this would turn out to mean something. I wanted for everything I had been told to be true, I wanted this panic attack to fade away and stop robbing me of my vision. Through it all I pushed forward in hopes I would be the change I wanted to see in the world.

"Initialization complete." The device said followed shortly by 3 high pitched chirps.

"Very good, Dingy. Please turn to face the control room, Jet will be with you shortly." Egress said from behind the thick glass wall.

It's never the actual event that you fear, it's the waiting, no doubt about it. I stood as stoic as I dared as I tried to control my breathing. Four seconds in, hold, four seconds out, breathe Dingy, breathe. My heart was beating in massive thumps in my chest, making my legs twitch with every passing moment. By the time the white mare with a dark black mane and tail found their way into the room, I was on the verge of throwing up.

"Hello, Ms.Dingy. My name is Jet, I will be your administering unicorn. Please, do your best to relax as much as you can as I read to you what's to come next." She said as she trotted to the lab table to my right and retrieved a large metal cone encrusted with gem stones and slipped it over her own horn.

"Easy for you to say, you are not the one about to be stripped naked and launched into another country." Good one, Dingy... Way to break the ice.

"I can assure you that will not happen." She said with a laugh as she took her place before me. "Today we will be attempting a test of the BLST spell matrix with the goal of sending a living being forward in time in hopes to map the quantum network's faded magical connections. You will be sent forward in time to gather data to support our findings and hopefully give us an idea of how to better control the accuracy of item location. You are to arrive at your prescribed time line, walk for one mile and press your homing signal at which time you will be pulled back to this timeline. Do you have any questions before we begin?"

"So I just, trot around for an hour and return?"

"Yes, that is correct, but specifically you need to trot for one mile. The movement will charge the capacitors to recharge and launch a counter spell to bring you home when you press the homing button. This is less the destination and more the journey. Along the trip, that should feel brief to you, your Cuff will gather all the data we need, once there it will automatically lock on to an object that we believe to be there and source out its string to map it. Do not launch the homing beacon until the battery life is at least 63% or you run the risk of a misfire of the spell. It could take days to recharge through normal activity. Do you understand?" She said with a dead serious glare as if she was trying to tattoo it into my memory.

"63% or I'm stuck there. Got it." I said as I felt the cold sweat begin to pour over me.

"Very good. Please remain perfectly still and wait to step back until told to do so." She said as she attached a Cuff of her own and attached a long cable to it and another to the horn augmentation. "This will only take a moment. We are counting on you Dingy, you can do this." She said with a smile.

"Test in progress. All non-accentual technicians please stand clear. Blast Spell Matrix charging... 80%"

I stood ready for what would come next and did my best to restrain myself from running. My body twitched and shook as I did my best to not feed into my flight instinct as I listened to the count down to 100%.

"Blast Spell Matrix Charging 95%... Please stand clear."

"This is it Dingy, you won't feel a thing." Jet said as her horn began to glow a brilliant shade of purple that fluoresced her coat a bright blue. The light was not bright but even still it was hard to look at directly without squinting at it's otherworldly glow. I watched as she lowered her head and aimed the spire of blinding light directly at me.

"Blast Spell Matrix charged... 100%. Proceed with caution." The loud voice said.

Without hesitation, the spell fired enveloping me in the brilliant glow I had been looking at. My entire body was overcome with a cold sensation like a winter breeze that seemed to come from behind me. I couldn't help but jump the moment I saw it coming, nearly falling flat on the steel grate below me in fear that I would have all my fur blown off.

"It's working! Dingy, please take two steps back! Safe travels!" I heard Egress say proudly among the cheers from the control room.

One step, two steps...

"AHHHHHH!"

I screamed as I felt a force pull me the rest of the way into a void in the wall behind me. I watched fear as I fell though a bright purple ring of blazing fire and ether and into a world of pulsing blue and black fire. As quickly as I had fallen through, I was moving even faster now, the doorway forever lost to me as panic sat in. I was moving faster and faster through tunnels and paths as the bright walls began to pulse brightly in white. I clinched my eyes shut and screamed in fear that I was about to be killed by my own selfish desire to change the world.

With a bright flash of white that I could see with my eyes clinched shut, I covered my face with my hooves and was shocked to see the bones in my legs through it all. As fast as it happened, it ended and the feeling of my body's own weight came back to me along with darkness. I could feel the ground under me was solid, but I could not bring myself to open my eyes out of fear of what I might see. Carefully I lowered myself to the ground and began to quietly cry to myself. What had I just done!? I had agreed to do something as dangerous as this? I was a fool, I had been tricked and helped them time travel!?

The dull ringing in my ears gave way to a soft chirping. I pulled the Cuff under me to try and quiet it down but it just kept chirping, infrequently at different tones and frequencies. I pounded it into the ground below me but it wouldn't shut up for anything I did. I sat there for far too long before I realized that the sound wasn't coming from below me, but rather it was coming from above me. Cautiously I opened my eyes and saw dirt and... was that a leaf? No! A feather!? Sure enough it was a small feather laying on the ground right under me. I poked my nose at the soft blue and black shedding and felt how soft it was.

The chirping wasn't coming from my Cuff... It was coming from something I had not heard for as long as I could remember. It was coming from birds. My head jerked to the sky to see them but if I had been excited about the birds, I nearly started crying again when I saw a massive canopy of leaves and a crystal clear sky above me. It was like nothing I had ever seen before, so clear and blue that I could just jump in a swim. With dark green vibrant leaves the trees around me stood taller than buildings in my home town. I stood and felt a tear roll down my cheek as I watched a large brown and white bird fly right in front of me and take lite on a tree limb just feet away.

It was like I fell into a dream, a world so perfect that I felt like I was making it less pure just by being here. Slowly my senses came back to me one by one. My eyesight sharpened and I could see that the bird I was admiring was actually a hawk, a bird I had only seen in textbooks! My hearing keyed me into the sound of water tumbling gently over stones in a nearby creek and my smell... I could only smell the sweet scent of pine and moisture that hung in the air like a gentle haze, feeding every living thing around me.

"Where am I?"

My leg chirped and vibrated as my Cuff pulled up a map function and began scanning the world around me. Once it had been completed it chirped three more times to signify it was done. I couldn't look at it, I was transfixed to everything I had ever hoped I would get to see. To many it would have just seemed like a stand of trees in the woods somewhere, but to me this was heaven. After what I was sure was an hour, I finally looked down at my Cuff. The screen was hazed over with dew that I had to clear off with the sleeve of my suit to see. The dial read 'Everfree Forest' for as far as I could read on my map.

"Everfree Forest? That place has been gone for nearly a hundred years..." I mumbled to myself. But the letters and symbols did not lie. But one thing I do recall from my time at the university was that the Everfree was at best fifteen square miles and this key on my screen was saying that it was fifteen miles in every direction. What had happened in ten years that had resulted in it being this large? Had they succeeded? Did it work!? DID I HELP MAKE THIS HAPPEN!?

I silently rejoiced in my mind as I did a little dance that this beautiful and lush world could have been partly my doing. Everything I was seeing was the work of brilliant minds coming together and making something bad into something great. Maybe I had misjudged them, maybe they were just slaves to a corporate machine, doing work to feed their own interests and had no clue what they were really doing until now. Spark, as far as I was led to believe, was still heavily in the wrong, but maybe Dr. Egress and her team really were fighting the good fight. As far as I could see it was green and lush, if this really was the future, then they did exactly what they had set out to do.

After spending nowhere near enough time taking in my surroundings, I dusted myself off and set out to find the source of the sound of water. Everywhere I looked I saw nature unmolested. The trees wore thick layers of bark and moss, showing no signs of pony contact for many years. The forest was teaming with life and sound as my silent hoofsteps led me down hill to a stream of crystal clear water babbling over pebbles. I stepped down off a ledge and onto a hard surface beneath crumpled leaves and plant matter.

It was an odd sensation going from the soft spongy soil to... whatever this was I was standing on. It was like bedrock but perfectly flat. I looked up and down the bank I had just hopped off of and to my surprise it seemed to stretch on in either direction. With a hoof, I pawed at the ground and revealed a stripe of bright yellow that had been painted on a smooth black surface. This was not bedrock, this was a road.

"A road? What's a road doing in a forest?" I said under my breath.

It must have been unused for years judging by the lack of clearing from the leaves and how deep the debris was. I felt my Cuff vibrate, the soft beeps being overcome by the sound of the stream I was about to drink from. I looked down to see the map icon pulsing. I took a sip from the stream and took in the heavy tastes of minerals and its purity before tapping it. The screen lit up with lines and little red dots, one of the lines shown in bright yellow and I was standing right on it. I tapped the blue dot in the center of the screen and it zoomed in and to my surprise it gave an actual name to the road I was on.

"Continental Avenue? I know that road."

I looked around again, my brain trying to place where I was to things I had seen in my past to hopefully get an idea of where I was. But the only road that came to mind was the one on the edge of town near the dump near my house. This thing can't be right, that road was horrible, smelled like butt and never had views like this. At that moment my screen zoomed out and back to the home screen where a new Icon had lit up in vibrant purple, not unlike the unicorn who sent me here's horn. Messages and Schedules. Giving it a quick tap pulled up a screen with mission objectives and a short message.

"Trot for one mile north. Trot for 2 miles south for a total of 3 miles. Locate the location for the signal beacon. Activate homing function to return. Huh, I guess they changed the plans at the last minute." I said as I stood from the creek bank and trotted back to the road to get my bearings with the compass app. Each item on my screen was underlined in a way that gave the impression that I could tap it for further details. But the last line was very interesting. Was this the message that I had just received? How was that even possible? I tapped it and listened to the audio play.

"Dingy. Dr. Egress, I bet you are wondering how you got this message, huh?" She started with a bubbly tone. "I'm proud to say that the same unicorn that sent you ahead in time was also responsible for this message, if it made it to you. We have uploaded the messages to a satellite that should still be in orbit ten years from now and programmed it to search out your Cuff's signal and relay the message to you. You will receive them in real time as we send them, but you will not be able to respond I am sorry to say. Check your messages as often as possible, we may update your mission log. Good luck Dingy, can't wait to see some pictures when you get back! Oh! The Cuff has a camera function! Use it liberally! End coms!"

Camera? Does this thing have a camera? What doesn't this thing do? I pointed my hoof at a nearby rock and made a 'bang sound' with my mouth and was shocked to see a blue light exit the end of my hoof and begin illuminating the rock line by line.

"NO! Shit!" I shouted but my fears of exploding a rock were silenced by a little voice coming from my arm.

"Scanning complete. Igneous. 88% Granite, 12% Scoria. Common rock found in north eastern Equestia. Possible age: four billion years. Do you wish to log this scan?" The cuff asked as yes or no popped up on the screen. I tapped yes to see what would happen but I was saddened to find out that nothing cool happened at all. It just saved it.

The next hour of trotting went on without much new ground being broken beyond me scanning everything in sight. This had to be the coolest gadget I had ever had the fun of playing with. Rocks, trees, the road itself... I found a function around round the fifth rock in a row that allowed me to speed scan things with a brief description of what it was and what it was made of followed by a fast save. I could scan 15 things a minute like this. If nothing else came from my fun, maybe the data would help Egress somehow. By the time I was nearing my destination the woods were beginning to thicken to the point where I could barely make progress. I was relieved when the on-board pedometer beeped and I had to turn around. I was nearly to a cliff.

The more I traveled in that direction, the more I was sure that the road I was standing on and the road I knew from memory were the same road. I had been heading out of town by my best summation and arrived somewhere near where the dump used to be. Maybe they terraformed it at some point and made a park out of it or added it on to the sparse forest that was being logged at the time to supplement the loss of growth. Either way, the direction they took with the matter was more than ok with me. More trees, less disease!

By the time I had made it back to the kicked-out patch of dirt where I found the stream I had trotted nearly 2.1 miles and scanned about a thousand things. This was turning into nothing more than a trot through the woods after all. The only thing that I could call out of place was the lack of small town Equestria I was used to seeing on the other side of the dump and the complete lack of stumps that used to line the road way from over logging. It was weird not seeing them anymore after so long of lamenting them, they had been there since I was a filly. Another odd point was the fact that many of the trees I was seeing were far older than just ten years old. Most of them were fully matured and some were nearing ready to fall down.

I chalked it up to transplantation as stump removal was part of that process and explained away the older growth I was seeing. I was starting to feel woozy by the time I had trudged on for yet another mile through the forest. No doubt the side effects from the antidepressants I had been given during the screening wearing off. I felt hung over but not weak in the slightest, yet at the same time my head was starting to pound from the physical labor of jumping fallen trees and trying not to slip and fall. The creek crossed under the roadway and led up the hillside to my right, signaling that I was in fact nearing town. The terrain was beginning to level out nicely with half a mile left to go and at this rate the final way point I was meant to reach would be at the edge of town.

Wouldn't that be something, if I were that close, I might as well drop in and see Egress and freak her out! They said don't go anywhere I already lived, but they said nothing about visiting the lab. If nothing else congratulations were in order for their amazing work. Here it was almost noon and the sky was clear as a sheet of glass with white puffy clouds hanging overhead. I bet the Pegasi are loving this! No more being grounded due to poor air quality and loss of room to zoom around, just like when I was a filly! Oddly enough, I had yet to see or even hear another pony. Maybe all this change was some call for adjustment for them and they were still cooped up in their cities and apartment blocks. I don't see how anypony could be that way given how beautiful this was.

By the time I was nearing the final 2 mile mark, I saw my first sign of civilization and my Cuff came to life with vigor! Beeps, announcements and flashes on the screen as some of the apps stirred to life one by one. Buzzes and chirps accompanied me to the town's edge where I was looking at what I thought was a rock from the township's keymarker. I ran a hoof over it and found a slick green coating under the mossy exterior, peeling off in big sheets like frosting from a cake. White and green blotches showed through the gash I had created and I felt my hooves grow weak as I realized that I was not on the outskirts of town... I was downtown.

"What... What's going on!?"

This was the interchange sign that marked the split of the highway in the center of town, but there was nothing here. I was only a few blocks from where I live and just a couple more from Spark Labs. The entire city had been over grown bottom to top. I looked through the forest and looming in the distance, like a ghost were buildings that trees and vines had taken for their own. A shudder ran through my body as my brain tried to piece it all together but my heart was distracting me from concentrating. This was a huge town! They wouldn't have just abandoned it like this, not unless something radical had happened and they just had to leave. But why would they terraform this place so drastically? Was it a lash against how bad things had gotten? Did something bad happen? What was it!?

I broke into a sprint towards the town center. Surely that wouldn't have been taken over too. The further I ran, the more buildings came into view, but it was the same old song of vines and trees growing out of windows. The forest cleared some, letting more light in, but the tree cover I had fallen in love with earlier was beginning to give me a sense of dread rather than comfort. I ran past the alleyway where Lilly had had her greenhouse and right down the street to Spark.

No sooner than I had arrived, I saw something that lead my mind off into a deep abyss of dread. The windows had all been boarded up at some point. Great sheets of metal lay strung across main street in piles, screws rusting away to nubs, poking through silvery metal-like fangs. All the glass was long gone, long since blown out or broken from time. I sat in my place, staring back up at the tall building that looked to be ready to fall over at any moment and tried to control my breathing.

"Calm down Dingy... This is no place to have a panic attack now."

"Elevated stress levels detected. Administering supplemental serotonin." My leg said. Before I could react I felt a feeling of euphoria overcome me like a wave and my heart rate began to slow, but was still beating fast. Where was this thing the other day!? Forget Equaal, they need to be selling this thing by the millions! I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and tried once more to gather my thoughts.

"Ok Dingy... You are in the future, the world is over grown... Why? They said they wanted to reverse the damage they caused, but like this? This is too far. Surely they wouldn't go this far, even if they were to be radical about it. Ok... now what... MY CUFF!" I shouted as I brought it to my face.

I looked over the menu and saw that the map feature had found its way to the top right corner and that I had three apps flashing at me. Messages & Schedule, Homing Beacon and one labeled date and time. I tapped the messages first, if nothing else maybe Egress had something to tell me, I could really use to hear her voice right now. Once open I saw that the objectives had been marked off my list and I had a new message labeled "Where are you?". That's right, I had blown past my checkpoint and ran off into town. I tapped the message and waited for the audio to begin to roll.

"Dingy. Egress here. You really have us on pins and needles here. We have been waiting for your return for almost 30 minutes now and we have yet to see you activate your Homing Beacon. Once activated you will need to brace yourself and prepare for much the same experience as you had going to where you are. Please don't be hurt! We really want to see you come back safe young lady! End transmission."

That's right! Regardless of what had happened here, my job was done! All I had to do was trot back to the way point where I completed my hike and I could go home! Forget what happened here, that is for the egghead to figure out, as much as I loved this place, I wanted to go home. I was freaking out, even with the dose of medication I had been randomly given! With a renewed sense of 'lets get the hell out of tree land', I stood and aimed my nose back down the trail I had ran down.

All along the way I was trying my best to work out what had happened, but I was becoming more and more distracted by the buildings. I kept thinking I saw lights come on and off from time to time. I would catch it out of the corner of my eye and as soon as I would look, it was gone. Was it my mind playing tricks on me? Was I just so used to seeing the familiar bluish glow of fluorescent lighting where it no longer was that my brain was filling in the gaps? Was I losing it?

The sharp pain of reality came crashing home like a knife when I really took the situation in. I was not prepared for this in the slightest! I was a conservationist playing a dangerous game of dice, rolling them and playing the part assigned to me by ponies I had sworn an oath to hate! Yet here I was, running around like I was a scientist! I was nothing of the sort! This was no place for somepony like me, why had they sent me here!? The more I thought about it, the more reckless it felt and sounded. Who in their right mind would send ME of all ponies? I suffered from random panic attacks with no trigger. Oh yeah, perfect for an earth and reality shattering experiment.

I quickly made time back to the little yellow beacon on my map function, nearly overshooting the statue I was supposed to stop at. I remember this statue, I pass it nearly everyday when I go to town but I had never paid it much attention. The bronze casting had been weathered, wearing deep gouges from erosion and neglect backed by a thick layer of tarnish, painting it black. It was a depiction of a princess reaching for the stars to harness their power for her own with a flaming hoof. I had always been told that it was a symbol of Equinity harnessing the power of everything around them out of sear determination, strength and cunning.

But now, seeing it in this light, the flaming hoof only gave the impression that we had always been playing with fire, it just took this long for us to get burned. It was sobering and painful even to know that this monument had a double meaning so stark in contrast. I did my best to shake off the heeby-jeebies I was giving myself long enough to find the homing beacon and tap it. I wanted out of here, now. If this wasn't the feeling of absolute dread, then I don't know what is.

The icon flashed, beeped and buzzed before turning blue and a warning appeared on my screen. 'Warning: BLST activated... Press continue to launch BLST spell.' Without hesitation I tapped it three or four times... I panicked and wanted out! I watched as the count down began and the spell charged.

"Connected to host server... Line of sight navigated... Launching in three... Two... One..."

I was enveloped in a purple light that was nearly blinded for the second time today. I closed my eyes and stepped backwards, just as I had before. One step... Two steps... Three steps? Before I could open my eyes to see what had happened, the spell collapsed, bringing down with it a crushing weight that drove me to the ground in searing agony. The heat that the plasma brought with it felt like it was cooking me from the inside out. I screamed at the top of my lungs, crying out in pain, crying for help that I knew would never come.

I cannot begin to describe what it felt like for fire to pass through your very soul, but I can say I never wanted to do it again. I was preparing my cuss words for Egress when I heard a familiar chirping, the same I had heard when I landed here. To my horror, I cracked my still stinging eyes open to see that... I was still here. Had the spell not worked? It didn't work!? Frantically, I searched for the homing beacon but it was a steady gray color that I couldn't interact with.

"No, no, no! No! Don't leave me here!" I cried as my hooves pounded on the screen.

With a flash and beep, my messages lit up. It was from Egress! Oh thank heavens, maybe I just did something wrong, she will know what to do. I opened the file and let it play, my ears ready for any instructions that they might have.

"DINGY! Where are you!? We detected through the line of sight that you fired the spell! This is impossible, the Cuff is attached to you, you should be here! Oh luna, I pray nothing has happened to you dear... Listen, if for some reason the spell misfired, you will need to walk to recharge it and try again. The Cuff will save the spell, but you can only fire it off once every 24 hours. Oh... I can only hope you being gone for so long means you were following the orders and something bad hasn't happened. I will be by the monitors day and night, you need to recharge your Cuff to fire it again, I can not stress this enough! It needs to be at a very minimum of 63% before you can even try, but you had best shoot for 80% just to be safe.

You will need to find someplace safe to bed down for the night... What have I done, I never should have sent you on this trial! This is all my fault!" She screamed. I listened as I heard objects hitting the floor and walls through the speakers before one of her assistants steadied her enough to end the transmission. " Dear... We are going to get you back here, I promise! I have Jet working on a counter spell now. It's advanced considering we don't have the same data you have now, but we are going to do our best to source out your line of sight and get you out of there girl, just hold on."

The audio file ended but I was still staring at the screen. How... how did I let myself get into this? There was no pony to blame but myself for this... Egress's determination she held in her voice was more than enough to convince me that she actually cared what happened to me, but how could she get me back? I was ten years away. I could die here! In the future, alone! I had not seen another pony or even a sign of one. How could they all disappear in ten years? It just doesn't make sense to me.

I looked back at the statue in front of me, taking note that the spell had washed most of the grime and stains away to reveal the plaque at its base. "'Triumph over the universe' Erected june 3rd, 2199 by the magical science counsel". My brain ground to a halt, a deep fear began to grow within me that something more than a spell backfire had just happened. With a trembling hoof I aimed the Cuff at the statue and fired the scan spell.

"Object identified, 80% copper, 15% zinc, 5% aluminium. Age of amalgamation, 4,104 years."

My mind felt like it had just broken in half. If this had been erected in 2199... there was no way, it couldn't be possible, but it was starting to add up. Old growth forests, the topography of the land, the decay... I looked back to the deep gouges in the metal, it would take a long time to do that kind of damage, 4,000 years in fact. I collapsed on the spot, my head resting against the statue. My face went damp from my tears as I started to cry over the... just the hopelessness of it all! I was never going home, I had lead myself to slaughter willingly, just to pay rent for another month.

Everything just seemed so insignificant in comparison to how bad things were in this moment. The thought of being homeless was scary, but what do you feel when you will never have a home again? What do you feel when you never get to see your friends again? What do you feel when you set out to do something good, only to sign your own death warrant? I felt nothing, just endless, hopeless and unavoidable death that lay ahead of me. My only hope, was at best hopeless. Even if they did pull it off, they wouldn't know when I was. All I wanted to do in this moment is find somewhere safe and just wait for death. I was crushed, crying in a heap near an old monument to Equinity's own stupidity, over my own stupidity.

I sat for hours, it felt like, trying to get my emotions under control. Everything in my body screamed for me to just end it all right then and there, but I couldn't. I was too scared. I don't remember walking off, I just did it out of reflex. It wasn't for at least a mile that I noticed that I was nearing the other side of the city. I didn't know what else to do, so I just did as I was told and tried to trot enough to charge my Cuff for another attempt. My brain reasoned that if this thing had a copy of the same spell saved in it, then it might reverse it and send me home if I got it right. But my heart somehow knew it was useless to even try.

I was going through the motions, trotting and crying softly to myself that this was all a bad dream and it would end soon. But it wasn't a dream, this was real and I'm going to die here. I don't know what hurt more, the knowledge I would die, or the fact that nopony would be here to miss me.

Author's Note

Happy new year! This chapter was written 1/1/2020 at 1 am! Enjoy!

Chapter 4: The Sound Of Silence

Somewhere between my third and fourth bout of crippling depression, I came up with a plan to occupy myself as I walked. I would follow the roadway I had followed into town and keep walking until I found somepony, anypony at all. This meant that I was going to have to trot back through town at night seeing as my mindless trotting had lead me back to the spot where I had originally shown up. I'm not a filly, but the dark just made everything worse for me. I hated the dark and I hated it even more in a place like this.

Any chances of me finding a safe place to bed down for the night were starting to dwindle to nothing the more I walked. I couldn't fly, I didn't have a horn for magic to just start a fire, I was just a lonely earth pony with a contraption on her leg. Wherever I did find to sleep would need to be warm, dry and secluded enough to not draw attention to myself. Even though I had not seen anything out here that could hurt me, that didn't mean there wasn't something out here that could. For all I knew there could be animals here that would love to have a meal out of a pony like me.

I walked for what felt like an eternity before my Cuff beeped and nearly sent me flying over the edge of an overpass I was crossing. I sat down beside the barrier and rested my back against it, looking out over the large canyon the highway had made in my hometown towards the setting sun. Given any other situation, this would be a beautiful place to spend my time, just sitting and watching. The sun painted the green world in shades of orange and gold as it sank in the sky, casting long shadows from the tall buildings into the alleyways like deep pools of water. It was, in every sense of the word, beautiful. My hoof tapped the new message and I rested my hooves in my lap while I listened along.

"Dingy... We have been looking over the data from your jump and we think we know what happened. Quantum physics is either all or nothing and in this case, nothing is what we did. We know that you are not ten years in the future, but we are not sure when you are just yet. For all we know you are thousands of years away from us. I know you are a clever girl, I expect you have already figured that out on your own with the Bio Scanner. It wouldn't take much for somepony to figure it out by accident." Her words felt hollow, as if she was just going through the motions, same as me. She sounded like she had been over exerting herself to try and undo this mistake they had made, sounding tired and weary from the work.

"Dingy, we have a plan to try and set up some form of communication between us. If it works then it can serve as a test case for us to get you back home, but... But it might take as long as a few days before we are ready to try it. Just know we are doing everything to get you back here safe and sound. The other departments have halted their projects until we get you back home, they are working side by side with us on this.

Jet is taking it personally, she feels like it is all her fault, she said that she must have messed something up. I tried to tell the poor mare that there was nothing she could have done to avoid it, but she isn't listening to anypony. She's been doubling her dose of Equaal for the last few hours to try to get her energy back up to try and reverse the spell. Dingy, if you are out there, somewhere, sometime... Please keep trying to bring yourself back. Cast the spell once a day to let us know you are OK. For now, that is the only way we can see you on our scanners. Hang in there girl, we will get you back, I promise."

The transmission ended with a beep, taking me back to the home screen. I had not expected for the sound of Egress' voice to have such an effect on me. I felt bad for her, sure I was the one dying out here, but she was the one trying to reverse all of this mess. Somehow knowing that there were ponies out there in the time loop that were missing me and worried made me feel something. It made me feel like I wasn't alone, like they were counting on me to make it through all of this. I felt like I had to be brave and stick it out. In fact, the only thing I was worried about in this moment was having to cast that spell once a day.

The first time had nearly killed me just from the pain alone, I didn't suffer any injuries that I knew of, but the trauma from the pain was more than enough to make me never want to do it again. If I had to do it over and over again, I could only imagine what mental trauma that would bring me atop my already growing anxiety. But that wasn't something I needed to be worrying about now, It was getting dark and the only place I could see that was safe enough to bed down was on top of a building. It wasn't far, but it was going to be a hike to the top. Even from here I could tell it was the remains of the old Spark building. How ironic.

I began my trot down the freeway overpass towards the town center to find a way up. From there I might be able to see a way to get on the highway, because from where I was sitting, all the on ramps had either collapsed or looked ready to fall in. If nothing else I could have a good night's rest knowing there was only one way in and one way out... at least from what I could see. I was already on edge, scared and getting hungry, the last thing I needed was to be sleep deprived. It didn't help that I was seeing flashes of light out of the corners of my eye.

Once more in the town center, I found the lobby of the Spark building in complete ruin. Despite the outside looking sturdy and well weathered from time, the inside was collapsing and covered in foliage. Vines and grass had found any place they could to take purchase for their assault on the invading concrete. It was mother nature's revenge for taking her place everywhere I looked. No matter what door I shoved, pried or kicked open, there was no way to the top. Even the fire escape door had been rusted shut from time. Feeling defeated, I kicked it. Not the smartest move in a six thousand year old building, but I was mad, sue me.

I studied the diagram that was etched into the stone beside the now dented door to see if I could find another way up. Sure enough the little map showed every access point to the stairwell and every door that went into it. All except the one labeled 'Subway Entrance'. That one did not have the 'little quarter of a pie' shaped picture of a door on it. Why couldn't the elevator just work? Why did I have to go down to go up? Why was I here? Why am I such a moron?

"This is just stupid..." I said as I trotted off in frustration.

Feeling defeated, I trotted towards the exit to find the closest subway entrance so I could get to the top of this stupid building. I don't even know why I'm trying so hard to get up there! What was I going to see that I couldn't from the overpass? I had told myself it was a safe place to sleep, but was it? At this point I felt that frustration of failure was driving me to do something right, like I wanted a win or something. They did train us that sometimes a small victory can win a war, maybe I wanted this for nothing more than motivation.

Luckily for me the subway entrance was right outside the building. I guess that important ponies got to use the front entrance, but all us commoners had to take the stairs. Looking down into the dark hole that I was about to explore, I took a big swallow and noticed just how dry my throat was. I scanned through my Cuff's menu and looked everywhere for a light function but found nothing.

"This Cuff can do anything!" I said sarcastically. "Why don't you have a flashlight! You can scan things and tell me how old they are but you can't light up!? Just... Give me... A Damn... FLASHLIGHT!" I spoke through gritted teeth and was promptly blinded by the light coming off the bezel. Light was emitting from the click dial like it was staring straight into the sun with a bright light blue hue. "Thanks..." I mumbled as I rubbed my eyes.

Great, I had a light, but now I am blind. I aimed my leg down the stairs and saw that water had pooled at the bottom in a thick green mass like an old pond. Ew. With every bit of repulsion I had, I held my breath and started down the stairs and into the old subway. The water was cold, soupy and filled with dead and decaying plant matter but looked to have been undisturbed for as long as it has been here. If I were a monster of some sort, this is where I would hide. Once fully inside, I began navigating towards the wall where I had guessed the stairs would be. Everywhere I looked there was graffiti, peeling and chipping paint and missing tiles.

It looked like whoever had painted this defiantly had an ax to grind against the world. The lines were sharp and angry in nature, but looked to have been well done with intent and purpose. I held my Cuff up to the wall opposite the tracks to see it fully. 'You Are Not Profits' had been sprayed heavily over the Spark Industries banner that still read 'Spark, profits for a magical tomorrow!'. Part of my rebel self that was still deep down inside of me applauded the artist for defacing such a brash statement. But a larger part of me felt for them. This had to have been done not long after everything fell apart. This was right outside the front door to Spark, they wouldn't leave that for everypony to see. Did they know it was coming, whatever it was? Were they suffering? What had happened here!?

My brain scrambled for answers. Any hope that this was simply a localized project to bring nature back was quickly fading and being replaced with a global catastrophic event. I hopped the turnstile to the guard shack and splashed down into the muck below and looked up the stairs I had come to find. The sound of my hooves echoed off the long tunnel behind me as I stepped out of the water and tried to dry off with my hooves. Then I heard another splash, and another. I felt my blood run cold as I spun in place and pointed my Cuff back to where I had just come from.

Ripples were bouncing off the walls behind me, large swirls began to grow and search out through the pool I had just trotted through. I felt a shiver run over my coat as I watched in horror as a head floated to the surface. No eyes, no ears and a long snout with a nose that stuck out like a giant red bulb on a stick. It looked like a rat that had been crossed with an alligator. The grotesque creature was sniffing the air like it was looking for something tasty that had just passed by it.

Slowly, I began climbing the stairs backwards, trying to not make a sound as I did so. With one last look, I saw its blackened teeth shimmer with reflections of light as it started tasting the air with its tongue, lapping it side to side to try and find my scent trail. Ok, Dingy, that's enough looking, time to get the hell out of here. As soon as I rounded the corner, I swiftly and quietly ran up the stairs to a set of double doors. It was the access to the sky bridge that would take me to Spark and it crossed right over the subway terminal. I leaned into the doors and mercifully they gave way, opening nearly freely with just a small groan in protest.

As soon as my tail cleared the doorway, I scrambled for the lock to close them off indefinitely, I wasn't even going to think about going back that way. In fact, I wanted to forget I had even come that way at all! With the door locked, and feeling a little safer, I walked to one of the broken out windows and looked down. The creatures were swimming in circles in the middle of the pool where I had paused to read the writing on the wall. How had I been so reckless? I had no clue what was down in that mess and I trotted in anyway! There were nearly a dozen of those things down there, I wouldn't have stood a chance!

I watched as one of them began sniffing the air again and pointed their nose right at me. From the stairs they looked small, but up here I could fully see just how big they were. They were at least as long as I was and had wide flat looking bodies that looked more fluid than solid. The creature began popping its teeth in the air, swaying its head side to side looking for the source of the sent. As soon as it did so, the rest joined in with it, turning the tunnel into a cacophony of snaps and pops until one set of jaws found purchase on another. Shirking echoed off the walls, making me cover my ears as one of the beast's jaws latched onto the head of another and began shaking violently. I did all I could not to retch as the blood flowed.

Below me the waters boiled and began turning red as the rest honed in on the source of food they had just found. As quickly as it had begun, it was over. They left nothing behind, absolutely nothing. No bones, no hair... just bloody water that they were still chomping at as I tore myself away from the window. Horrified was not the word I could use for what I had just seen. There was not a word powerful enough that I could use to describe it. No matter how I tried, I could not get the vision of the scene out of my head. That could have been me! I could have died right then and there!

What was it about a near brush with death that always resulted in my brain running away with itself in such a way to put me in the worst position possible? I guess it was my body's natural response to pain and fear by trying to kill itself. Leaving the terrifying subway behind was easy enough, but the impression it made was going to stick with me for a long time to come. I was worried there was something more to this place than just birds and trees, I was scared there could be something else out there that could do me harm. This was just the tip of the iceberg, I could feel it.

Suddenly, all that aggravation that lead me here was starting to feel more and more validated. Sure, it was scary down there, but what other creepy things were about to stir when the night came. I came to the same door I had been trying to kick in after several flights of stairs. I had only managed to break the seal of rust with a few cracks from my violence, I would have never gotten it to open judging by the thick layer of corrosion. I was about to start my way up to the top floor when a blue light caught my attention from the corner of my eye. I had been seeing them since I got here and just thought it was my imagination playing tricks on me, but this time I actually caught sight of the source.

Far off through the wire enforced window I was peering through, I could just make out a blue fog drifting through the hallway and into another room. I rubbed the fog covered glass to try and get a better look, but by the time I could focus in on it, it was gone. A cold chill washed over me as the eerie shape of a pony came to mind from my brief glance I had at it. Ghosts are not real, they can't be real! If they were there would be thousands of the damn things. It had to be something else, some sort of discharge or gas, not ghosts.

I shook my head and steadied myself against the cold concrete wall. I was just seeing things, all those blue flashes of light out of the corner of my eyes were just some gas or something... You're ok, Dingy... Nothing to worry about! I pressed on up the stairs, thanking my lucky stars that the magical lighting was still gathering power from some unknown source to light my way. The dim amber glow felt comforting as did the steady increase in temperature as I climbed higher and higher. Down below the air was heavy, moist and acrid smelling, but up here it was warm and inviting by comparison.

With every passing floor I would stop and peer into the various hallways that were visible from the emergency doors, hoping to catch another glimpse of what I had seen in the lobby. But to no avail, as each passing door simply showed more empty hallways and debris strewn across the floor. When I had finally found the door labeled 'Roof Access' I was nearly drenched in sweat from the heat and physical effort. Mercifully, this door was free of corrosion and opened easily, but what I had not expected was the view I was gifted with.

The sun had been setting when I entered the subway and it had taken sometime to scale the nearly forty floors of the old building that by the time I got here, it was night time. But you could barely tell it for the bright shining stars and full lit moon that painted my world in a deep purple glow. Stars... I had not seen them like this in my entire life! They were so bright and big that my eyes had to squint just to see them properly. I was awestruck, star struck even, just gazing pointlessly into the sky to try and take it all in at once. It was so dark I could even see the bands of the galaxy beyond the stars, something I had only read about in textbooks back at university.

The door closed behind me, making me jump in place and duck behind a tree limb that had somehow found its way up here. Looking back I saw nothing but the door and the pains of glass to the top floor suite that the ceo or some other high ranking pony used to occupy. Only one pane of glass was accessible from the rooftop while the rest wrapped around the building in a large band to view the outside world. It was the only room on this floor, a room all to itself for the owner or operator of the company. Sounds like the perfect place to stay the night to me.

I looked all over the roof for something to break the glass with, but short of the log I hid behind, I found nothing. Briefly, I thought about using the cuff to break the glass open but with it being my only lifeline, that thought was thrown out quickly. I even went back down through the fire escape to look for a door or a way up from the floors below, but came up with nothing. Even the rooms were empty of anything useful I could use to break the glass open. Defeated once more, I made for the stairs when I saw a red box with a fire extinguisher in it.

Maybe this could work, It was big and heavy enough, maybe I could use it to bust through the window if I threw it hard enough. Back on the rooftop, I planned out my attack. I remember seeing videos on the internet where ponies would try to break windows with hammers but they wouldn't budge, but when they threw something small and sharp at them they would break right open. Maybe if I hit it just right on the corner or something it would break the glass.

With my best pitch, I threw the large cylinder at the glass and watched it bounce off repeatedly. After several attempts, I had done little more than tire myself out completely. I was tired, I stunk to high heaven and I was starving by this point, I was done with failing over and over again. I just wanted to have a safe place to sleep! In frustration I pulled the pin and began spraying the extinguisher wildly at the glass. The thick fog roared out and began coating the glass in a thin layer of frost, freezing it on contact.

"Take that you stupid window!" I screamed as the extinguisher huffed out its dying breath of fog. I threw the empty canister at the glass and turned to walk away and was shocked to hear the sound of exploding glass shower across the ground. I turned back and saw that I had blasted a giant hole in the window that was now crumbling into tiny pieces. "That works..."

The office space was clean and dry despite the years of absence of maintenance. A warm, soft carpet welcomed my aching hooves as I stepped inside through a haze of co2 and into a safe place to sleep. Finally, I set out to do something and it went right! I needed this, I needed a small victory to win the war over my own anxiety. The spacious room was beautiful, but made of rare woods and stone, it tore at my gut to know I would be sleeping in a monument to the rape of the natural world. Even still, after what I had seen in the subway, I couldn't chance sleeping outside. If nothing else, I could justify that they gave their lives to protect mine somehow.

It was convoluted, but it gave me comfort. On the far wall hung a tapestry that had been made of the solar system with various constellations in it like a giant painting. With a swift tug I sent it crumpling to the ground and dragged it triumphantly to the corner near the window. As scared as I was, I was doing my best to keep myself busy to distract myself from another panic attack. I used my little remaining nervous energy to ransack the place for anything useful, but I came up very short hoofed. Apart from half of a pack of matches and a magnifying glass, the large blanket was all I found.

You would think this place would have more to offer than that, but you would be wrong. Every room I had seen had been cleared out long ago judging by the thick layers of dust I was seeing and sneezing at. I was hoping for a bag or something to carry things in, but I was S.O.L as the colts say. Apart from ripping up my new found blanket and making one, I would have to carry anything I found on me for the time being. I was not about to tear this thing up for that, it was way too pretty. I was even considering trying to bring it back home with me the next time I tried to fire off the spell.

Who was I kidding... I was never getting out of here. I curled up under the tapestry and took note of the moldy smell it gave off and I rooted my way under it. It was mild but still foul smelling, but it would have to do. With just my nose poking out from under it, I looked out over the landscape and tried to imagine what this place looked like before the haze had taken over the skies. I bet from way up here, whoever watched over this office could see above it all. I bet they could see for miles and miles while their factories belched out thick plumes of smog and soot into the air. They didn't deserve this view, I didn't even deserve to see something this pure and wholesome.

I was just about to doze off when my Cuff chirped and began pulsing slowly. Another message from Egress had just been uploaded to my Cuff. An update maybe? Maybe they had figured out how to get me home sooner! I booped the link with my nose and listened to the audio play from beneath the safety of my blanket.

"Dingy, Jet here." This was new. The stern voice of a determined sounding mare filled my ears and nearly made me stand to attention. "Egress finally went to sleep, she's been awake far too long to be productive any longer. I wanted you to know that I'm sorry that this happened to you. I can't help but blame myself for this, I wanted this to work so badly and I was excited to see it through... I guess none of that matters now, just excuses in the wind for all it's worth.

I have been working my tail off to undo this disaster I caused. I want you to know that I will do anything to get you back here, even if it means swapping places with you. You didn't sign up for this, you don't deserve this to happen to you. If anypony does, it's me. I should have never pushed for a live trial so quickly after the last incident. But regret is worthless to productivity, I will figure this out.

Sappiness aside, I nearly have a link established with your Cuff but I am going to need your help to see if it works. Dingy, this could take some time to get working right. You have to help me, help you, as cliche' as it sounds. You and I are going to try an experiment. I know you are somewhere between year 6309 and 6301. I just figured as much out an hour ago. I'm going to place an object that you will need to install onto your Cuff on the 30th floor, room 319 behind a wall panel in the Spark building. I don't know how yet, but I will find a way for you to notice it in a way only you would.

Find it and follow the instructions. I know you are somewhere near the Spark building, I can only hope that it is still standing. When it's light enough to see, go there and find it. All of our models show that there are scant traces of pony life in that time period so you should have an easy job ahead of you. If this works, try to send a message to the provided address. You can do it Dingy, I believe in you. Jet out."

It was sobering hearing her voice in such a way, she seemed to be a sweet mare and all, but this was full on military level constitution she was showing off. As much as I wanted to run to the 30th floor, there was no way I was going to do it in the pitch black. My senses were already starting to go on edge from my surroundings, it was just too dangerous to go now. So with a promise that I would go first thing in the morning, I curled up under my blanket and tried to get comfortable. Never before did I think I would have so much trouble sleeping before, but the brightness of the moon was actually keeping me awake. It was like the entire room was glowing, casting shadows at random that seemed to almost dance around the tapestry.

I shifted in my place to try and block it out, but it just wouldn't leave my eyes alone. Finally, I decided that I was going to have to move if I was going to get any sleep. I opened my eyes, expecting to see nothing but light coming from the windows, but it wasn't. It was coming from behind me and reflecting off the glass, right into my eyes. In my own reflection I saw a ghostly figure in blue, seeming to float like a bleeding fog hovering right behind me. I froze, refusing to move, but my own body was betraying me with shivers that felt like they were vibrating the very floor I was laying on.

I took in the size of the thing, just slightly larger than I was, no facial features, just the vague shape of a pony hovering in the air. My body screamed for me to run, bolt out the window and back down the stairs. I would take my chances with the damn rat things before I shared a room with a ghost!

I watched in terror as it brought a hoof to touch the blanket I was under, gently running its hoof over my rump with a cold, icy touch that did little to slow my shivering. I could feel its presence behind me, I could feel it's hoof as though it were a strong breeze pushing against my hide. There was no sound, not even from the trees outside as the wind whipped over the rooftop and past the hole in the wall. It was just silence that seemed to become more powerful the closer it came. Just as I was about to scream, panic, run or something equally as stupid, the presence retreated away from me.

It meant me no harm? Was it just looking at me? What was that all about? Fear was replaced with curiosity as I watched it trot away from me, leaving little glowing tracks in its wake that faded away several seconds later. I was about to do something stupid, something reckless... I wanted to know what it was, why it came so close to me and never did me any harm. I slowly stood from my blanketed fortress and turned to face the creature. What did it matter, I was as good as dead anyhow, the least I could do was see what that thing was first.

In a moment of bravery I never thought I had, I stepped towards the being, slowly. My every hoof-step coming down lightly and making small pat sounds on the carpet. It stopped, turned and looked at me from across the room and just... stared at me. It was otherworldly, just a floating haze of a pony that made no sounds, no sudden movements and no gestures. At first I was worried I had made a huge mistake, that I had just signed my own death warrant when it stepped back towards me. But that fear was put to rest when it seemed to sit down not far from me.

"Are you a... A ghost?" I asked in a squeaky tone. Nothing, just more blank stares. "Are you going to hurt me?" I asked again, really hoping for an answer. I was greeted with a simple, but very relieving shake of the head. Oh thank the world, I wasn't going to die. Feeling my heart slow a little, I decided to relax a little. "What are you?" I asked, looking it over carefully.

It was done answering questions. It simply rose, trotted to the hole in the wall and trotted through. Well, I'm not in danger, but this suit needs changed now. I was trying to figure out what to do next when I saw a faint blue hoof motioning for me to follow it. What choice did I have? What did I have to lose? So I got up and followed it outside and into the stairwell. I watched as it floated right through the door and out of sight. I don't know what I expected it to do, but I used the door handle like a normal pony and let myself in.

Just like that, I was on an adventure. As confused as I was, I felt my curiosity carry me forward as we went further and further down before I watched my guide stop, look back at me and disappear through the doorway. Once again, the thing I was following was showing off in the face of a mortal pony. It must be nice to just float around and through things, there would never be a locked door I had to deal with. Inside the hallway, it trotted ahead of me at a fair distance. I still didn't like the idea of being too close to... whatever this thing was, so I was keeping my distance.

It wasn't long before I watched it duck through another doorway before I started putting the puzzle pieces together. I closed the distance and opened the door, but there was nothing there. Whatever I had followed here was gone now and I was all alone again. There was no way for me to prove it, but I could feel that whatever it was that I saw, was gone, just as quickly as it had appeared. But I had a good idea of what it was, or who it was I was following. This was the 30th floor, room 319.

"Egress!? Was that you!?" I shouted, but there was no reply. The silence broke to give way to creaking of an old building, leaving me on edge again.

I looked around the office, it was one of the few that had been left nearly intact from the ravages of time. Apart from a few pictures on the wall, it looked like any other office, albeit not completely empty. Well, I was here, might as well see if that message held any truth to it.

Every moment I searched I learned about Jet a little more. Each picture told a tale that I could only guess the origin of. She was married to a grey looking mare, she had a doctorate in mechanical engineering and she seemed to love hoofball. What worried me more was a framed note that read like a sappy goodbye letter, something from a past relationship maybe... I don't know why, but I folded it into my suit pocket, something spooky from the future. Near the floor was a wooden panel with a leaf carved ornately into it. It was my cutiemark.

Nopony else would have paid any attention to it, but my eyes found it instantly as if it were a picture of me in a crowd. I worked on the panel with my hoof and pried it free, revealing a small box with a note tied with wire to the top of it. Had she placed this here in hopes it would make it to me in the future? If so, they really need to find a way for me to get some food, I was starving. Inside the small container held a small circular metal disk that looked nearly holographic the way it shimmered and made rainbows when the light hit it. I opened the note to find a diagram that explained how to install it under the round screen and how to activate it, followed by a note from Jet herself.

"Dingy, if you are reading this, then I believe you can do this. It's a simple install, just undo the small latches on the bezel and place it in the holostack, you will know it when you see it. Don't forget to activate it! Hang in there, we are going to get you back."

Such encouragement from a pony I barely knew. But she was right, the install was simple. Once open, I saw a collection of disks just like the one I was holding in my hoof. So I did as I was told, placed the disk in and closed the bezel once more. My screen began to glow, the background changed from orange to blueish purple and a new feature was unlocked on the device labeled 'Two Way Massage'. Opening it I found I now had a keyboard on the screen and a little hud that I could type into. So I tried to send a message, might as well try I guess.

'Jet, Egress, whoever reads this. I'm safe. I found a place to sleep for the night. I'm scared, but not hurt. I don't know what to do... I just want to go home. Dingy.'

With a little hoof tap, away it went. Now I had to wait for a reply.

*Message Sent*

Chapter 5: Leap of Faith

The sun came long before I was ready to stir from my place under the heavy blanket. I don't know what time it was when I found my way back to the penthouse office, but I do know it was far too late to get enough sleep. My stomach was growling in protest to the lack of nutrition needed to keep up with the physical pace I was making for myself. I was actually so hungry that I was starting to feel ill. When was the last time I had water? When was the last time I ate? I don't remember eating anything before I went to Spark, I don't even remember eating anything the night before.

I pushed my head out from under my cover and into the glow of a still rising sun. The light had yet to rise high enough to be seen from the windows, but it was still illuminating the world around the building enough to wake me. I looked to my Cuff, still no reply to the messages I sent. I guess Jet's experiment had not worked, maybe I installed it wrong, maybe something happened. Then again, maybe they got some sleep. They sounded exhausted in the messages that had gotten through, surely they took a break to sleep at some point.

At least somepony was. I spent most of the night stumbling around this building and checking if my ghostly buddy had come back. Call me crazy, but once you get over the shock of seeing a ghost like that, you are left with nothing but curiosity and unanswered questions. I wanted to see them again, I was still trying to figure out if it was really a ghost or some sort of magic that Jet had cooked up to help me from the past. I mean, she managed to get me a device to try and communicate with them from nearly 4000 years ago till now, maybe that was her doing too.

My brain worked through the problem slowly, feeling like it was filled with sludge, with each thought taking longer and longer to work through. I need to get up and find food or at the very least find some water. My legs groaned in protest at the movement and my hooves felt like four massive bruises after yesterday's workout. I wanted nothing more than to keep sleeping, but I knew I had to get moving soon or it would be too hot for me to go exploring. It wasn't particularly hot yesterday, but as weak as I was feeling it wouldn't take much to zap what little strength I had left.

I did my best to fold the tapestry up and roll it to where I could carry it, but it was becoming clear that it would be far too large to take with me without something to hold it. I gave the office one last look over, but its spartan appearance was leaving little to the imagination for hiding places or bags. I was just about to say 'to hell with it' when I saw a small set of handles on one of the walls. A closet! Bingo!

I opened the doors only to have them fall completely off the hinges and crumble to the floor. I guess even wood has it's limits, this room was dry as a bone for years, the wood must have dry rotted in that time to near dust. Inside I was greeted with a beautiful sight! A leather, moldy backpack and a metal water bottle. That was unbelievable luck considering my luck yesterday, this was a complete win in my favor. I shouldered my new found bag and checked the water bottle. The lid was cracked, but if I kept it upright I could use it all the same. I had a blanket and a water bottle now, things were looking up.

Feeling invigorated by my find, I began the long process of trotting down the tower to the 5th floor. From where I was I thought I could see a tree that had fallen across the freeway and onto the side of building. If it had broken at the trunk I might be able to cross on it and take the freeway out of here and into the plains outside of town. From the office I could just barely see them over the treeline, if I could get there before night fall, I could browse the grasses for hay or straw. Not my first pick, but it was something at least.

Fifth floor reached, I did my best to pry my way through the door without making too much noise. I didn't want to take any chances with those rat things being that close. After an hour, I finally managed to get the door to budge just enough to squeeze in through a small gap and close it behind me. This was quite a stark contrast to the higher levels. The air felt heavy and damp, the smell of mold, decay and rot filled my nose as I made my way down the hall to crossover and double back to where I thought the tree was. Every step was revolting, with damp carpet that had long since turned into a mushy goo caking my hooves with a squish sound. I was slipping all over the place, having to use the walls to steady myself all the way along.

"So help me if this is not the right floor..." I said between gags.

After finally getting to the other hallway that I needed to get to the end of the building, I was nearly vomiting. The closer I got to the windowed wall the worse the smell became. It was acrid, stinging my nose and throat with every breath as though the air was vaporized acid. I found that holding my breath only made it worse, making the effects more intense and sending my vision near blacking out. The last few steps felt like a vertical climb, I was pawing at the window for air when my ears heard a hissing sound growing louder from the room beside me.

I looked through the open door expecting to see a snake or maybe an animal I had scared, but my eyes found a rusted set of pipes that looked like they were ready to bust. That room was just the other side of the hallway where the door I had kicked open was. I must have jostled the pipes and caused them to leak out whatever vile gas was inside of them. Judging by the smell, I think it was natural gas maybe.

Thinking slower than I should be, my hooves fumbled with the latch and began shoving with all my weight against the window seal. I was giving it my all, but my strength was being zapped from a lack of oxygen. I looked back down the hall I had came from and saw the air was waving from the volume of gas that was hanging around me. Just outside the window I could see the tree leaning against the building just below me. I knew what I had to do, but I was too scared to do it. I couldn't just jump through a closed window like that, what if I missed? But the heavier my hooves began to feel, my mind was also growing more and more irrational from fear of dying right here.

I tried to run but the slick, rotten floor was making it nearly impossible. Instead, I resorted to a quick prance to try and bounce from spot to spot as I retreated back down the hallway. Mercifully the gas was not as dense here and I could catch a little of my breath before I jumped to my death. The window was already cracked and hazy, surely it would give way if I hit it just right. Without much more thought, I started to run as quickly as I could through the muck. Each step feeling more unsteady than the last.

My last few steps were more of a skate as I slid towards the window and tensed in instant regret. This was stupid! I'm going to die! But I was committed, it was too late to turn back now. With a hard push off the ground I fell towards my back and reared back with a hoof and smashed the glass with a kick. The feeling of fresh air finding my nostrils was both euphoric and terrifying. I looked down and saw the street below as I flew right over it and began falling toward the tree. But I was going too fast, I was going to over shoot my landing at the speed I was moving at.

I flailed, kicked and screamed trying everything to slow my descent as my body smashed into the branches on the other side of the fallen pine. One of my hooves found purchase on a limb and I grabbed on with a fetlock for dear life, stripping nearly all the bark off of it in the process. Just before I ran out of limb to grab I managed to stop my fall. Now I was dangling fifty feet above the street where I was sure to die a quick death below. Slowly, hoof by hoof, I managed to pull my way onto the trunk of the tree where I collapsed and began to cry.

That was the scariest thing I had ever done in my life and it all happened in less than a minute. I wanted to be proud of my accomplishment, I wanted to feel brave, but I just couldn't stop crying. I lay there sobbing uncontrollably while looking at the broken window with wisps of that damn gas rolling out of it for nearly an hour before my Cuff beeped a new sound out and almost sent me over the edge. Seriously, after 24 hours you would think I had gotten used to it by now. I rolled the dial and selected my messages as I wormed my way across the log.

"Dingy! Oh my goodness we got your message! I can't believe Jet's program worked on the first try!" Egress said in udder elation. She was sounding much more rested, good for her.

"Jet is still working out the bugs in the system, but we think we know where we went wrong. We discovered the issue right after your message hit our system. It wasn't your time stamp that was off, it was ours. I will spare you the details dear, but suffice it to say that small changes on our end of the timeline result in massive changes on your end. Think of it like a long stick you are holding in your hoof. If you move your hoof an inch, the end of the stick moves a foot or more.

I can't believe we messed something up so simple as that! The only issue is that the spell you have loaded in your matrix will not bring you back home. The problem is that we can't do it from here. We have a way for you to do it on your end, but I have to warn you now, it will be rather involved from my best guess. Jet will handle the details, but you will have to install the add on. It will be straight forward, but I fear you will have to go on a hike to get to it.

The Cuff has no way of updating without a physical connection to a drive of some sort. So I have to ask you to do something Dingy, something that might be a bit much of you. I need you to take the time to detail the world around you to me, you can do it in audio form, it will just take a little while for us to retrieve it. But it is the only way we can be sure that we send you to the right place to try again. I need to know just how bad of a state the world is in without pony life present.

But for now it would be best for you to head out of town. I know that sounds counter intuitive, but I have a hunch as to where you will need to go. Dingy, I linked the upload coordinates in this message automatically, once you get there you should find food and clean water. Hang in there girl, we are counting on you."

The message ended on a high note as I hopped down onto the roadway and watched as a location was highlighted on the screen. It was about two miles away but it looked like I could get there from this highway. But I wasn't sure if the highway ran above the location or if it was on ground level. Seeing as I remember that area from my own time, I was almost positive it was in the middle of nowhere, between towns in fact. How would I find food there!? There was nothing but waste and trash in that area back in my time.

Thinking mindlessly, I opened the two-way and tapped the microphone icon. Might as well detail my journey as I went, if nothing else I could get home sooner if I got my work done.

"Egress? Jet? Dingy here. I nearly died getting out of the Spark building, the gas lines went on the 5th floor and I had to jump for it. I'm just lucky there was a tree there for me to climb to the highway. I'm in route to the location you sent to the Cuff thing, but I don't see how that is going to help me this far in the future. The world is... the world It's the same but not the same at the same time if that makes since.

Everything is gone or going to be gone soon. I don't think ponies have been here for a long time, all the buildings are falling in, the subways are filled with water and these... creatures. No eyes, no ears... just teeth. I slept in the penthouse of the Spark building last night, I had to use a tapestry as a blanket, I took it with me for tonight seeing as I don't see me getting out of this anytime soon.

Nature has taken everything back to the land that was taken from it... Trees are growing everywhere and I can hear birds in every direction, it's beautiful to see. Besides the birds and the rat things, the only other life I have seen... I don't know if you could even call it 'life'. I saw... there is no other way to say this... I think I saw a ghost or something. I even felt it, it was cold and made everything go silent around me.

It didn't try to hurt me but... I think it wanted to help me. It was like it knew who I was and why I was there. Semi transparent, blue and the exact shape of a pony. It was glowing with what I thought was energy if I had to guess. The whole day before I was seeing flashes of light in windows, I think it was following me through town. Watching me like I was something new. I'm not afraid of it, but I don't know what it was either. Tell Jet that I followed it right to where she told me to go, it was like it was leading me.

The old dump is... no longer a dump. It's a forest, old growth too. The outskirts of town are a plain from the looks of it and the center of town is a jungle. I don't know if your plan is going to work, but I'm still going to try and get there before it gets too hot. Tell Jet to put something tasty where ever I am heading, she seems to know how to make that sort of thing happen. Dingy, out."

I tapped the send button and was surprised to see that I had covered nearly a mile and was nearing the edge of town already. Any worries about having to jump off the highway were dashed as well, seeing as I was ground level already. Oh the things you never think about while riding in a bus. Had I known I was going to get sent to the future in an experiment, I would have paid closer attention to my surroundings. If nothing else, hide some food somewhere close by.

Just outside of town I noticed that things were going eerily quiet without trees around to echo sounds and small birds chirping the day away. As far as I could see there was nothing but field and waving grasses being swept by the wind. I looked down at the ground, where the highway had been swallowed by nature and faded away under my hooves. To my left in the distance were the mountains and to my right were the plains that stretched on and on like a never ending sea of gold. After everything that had happened, getting to see a place like this was sobering, humbling and surreal. It was everything I had ever dreamed of in one picture, a perfect portrait of what the world could do when left to its own will.

For a brief moment I fantasized about not going home, just staying right here in this moment and letting time pass me by while I took it all in. I had been so caught up in my own hysteria that I had not truly taken in the world around me and seen what changes had been made. The shock of seeing my hometown in such a state compared to how I knew it nearly disassociated me with who I was, who I wanted to be. My brain had slipped into its primal state of fight or flight and I played right into it. But with my hoof gliding over the golden grains that were growing all around me, I couldn't for the life of me wonder why I was so upset.

I continued my journey for some time, looking for the source of the red dot on my Cuff's screen, munching on wild grains and filling my eager stomach. Soon I came to a little stream that seemed to be coming right out of the ground like a well, bubbling crystal clear water right in front of me. I did all but bury my head in it as I sucked down mouthful after mouthful of cold water. The grain was nearly tasteless, but I could make out notes of honey and sugar with every bite. I couldn't tell if it was my brain playing tricks on me or not, but I was loving it all the same.

I lifted my head from the water and tried to clear it from my ears, but everything felt muffled and static laden no matter how I tired. Shaking my head back and forth to try and dislodge it, I could swear that I didn't have water in them at all. I felt my back grow colder with each passing moment as though somepony had been pouring ice water down my back. I turned and was face to face with the blue flame looking pony body I had seen back in the tower. My graceful fall into the little creek was met with little more than a blank stare and it sitting down in front of me.

"You... You followed me here!?" I shouted, spitting water out all over... it. What was this thing anyways!? "Right, you don't talk, do you?"

The thing just shook its head and pointed its nose to the ground. Well... I honestly don't know what to do here so I guess I will just leave then. I got up and began my trot towards my destination, what more could I do, it didn't talk and was stalking me. It didn't seem to want to hurt me, so I honestly just kept trotting. After the last quarter of a mile was behind me and I was looking at a fence in the middle of nowhere, I felt my back go cold again and my hearing fade. I turned around and there it was again, looking right at me but not doing anything. Fear aside, this was actually starting to get annoying.

"Look... I don't know what you are and frankly, I don't really care at this point. Are you going to hurt me?" I asked, stepping closer to it. To my surprise, it actually stepped back from me as if it were scared of me. I lowered its head and gave it a shake quickly as if to so 'heck no!' and sat down. "Good. If you are going to follow me then you had better find a way to communicate with me. Because if you are going to scare the crap out of me all the time, this thing we have going will end quickly, got it?" I said, pointing to a hoof. The creature just nodded its head and trotted to my side and stood perfectly still.

I hadn't noticed it before, but behind it was a trail of blackened and dead grass. I looked at its... hooves and saw that everywhere it stepped left a black impression like it was burning the grass, leaving a long dark trail behind us. After having my moment in the sun here in the field, I could not help but feel a little angry that everywhere they went they brought death with their every step.

"HEY! Quit that! Look what you are doing!" I shouted, pointing to the black trail they had made. They looked back for a moment and then at the ground as if they had just done something wrong. "Look, I'm sorry... This place is beautiful and I don't want to ruin it anymore than I have to being here. Just... try and keep the black steps to a minimum, OK?" I said, offering a smile and once again, only getting a nod in return.

All things considered, it was strange enough having a ghost as a traveling companion, but having one that seemed to be worried about getting yelled at was even stranger. Only I could find a ghost that was shy and timid. I was just lucky in that way. We came to the large chain-link fence side by side, or at least what was left of it and let ourselves into the restricted area. In the middle of the gated off area was a hatch that had somehow been spared time's wrath judging by its appearance. With a large engraving from 'Spark IND' on it, it was no wonder it was still here. Knowing them, they probably used some sort of magic to keep it shiny and new all these years.

My hooves reached for the hatch but the locks unlocked themselves and the lid popped open. What luck! Here I thought this was going to be a disaster trying to pry at it with my hooves for hours!

"Access granted. Dingy Beige, Violet. Delta level clearance."

"Violet? What the hell? That's not my name." I said aloud. My ghost buddy was all too quick about finding their way in before me.

As rude as the move was, it turned out to be a good thing for me. With their bright coronal appearance, I didn't even have to turn on my flashlight. I started down the stairs and heard the door hiss shut behind me, clanging and grinding the locks back into their place. I fought down that urge to run back outside as I descended the long staircase to the tiny one-room operating board. There wasn't much to it, but it was definitely something used for 'observing'. My ghost, as I was now referring to it, had found a corner and began pawing at the steel grates.

"What is that girl? Did you find something?" I said jokingly. A quick head turn and what I assumed was a glare was quick to put me back in my place. "Ok Dingy... lets not piss off the ghost..."

I went in for a closer look and saw my cutie mark had been painted on one of the grates the ghost was standing on. I motioned for them to move and I lifted it out of the way and found a large travel case that had been sealed with some sort of magical lock. No doubt that this was Jet's doing, using the most advanced tech on something that was basically a care package sounded like something they would do.

"Nice! Good job! I think I'll call you lucky!" I said, but the ghost backed off shaking their head feverishly. "Don't like that one huh? Well... What do you want to be called then?" I asked. I watched as the thing looked around the room frantically before pointing at a poster of a Spark promo for their rocket program. "Jet? Space? Ship? What then?" I asked as all my answers were shot down. "Fine! Rocket? Fireball! Floaty McFloat Face!" I shouted in frustration.

It ran up to me and started nodding its head over and over again.

"Floaty McFloat Face?" I was met with confusion and a hoof to the face. "What then!? Rocket?" More nodding from the ghost.

"So you're a Rocket then? You want me to call you Rocket!?" I asked in bewilderment. They put their hooves up as if to say 'I have no idea what you are talking about' and trotted to the other end of the room.

Curious... I had my suspicions it was Jet's ghost or something, but I wasn't sure. I'm still not, but if this thing wants to be called Rocket, then Rocket it is. I went to fiddle with the lock and found that there was no key hole, no latch, no nothing. How the hell was I supposed to open the damn thing if there was no key hole. I leaned up against it with my side and huffed.

"How do you open a lock with no key hole?" I said to Rocket who was now trying their best to open a locker, but failing. Ghost world problems I guess. I felt something pop under me and the lid to the case slid free.

"Access granted!" The lock beeped out. Oh... My Cuff was the key... Not sure how I didn't think of that sooner. It made perfect sense. How else would you keep prying hooves from opening a mystery crate like that, better to key it to this thing's signal. I pushed the lid out of the way and found a bottle of pills labeled 'Dietary Supplements', a box of hydrate food that you added water to to make it edible and canteen with some contraption on the mouth of it. Maybe to filter water?

"Hey Rocket! I got snacks! Do you eat snacks?" I asked jokingly. But they just kept trying to open the locker up.

My new possessions stowed away, I decided to lay out my blanket and try my luck with one of these... food pill things while watching my pet ghost do their best to try and grab things they could not grab. I popped one of the pills in my mouth and swallowed it down with a gulp from my canteen. What the hell was in there that was so interesting anyways? Now I was getting curious too.

I trotted over and reached through them to undo the latch and open the door. Even though they could not physically touch anything, they still had an effect on object in the form of light jostling. Truth be told, I was getting annoyed with all the clicking they were making and I wanted to stop it. I opened the locker and saw that it still had some contents in it. An old denim jacket with a phone in its pocket and a pair of headphones. Well, I have a jacket now and a phone that I can call nopony with, my day is made.

"Is this what you wanted?" I asked as I put on the jacket and took in the stare they were giving me. It wasn't a bad look, but I had no clue as to what to make of it. I trotted back to the blanket with Rocket in tow and laid down. I pulled the phone from my new pocket and began fiddling with it. There was no way this old turd had any battery life left, but I was amazed to see it light up when I pressed the power button. Rocket began hovering over me in what seemed to be excitement but sat back down in defeat when they saw the screen was smashed up.

The rainbow color of the bleeding LCD screen seemed to make my friend feel bad for some reason... More ghost problems I guess. I could make out part of some pony on the home-screen but it wasn't enough to put a face to the miss-colored body. The only thing I could seem to interact with was the music folder, so I gave it a tap. If nothing else, maybe I could get an idea of what the owner used to listen to. I couldn't see what I was selecting, but I ended up selecting some type of violin music that played out in a high pitched tone and filled the room around me.

It was as if the player was using their stringed instrument to sing and the rest of the band was just the background music. It was very pretty and calming, even more so for Rocket as they had rested their head on the blanket and listened along with me. With each passing second I felt my stomach become fuller as the pill expanded and as I was sipping on my canteen of fresh water. This was the most at peace I had been since I got here. The lack of pony interaction had taken its toll when I first got here, but now things were starting to level out and I was actually beginning to find peace.

My Cuff beeped just as I was about to fall asleep, making me jerk in fear from the foreign sound. The sudden movement sent Rocket rocketing across the room to hide behind a trash can. Funny how a ghost can be afraid of anything, you would think having the power of not being touchable would give you courage, but you would be wrong. I opened the screen and tapped the new message and let it play.

"Dingy... Jet here. I got your message but there seems to be some sort of latency issue, I can see the timestamp from when you sent the message, but we are receiving them hours later. I went over the empirical data that your Cuff attached, it must be a paradise there. I'm seeing a 20% increase in oxygen content in the ambient air, relatively mild climate and it detected airborne particles of pollen strains from endangered plants here in our time!

I know that sounds like good news to you... but knowing what I know from seeing the data, I'm afraid the situation you spoke of to Egress is more dire than we expected. Two of the spore types it identified are nearing extinction and one of them... we haven't seen in over ten years now, meaning it has made a full comeback. If that be the case then I fear what you are seeing is the result of something that will happen soon.

There is another issue we are dealing with. Dr. Egress has been removed from the lab, Dingy. We don't know why or for how long, but she was escorted out earlier today under gag protocol, meaning she can not speak to anypony. I guess it is just you and me, girl. The team is still intact, but only if we follow orders not to pursue this venture any further. Don't be scared, we are not going to stop until you are home. But we have to work after hours so that we can fly under the radar.

I was able to convince them that I would use you as a case study to get further data. The very idea of actually having to go through with it makes my guts tear up, but it's what I have to do to get you back here. Dingy, it is important that you know that we are on your side, none of us agree with the orders they are giving us. They made me head of the department, such comes with it's own liberties, but even still I am sending this to you on my own personal device that I established a link to you directly.

From here on out your Cuff will send the lab automatic updates about your surroundings, I will send back locations for you to explore so they are none the wiser, but this is going to take some time to work through. You need to stay out of the city as well, I can't chance your messages being bounced off the Spark array and sent to the lab directors. If that were to happen... well it's best not to think about it. Dingy, they never had any plans to bring you back... They didn't even care if you made it.

Just know that I care. I want you back here. Not for the science or some data... I owe you as much to bring you back home. I got you into this and I will get you out. I have Clicky and Jade working on the spell as we speak, Vapor is working on the cast compression and I'm doing my best to increase the bandwidth remotely on your device to accept the file size. Magical Spell compression was Dr. Egress' thing, not mine, so I'm working with a handicap.

But until then... Send me a message, anything. You can cuss me if you want, I deserve it. Just please don't stop talking to me, it's the only way I can get you back home. I made some adjustments to the algorithm, the messages should come through much sooner, device to device. Dingy, send me anything, just let me know you are safe because I know you are not ok.

Jet out..."

The message ended with a beep, but instead of going transparent, the message deleted itself this time. I just stared at my Cuff blankly, trying to process all the information that had just been dropped on me. My mouth hung open and I started shaking, feeling my body on the verge of throwing up from stress and fear. I was never going home, I was stuck here with a ghost and nopony to talk to! I had mused about staying, but my hopes for coming home, setting things right, were all dissolving before my eyes. Small teardrops fell onto the screen below me that quickly began to turn to ice as a ghostly blue hoof came into my view.

Rocket, my ghost, was trying to comfort me? As if things were not bad enough, now I had to figure out how it was capable of hearing me and feeling my pain enough to want to comfort me. At least Jet sounded sincere in her words, letting me know that she wanted to get me back home. But what did it matter if I was going to die here? I rested my head on my hooves and sobbed quietly to myself. I felt its cold hoof run over my mane, giving me a chill that ran down my spine. As cold as it was, it was contact and right now it was what I really needed.

After some time, I hit the record button and began speaking. I needed to do something, anything to take my mind off this. So I chose hope and tried to forget all the regret I had.

"Jet... I do not blame you for this. It was a set up from the beginning. You couldn't have known, nopony could have known. I want to come home, I just want my old life back! The place I'm at is safe, but that's not what scares me. That ghost thing... It followed me out of town. It seems friendly, it is even trying to comfort me right now. It insists that I call it Rocket, even though it can't talk back to me. It's kind of funny how it seems as lonely and scared as I am, it wont leave my side.

I'm not afraid of it... What scares me is dying all alone. I don't want to die, but doing it alone is just so much more scary! It's like it could happen at anytime and I'm running against the clock. At least this place is beautiful. The city is just... but outside of the city is everything I dreamed it could be. The air is crystal clear and fresh, the water is clean and even the grains taste sweeter. I guess if a mare had to die somewhere, this is the place to do it in.

The bunker you sent me to, it's cold and a little creepy, but with my pet ghost it's not so bad. They glow in the dark! Just... tell me what I have to do to come home and I'll do it. I know you can do it, I believe in you... I just wish I believed in myself enough to not be so damn scared.

Dingy, out"

I tapped send and curled up for the night.

Chapter 6: Somepony To Talk To

Another day in an otherwise hellish paradise... I wasn't sure just how much time had passed down here until I heard the rain beating against the shelter door. The skies were clear when I came down, but now they had overcast and began pouring water and blowing wind. Was it just me or was this storm much more powerful than I was used to seeing? As soon as I cracked the hatch open it was nearly ripped from my hooves by a strong gust. Outside the grass laid flat from its force, great sheets of rain came down more like hail than drops and thunder was booming across the valley. I hope they don't want me to do anything today, because I am not going out in that.

Not only because the storm seemed strong enough to kill me, but because my ghostly pal seemed to really not like water that much. As much as I hated everypony from my time, I was really starting to feel the pain of isolation and lack of passing contact. I was beginning to talk to myself surreptitiously as I paced the small room we were hiding in, mindlessly pressing buttons and turning knobs on the long since dead equipment.

Rocket was the only company I could keep, but how good could they be at that without the ability to talk back to me? It felt rude to just ignore them or treat them as if they were nothing more than a pet, but what choice did I have? They were hardly engaging and kind of smelled like ozone. Even still, they were perfectly content following me around the one room hole in the ground, mimicking my every movement. If I touched a button, they touched it. If I turned a knob, the pretended to as well.

After an hour of this, I decided to try my own experiment. On my 50th trot past the desk, I mindlessly picked up a pen cup and flipped it over upside down and sat it back down. I looked over my shoulder as I trotted to the far side of the room just as I had done a hundred times before and took in Rocket trying to grab the cup over and over. I gave snicker and bit my lip as they became more and more frustrated and eventually succeeded in knocking the cup over. I began laughing historically, I'm not sure why I found it so funny, but I was nearly wetting myself.

Rocket looked on in confusion as I rolled across the floor and began pounding my hooves into the steel grate. It was like my first sip of water after that night in the tower, so refreshing and delightful. Just then, in my moment of spontaneity, I felt two ice cubes on my flank that were so cold I nearly jumped in pain from the sudden touch. It was so cold I thought I had been frost bitten by a yeti or something.

I looked back from across the room and saw Rocket, transparent hooves outstretched, bobbing their head like a moron. Hey! Was this thing laughing at me? That's so rude!

"COLD! That was cold, Rocket! What the hell!?"

More head bobbing from the ghost. Well, I guess turnabout is fair play. I did play a joke on them, but my butt was still stinging from the icy touch of a disembodied soul. Why couldn't I get a warm ghost or something!? It was cold last night on the floor, the least they could have done was cuddle with me and make me warm. But NOOOO! I had to get the ice queen... or king... Do ghosts even have genders? Do they even care? I could imagine ghost sex being unpleasant if they were all that cold.

"Knock it off, Rocket. It wasn't that funny. And who said you could touch my butt like that!? I do not consent!"

They trotted over to me and seemed to be apologetic and stood beside me, leaned their butt to mine and froze me again. I gave an 'eep' and jumped nearly out of my skin. Ok, this gag was getting old, my ass was starting to actually get cold.

"HEY! What did I just say!? Geez! Even your butt is cold! WHY ARE YOU SO COLD!?" I shouted in frustration.

Rocket only motioned for me to follow them from the stairwell to the hatch. At first I thought I was going to be another trick, but that thought left me when they took up position on the floor in front of a puddle that had been slowly forming. They motioned for me to come closer and sit with them and despite my fear of being frozen again, I obliged. The two of us sat there for a moment, me looking at the puddle, them staring at me. Well this was awkward... They don't even have a reflection.

"Soooo... you are the disembodied spirit of a vampire?" I asked jokingly. To my surprise they didn't reach out to touch me, but rather reached a hoof out and touched the water. The water froze everywhere their hoof went, drawing shapes and soon letters in little prism like bars that looked more like snowflakes than anything. They wrote out "No. I'm dead."

"You're dead... I kinda guessed that." Let down by the answer, but excited to have a way to talk to them, I pressed on with the questions. "What happened here?"

'Too much, too fast. Ponies died'

"I get that, but what caused all of this? Was it Equaal?"

'No. Too much magic.' I looked to them in confusion but it was like they were growing... dimmer. Like just writing on the water was draining them.

"If this is too much, you can stop. But I would like to know more." I said, trying to hide that selfish side of me that needed more answers. They took their hoof and wrote out 'yes' and 'no' in the water and pointed. I guess we were going to play 20 questions. Fair enough I guess.

"Ok... So yes or no questions only?" They pointed to yes.

"Ok... So if you say too much too fast... And by much you mean magic... Do you mean that ponies got greedy and started taking lots of Equaal?"

They hovered their hoof between the answers.

"So half right?"

'Yes.'

"Ponies started taking lots of Equaal?"

'Yes.'

"Did it have something to do with how bad things were getting?"

'Yes.'

"Did they know the world was ending?"

'No.'

"So Spark killed everypony?"

'No.'

"They were trying to... help?"

'Yes!' They pointed over and over.

"That doesn't make since! They sent me here and now I'm... Wait... Rocket, Do you know who I am?"

They gave me a long look and hovered over 'yes' slowly.

"So I made it back then? I knew Jet would figure it out! I'm not really the type, but I swear I'll kiss her when I get back!"

All I got was a look from the ghost in the room like I was crazy.

"Sorry... Got excited. Rocket... If you are a ghost and I can see you, why can't I see others like you?"

They waved their hoof over the water and cleared the ice away and began to write.

'Equaal overdose. I am magic. No cure. No time.' They then seemed to melt into the floor. The effort they must have used to write that out took its toll and they seemed to float to the other side of the room and sit up.

"ROCKET! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-" I was cut off by the wave of a very dim looking hoof as they slouched. I couldn't help it, I felt terrible that they were using up what I was guessing was their life force just to tell me all of this. Water must have a draining effect on them like heat does to a pony in the sun. I trotted over to them and saw them motionless, just staring at the ground. Knowing the risks from earlier, I paid them no attention as I reached out and put a hoof around them. I clinched waiting for the cold, but it never came. It felt more like static to touch them.

Cautiously, I wrapped my other hoof around them to offer something of gratitude for what they had given me. It was far from the full answer, but it was something nonetheless, maybe all they could give. They seemed shocked at first, but soon leaned into me, resting their weightless head on my chest. It felt, weird. But they seemed to be enjoying it so I did not dare move.

We sat there for an hour at least. You would think that ten minutes would have been a long hug, but I was more than ok with the time. Not just because I felt bad, but because something interesting was happening. The more they were close to me, the brighter and more vibrant their color became. It was as if they were feeding off the feeling of closeness or the mere contact. Had that been why they came to me that night? Were they... feeding on the living? If so, why did they pull away so fast that night? Did I like, taste bad? Maybe they just wanted a snack?

There were too many questions and not enough time. I had to find a way to make this easier for us to talk so I could get a better idea of what happened here, how it could be avoided or even how to reverse it. As much as I was coming to like my pet ghost, I didn't want them to have to exist like this. I didn't want the world to end. We soon broke company and they began trotting around the room again, all the while glancing back at me still sitting there on the floor. I felt... drained, tired even. I needed a nap.

I rolled to one side, feeling like I was drunk and tried to take a step but failed. They trotted closer again, this time coming nearly nose to nose with me. Despite the hug I began scooting back from them in my seat, but there was nowhere to go, my back was against the wall. They leaned in slowly and brushed their nose to mine, I shrank back, expecting the icy touch I had come accustomed to, but it was warm. Like, really warm! Like a nose should be!

"Wait, you can do that!? You can be hot OR cold!? Where was that last night!? I was freezing my hooves off on that cold steel floor!"

They just kept staring at me, nose to nose, their heat warming me slowly. It felt... good. I liked it in fact. It wasn't until the beep from my Cuff scared both of us before we parted company. If I didn't know better, I would have said that Rocket was about to try and kiss me. Oh goddess, what would that even feel like? One slip and my tongue would have been frozen, like when I was a filly and I licked a flag pole. I tried to stand, tapped the message and let it play out. It was another message from Jet, I guess they got my message and sent one in return.

"Dingy, it's Jet. I know you are scared, I would be too if I were you, but I know you can hang in there. You have to. I won't berate you about it anymore, but you need to know that you are not alone, I'm right here with you and will be until this whole thing is over. I know it's hard to imagine, but I care about you, not just what happens to you, but about YOU. I guess when you have nothing to look at but white walls and computer screen, you tend to get attached to anypony outside your little world that will have anything to do with you.

Oh my... That all came out all wrong. Look. Forget that first part... I also meant that you are not alone there either. I was going over your data last night and that's why it has taken so much time to get back to you. Your Cuff detected an abnormally large magical signature between 5:30 P.M up until you sent the message to me last night. This ghost thing you are talking about... At first I thought you were being metaphorical, but now...

Dingy, is there an actually ghost there with you? Can you interact with it like you said or are you just pulling my leg? I want to say you are messing with me, but the data never lies. There is enough magical signature there that it nearly bled over and corrupted the audio file you sent me. The magical framework of what I am looking at reminds me of another source we have studied in the past, but I won't know for sure until I get back into the lab this morning.

Your Cuff also captured a drop in barometric pressure not long before you went into the shelter. You can expect quite the storm outside today, it might be best to hunker down and wait it out if you can. You should receive your first update today as well, so be on the lookout for it too. Dingy, I have a plan. I don't know if it will work, you will just have to trust me that it will. I won't go into detail about it, I don't want to take that chance, but just know that you will be going on a hike here soon.

Feel free to message me with the text function. It's relatively new tech and they don't monitor it. The latency is also much quicker through text so I can respond quicker as well. Just do not talk about anything test or blast related when you do, just to be safe. Good luck, Dingy.

Jet, out."

Text function. Oh! Like my phone! I'm good at that, most days it is all I have to do. Granted, I have no clue what latency is. Maybe it only works late at night? Does it mean that it will get there late? No that would be stupid... I really am hopeless when it comes to the ways of technology. I fumbled around the Cuff's menu until I found the text function and began the process of 'chatting'. What more did I have to do? It was raining cats and dogs and even though I had an apparition to mess with, that got older and older with every icy touch. Not to mention that I knew that they could turn it off and on at will meant that I was at a serious disadvantage.

'Hi Jet! Yeah, I know about the powerful magical signature... They are sitting right beside me! Don't worry, they are friendly, I think. Apart from trying to nose me to death, all is well... well apart from the whole being stuck a few thousand years in the future all alone with no pony to talk to... GET ME OUT OF HERE!'

I tapped send and slouched back against the edge of the stairway and watched the puddle of water grow larger at my hooves. Rocket seemed to amuse themselves with the long since dead computer. They would nose around the tower, then try to push buttons on the keyboard, followed by even more nosing around. Their movements became more frustrated with every passing minute as they tried to reboot the machine. Finally, they bolted upright and began waving at me to come over.

"What is it girl? Little Tinny fell down a well? Is Ms. Pie sick? Oh no! Do I have mail?"

Wow, I never thought I would see a anypony, let alone a ghost looking so fed up with me. I rolled over and went to investigate what strange thing they had found now. Rocket had discovered a power strip and was enthusiastically pointing at the power switch.

"You want me to turn on the computer..."

I was given a vigorous nod for my correct answer.

"Why do you want me to turn on the computer?"

I was given a blank stare.

"Rocket... you are acting strange... er.. stranger than normal. What, need to send an email?"

More blank stares from the ghost.

"Ugh... fine." I said as I flipped the little red switch and the computer let out a puff of smoke. "See? It died. Is that what you wanted? To finish off this poor piece of technology- Rocket, what are you doing?"

I watched as they began trying to shove their hoof into the power strip with a fair amount of force. This thing just keeps getting weirder by the second! First they want me to turn on the power to a computer that is dead now they are-

"ROCKET!"

The room filled with sparks and bright flashes of light as magical energy filled my ghost. Bolts of lighting began tracing lines all over their body like great veins of electricity and blue fire. Gradually a low hum started to echo off the steel walls as heat from around Rocket grew like a raging fire. Their body convulsed rapidly and their dim glow started to grow brighter with every jolt. I ran for my life and hid in a caged storage locker and watched on in horror.

I don't know what scared me more. The thought of them being tortured to death with magical electricity, the fact that I could die at any second or being alone out here again. I had just found comfort in my new found friend and here they were, dying right before my very eyes. I wanted to help, I wanted to be brave! But there was no way I could even get near them. There were lightning bolts striking the ground all around them, blowing the panels off the floor and shattering steel around them.

The lights on the breaker box began to glow brightly as if to say 'Here, flip this big red main switch and all will be well'. But before I could make my move, the box exploded and the room went dark. A few seconds later the red emergency lights came on, but they were all but nonexistent in the presence of the bright blue glow that was standing beside the now smoking surge protector. Rocket was... Ok? They were much brighter now, even more so than when I ran into them in the tower. It was like they were radiating pure light. Their wispy form was much more pronounced now, clearly showing the body of a mare.

I carefully crawled out of my cage and trotted closer to get a better look. They were... radiant. For all the fear that had been crossing my mind during the previous events, two things were made very clear. Rocket is one tough girl and it was going to be impossible to sleep with how bright SHE was.

"Rocket? You ok?"

They looked up at me and... was that a smile I saw? Oh what the hell, that had better not have been a joke.

"Yes... I am fine."

"Oh good... because for a second- AHHHH"

I found myself back in the cage, hiding from the the now talking ghost.

"Please, do not be afraid."

"That is EXACTLY what a ghost would say before they kill me!"

"It is ok. I do not want to harm you."

"But you can talk now! What was that, with all the sparks and lighting? You were trying to kill me!"

"Please. I can only speak for a moment. Each word drains my strength."

"Ok... Then explain to me why you just went and tried to electrocute me."

"Please. I did not try to electrocute you. The power that runs through these lines is magical energy, the very same that makes up my presence. I was weak when you found me, even weaker after signing with you. I needed to recharge."

I stepped out of my hiding place, all the while clearing a path in case I had to make a retreat for safety. Her voice sounded tinny, echoey even. Almost like they were speaking through a fan. But the words still found my ears as calm and inviting all the same.

"You mean you are not a ghost? You are, just electricity? I should have named you Jolt."

"It is ok. I like the name Rocket. No, I am not a ghost. I am an embodiment of magical energy. I don't know how I came to be, or why it is that I am still here and all the others are gone. So many ponies, so many faded away. But not me."

"Ok, so you are a magical presence. I guess you followed me because you were lonely?"

"No." They said almost longingly. "I feel an attraction towards you. There is an energy. I can feel it, but I can not grasp it. I was... Drawn to you."

"Oh... So you think I am cute?" I said batting my eyelashes playfully. What was I doing? One minute I'm running for my life and the next I'm flirting with a ghost!? I have to get out of here. What's to say that I'm not just cracked in the head and this is all a figment of my imagination.

"Maybe. I do not know. I remember feelings, but I can not feel them now. There is an attraction, strong, alluring." They said as they sat down.

"Can't take it back. You called me cute. I'll take it." Seeing as I had not been complemented since I lived at home with my parents, I was counting that as a win, no matter what the context. "Wait, if you could have just done this all along, why didn't you? I have been going crazy without somepony to talk to."

"It is... Very painful."

"So you have just been shocking yourself over and over again to stay alive? That sounds terrible, why would you do that?" I asked, coming closer to her and taking a seat. Wow, all my hair was standing on end. I imagine that I look like I just fell out of a dryer on high.

"I do not know. I just know that I have to keep going."

"How long can you stay like this? How long can you keep talking, I mean?"

"A few days... if nothing drains my energy. Water takes my energy away."

Great. She can talk, but because it's raining we are stuck here. I thought back to that moment at the stream, in the field where everything she touched seemed to just... die. Everything there was damp. It must have been draining her just to follow me. If what she was saying was true, whatever it was that was driving her to chase after me must have been stronger than the fear of fading away. I felt guilty about my own selfish desire to press on and get back home when she had put herself out so much just to follow an urge.

"Rocket... Why do you want me to call you, Rocket?" I asked, finding a seat near her.

"I like that name... it reminds me of something. Something I can't remember, but something that makes me happy."

"Curious... I know a pony named Jet. Maybe you knew them? I mean, I'm from the past and so are they."

"I do not know. I know that I have seen the name, Jet. I know that I have memories of ponies. But I do not remember a pony named this."

"You are an odd one. You know that, right?"

"You are talking to a mass of spirit energy..."

"Fair enough." I said as a thought hit me. "You said that water drains your energy, and clearly magical electricity replenishes it..."

"Yes, but it is very painful."

"Yes, I know. What about a small amount of electricity? Like, over time. Would that hurt too?" I asked, looking around the desk.

"I do not know."

I rummaged through the drawers and... AH HA! I knew there would be one of these here, I used to find them lying everywhere back in my time. "Rocket... I have an Idea, but I don't know if it's going to work. If it does then replenishing your energy might not be painful anymore. Are you game?"

"I do not want to be hurt." She said, shying away from the long cord I was trying it bite through.

"That's why this is an experiment. If it works then awesome! If not, I will unplug it. Easy peasy!"

"Ok. I will try. But I do not want it to hurt." She said as she stepped closer.

"Oh com'on, what else do we have to do? It's raining, we can't go outside and I need somepony to talk to before I go crazy. The last thing I want is for you to crap out on me when the depression hits."

"I do not know what 'crap' is." She said looking on in confusion.

"Crap is everything, really. This desk is crap, the computer is crap now that you went all mother nature on it, my coat color is crap... everything is crap... its a saying. It means something is bad or... not good enough."

"If crap is bad, I do not think you are crap."

"Very sweet of you." I said through a mouth full of cords as my teeth worked to strip the isolation from fine copper wires. "There! Now, hold this red wire in one hoof and the black wire in the other." I said passing them to her. I then plugged in the little black box to the wall and... a faint blue light began to glow from her hoofs. No lighting, no sparks, no unholy screaming. It worked!

"Rocket? Are you ok?"

"It tickles."

"Perfect! Do you feel anything? Besides the tickling?"

"Yes... I think. I do not know. Yes I feel better." They said trying to figure out why they were not being tortured. "I think this works. What is it?"

"Phone charger! These things are everywhere! I used to cut them and strip the wires to make all kinds of things! Night lights, chargers for other things, I even made a little heated blanket out of one once with a broken space heater and cookie sheet."

"You are clever! I like this!"

"Well when you are poor, you figure it out! That's what my dad always said."

"What is... Poor?" She asked, relaxing on the floor and absorbing all the energy the little charger had to give.

"Well... it's complicated. In my time you have to have money for everything. Food, housing, heat, water... things... When you don't have a lot of money, you have to be resourceful. When you can't afford bread, you have to make it. When you get cold, you have to find a way to stay warm. You have to figure it out."

"Is that what I have been doing? Figuring it out?"

"I guess so... You made it this long. You said the others winked out already, right?"

"Yes... I do not know... It is, complicated. I remember ponies, but I do not remember their shape. I remember knowing ponies, but I do not remember who they are. I think of it, but the memory never comes. I want to remember."

"I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"It is ok. I want to remember them. I know that I had friends. I know that I had family. But I can not see their faces. Why can I not see their faces?"

The question found my ears with an innocent tone not unlike that of a foal who had lost their mommy and just didn't understand what had gone so wrong. I couldn't help but feel and pang of guilt and sadness for them. Here I was fighting so hard to get back to my world, my time, and to what? Nothing? I barely had any friends. I didn't have any family. All she wanted was to remember just one face, just one memory of who she was. Deep down I felt my own problems trivialized, insurmountable in comparison to such a lonesome feeling. But another part of me felt a strange connection to them. We both just wanted somepony to talk to. Neither of us had anypony here, but now we were in the same room.

"Hey, chin up my little glow in the dark buddy! You might not be able to remember them, but at least you know they were there. I can't even think of anypony who will miss me being gone. But at least we got each other for a little while, right?"

"Yes, we do." She said with a happy little smile. Was it me or was she becoming more energetic from her little charger? "Rocket, you seem more... clear."

"Yes, I am feeling better. This thing you did with the wires is helping. Do you think if I keep charging, I will remember somepony?"

"Maybe, I'm no scientist. Honestly it's a wonder I made it this far or that this little trick didn't just set the place on fire. Only one way to find out."

We spent the next few hours talking. Every so often we would have to stop as Rocket tried to remember something from her past, but it always ended the same. As sad as it was, it was cute how she would look like she was about to sneeze the memory out before giving up. I would then pick up the conversation and keep talking for the both of us. I told her about how the world was back then and how I had come to find myself here in the bunker with her. She told me about all the things in the world I was now in. To her they seemed trivial, but to me they were dangers to avoid. The longer we spoke the clearer her voice became and the more coherent her sentences. I had danced around the whole, remembering other ponies thing more than once, but I was starting to wonder about it myself.

But the selfish side of me that wanted out of here knew that we could never spend enough time here to charge her that much. Maybe If I found a battery charger? How much power could I pump into my little light bulb before she just popped? Was there a limit? At what point would it hurt? I was conflicted. I wanted to help, but I also wanted to go home. That thought would lead me right back to the question 'back home to what, exactly' and the whole damn process would start over again. I was getting frustrated. I had not heard back from Jet in hours now, It was still raining and I was running out of witty topics to impress my new friend.

"Rocket... I'm getting tired." I said as I laid down on the floor. She looked at her hooves and back to me before offering me the leads to the wires she was holding. "No... Sweetie, I don't work like that." She froze, just staring at me curiously. She started to lean in before quickly backing away again and staring off into space. "Rocket? You ok?"

"That word... Sweetie... I know that word."

"Yes... I'm sure you do. It is a term of endearment... or a name, if your parents are bakers or something."

"No... I remember something." She said, pinching her ghostly eyes shut. "I was called that before... Please, say it again."

"Sweetie?"

"No. Like before. The tone."

"Oh.... Ahem... Sweetie..." I said, feeling rather foalish.

"Yes! I remember something!" She squeaked. Funny, I didn't know ghosts could squeak... or talk... or recharge with phone cables... it's been a long day.

"What do you remember?" I yawned.

"A mare... Not a mother... I can see her, kind of. She called me that. It made me feel... happy? Fluttery? Embarrassed! Yes, it made me feel embarrassed. I have not felt that in a long time!"

"Huh... So you bat for the other team then." I said as I curled my head into my hooves.

"What does that mean?"

"Honey, it means you like mares. You are... were a mare. Same sex relationship."

"I like this word too! Honey. What is same sex relationship?"

"Oh hell.... I don't know, what is any relationship? It means instead of liking bucks, you like mares. Conventionally, mares like bucks. And vice versa... Just one more thing we have in common."

"I like mares... I LIKE MARES! YES! I remember now! This is exciting!"

"Yes. Very exciting. You are hella gay, and I am hella excited for you. I need sleep."

"Yes... I am... Hella... gay! Thank you. I think I feel happy!"

Rocket was overcome with levity as I had a sobering thought of my own. I had never had an actual relationship before. The closest I had come to even asking anypony out was Lilly at the green house a few years ago. Even then she shot me down because... Well, she played for a different team than me. Beyond the odd fling I had never even had a pony to call my own, I had never felt that kind of affection before beyond my parents. How irresponsible of me it was for me to come here, I should be out chasing dreams and finding my own way in the world. It was just one more reminder of how much of a bad idea this all had been.

All it had served was to put me in my place and remind me that back home I had options. Here, I had nothing but a cold floor, terror and a ghost to talk to. This was a cruel, torturous pain that I could not feel, but I could see moment after moment. What if I never make it back home? I'll just be alone out here, forever. What if I do? What then? The world could turn to dust any day, how could I live knowing that could happen any day? The moment I walked into that building I signed my life away. Maybe that is what I had always heard. Spark kills ponies, but we never knew how. Sitting here now, I wish I still thought they did experiments on ponies until they died, this was so much worse. They did take my life from me, but I still have to live, trotting hollowly through life wishing I could forget.

"Rocket... If I can't make it back, to my time, would you stay? Like, hang out with me?"

"Yes. I would like that very much." She said, playing with the little red and black wires.

"I don't want to be alone anymore. I got enough of that when I was back home. But if we stick together, then we can be alone together." I said sheepishly.

"Yes, alone together! Then we will not be alone anymore!"

"Sure... Whatever your say, Rocket."

"What is your name?" She asked as she gave the wires a sniff.

"Dingy. Dingy Beige. The most bland pony you will ever meet."

"Nice to meet you Dingy. Maybe one day I can tell you my name. Can I ask you something?"

"Go for it, sparky."

"Where are you trying to go? Where is this home you keep talking about?"

"Back to my time. I have to fire off some spell somewhere in a rift and I can travel back in time to my time."

"Wait! You are from the past!? You must tell them-"

"WAY ahead of you, Rocket. I was sent here to figure out the effects of what we were doing back then. I guess I never imagined it would be... THIS."

"I am beginning to remember things. I used to have a job, but everypony was always sad... tired. Maybe I was helping to try and stop everything that happened."

"Maybe, maybe not. I guess we won't know until you recharge enough... I hope."

The truth was that the chances of them knowing what happened or how to prevent it were slim at best. Even if she knew anything helpful at all, then how would I bring that back beyond simple words and short stories. Who would believe me? Jet... She would believe me for sure. But who else? The sad fact of the matter was that I was not just in a different time with little contact with the world I knew, but in a whole other world all together. The stark contrast between the proverbial Eden and the industrial ravaged land I knew was hard for even me to believe. I wanted her to remember, not just so I could maybe fix things but... She was more than just a ghost or whatever she was. She WAS a pony, she used to live here and still does. I wanted it for her sake as much as everypony else's.

I wanted her life to mean something. If her plight in life was to wonder about this world alone for eternity, then I wanted that to not be for not. Maybe she could be the key to fixing all of this mess or even reversing it all. With my eyelids growing heavy and my mind aching for sleep, I felt my Cuff give out a soft beep and little vibration signifying I had a new message from Jet. But I was too tired, I am sure she could wait until morning for me to respond.

Chapter 7: Capital Curse

"Dingy, I know some time has passed since our last message, but just know that it was not for lack of trying. I was, for all accounts, locked out of the central computer. I fear the new management is becoming wise to our undercover workings with the advanced spell matrix we are working on to bring you back home. Even worse yet, I fear there is more to this than meets the eye. I have not been completely honest with you DB, I have been holding back information to try and preserve your sanity.

I'm so sorry! I should have told you, but part of me wanted to spare you the horror. But I want you to know what we are up against, what YOU are up against and just how important it is that you stay in close contact with me. I overheard the admins talking the other day and... There was never any plan to bring you home, Spark just wanted to fill a void in their research. They kept us all in the dark about it. Not just you, but me, my team and Egress as well. Egress... I haven't been in contact with her since this whole thing started. I've tried to reach out to her, but she for lack of a better term has fallen off the face of the earth.

It's not like her at all. She would die for her research and now she's just... gone. I want to believe she ran, but I'm afraid that she was a knot to a loose end. The rest of us are working in silent, not telling anypony what we are doing, but we need you to work with us. We need you to go to the Capital City, Old Canterlot. There is a hub there that has not been used for more than storage in the last few years. It's where all our personal artifacts are stored after we leave our post. We are going to try and set up a transponder there in one of the crates. Use your scanner to identify the crate, I'm going to cast a spell matrix over it to read out my name. You will have to follow the instructions for it to work. If we want to pull this off safely, you will have to find a way to charge the spell matrix to 100%. It has to be at 100% or you will miss the timeline all together.

They are working on something big, Dingy. I'm not included in on their meetings, but I see the data, I see the patterns. they are working on something called 'Project Ele'. It doesn't follow the typical directive of naming, it doesn't even follow the typical direction of one spell at a time. Whatever it is, it is consolidating all the spells we have been working on into one. The implications of doing something like that...

Dingy, I don't know how you will feel about any of this after hearing it... But just know that since the moment you left, you have been the only thing on my mind. If I fall silent, continue with the plan. Just know that I am thinking about you, no matter how far away you are. I have looked at your file for so long I feel like I know you like a spouse, and if I know you like I think I do, you can do this. Stay safe.

Jet, out."

How many times have I listened to that message now... Ten? Twenty times? The sting of reality biting deeper every time I started it but the ending always gave me goosebumps. I hated Spark, officially now. I had every right to. But sitting here, just outside of Canterlot, after spending days in that bunker, all I could think of was one thing... Jet was thinking about me? Foalish thought for sure, but even still. Nopony had ever said anything like that to me before nor had they sounded so sincere about it. I was tired, hungry, pissed off and at the same time... excited?

I wanted to find a way to hurt Spark for this, I wanted them to pay for this! But at the same time, sitting here near the waterfalls overlooking a lush and green Equestria with Jet's words in my ears... I was finding it hard to place my anger. I'm sure she just meant that I was on her mind with everything going on, but my heart would not let it go. I think deep down I needed it to feel real, I needed to feel like somepony wanted me back home just to be there and not be a data point on a spreadsheet. Real or not, I was going with it.

"Dingy, we have been here for an hour." Rocket said.

"Isn't it all just so beautiful? This world?" I said, rising to my hooves and taking it all in.

"Yes. It is not crap at all. It is un-crap. She would have loved this."

"Very un-crap indeed... Wait, who's she?"

"Oh! A memory! A mare, a pretty mare!"

"You ok over there, Rocket?"

"YES! I am fine! I am Happy... Oh. I am sad. She is gone... I loved her."

Watching her go through a cascade of emotions in a matter of seconds was strange and sad all at the same time. Who was this mare she knew, that she loved? Her usual bubbly exterior faded to a dark blue stare off into space. My heart broke for her, but what could I do? I didn't even know when she existed.

"Hey... we've all got somepony out there. Maybe even me. It's not about them not being here anymore, it's about them being there to start with, right?"

"Yes. It is... But I still miss them."

It had been a long trek to Canterlot, made even longer thanks to my ghost pal's inability to get wet. We had to wait for paths to dry or find other ways around creeks and rivers. We tried her riding on my back, but her constant changes in temperature made it nearly impossible for me to stand it for more than a few moments. One second cold as ice, the next searing hot fire. It made the going slow and painful for us both.

I was starving, terrified at night and kept worrying about what would happen once I made it back. I had abandoned the thought of this plan not working. Every night that I closed my eyes I wondered if they would open again. It was only the thought of seeing Jet happy for a job well done that was seeing me through. I had read somewhere that prisoners often grow fond of their captors over time. Was that happening to me too?

Her message was the kick in the flank I needed to get moving and was still driving me. Was I reading too much into it or was there something there that I had not seen before? I admit I sounded foalish to even myself but... when you have nothing to think about but possibly dying, sometimes dreaming a little helps a lot. I was in a dark place when we arrived here in the capital and it was growing darker by the moment in my mind. But regardless, I was keeping my eyes on the light and maybe, just maybe making it back home to ask Jet out on a date. I mean, I would owe her my life, after all. It felt like the right thing to do.

"Ok, sparky... Let me send a reply back to Jet and we will get a move on."

My hoof worked the buttons on the Cuff until they found the audio reply button. My heart was pounding out of my chest with fear and worry, but I had to know. Talk about the mother of all bad timing. I was about to undergo a serious mission to get myself back home and here I was about to chat up a mare. With a swift tap I began talking.

"Hey Jet. I made it to the Capital. It was a long trek, Rocket needed a few stops to recharge, but we made it. I wish you could see it here... It's beautiful. I'm scared, Jet. Not of this place, or back home... I'm scared that you are risking your life to bring me back. I'm scared of what might happen to everypony with this project thing. But most of all, I'm scared of you. I know I'm probably working this all up in my head, but, I can't help but wonder if you feel the same way. I want to see you again, like really see you. When this is all over, promise me it won't be the last time we meet. Promise me that I'll get the chance to get to know you better."

I hovered over the send button for what felt like an eternity before finally pressing it. It felt like a weight was off my shoulders, but it had only been a few seconds and the anticipation was already killing me. Part curiosity, part longing for something I had never experienced before were battling with my mind of the constant fear that I could die here and never have a chance at a normal life.

We trotted through the open gates of Canterlot, the broken stone crumbling under each step deeper into the once great city. This place used to be such a beautiful township with golden spires and ornately carved stone... Now it was just a crumbling mess of collapsed buildings and lost memories. Long shadows cast far down the once busy streets like ghosts of what once was. It was eerily calming. Like there were monsters hiding behind every turn, inside every shadow.

"Dingy?"

"Hm?"

"Do you have somepony waiting for you?"

"Maybe? It's complicated. I hope so."

"I hope so too! I hope they are waiting for you when you come back!"

"Ok, hold up. What happened to wanting me to stay?"

"Oh I do! But if you have the feeling I did, back at the cliff, I want you to have it again!"

"Aww. That's sweet of you! But I don't know if she feels the same about me. I don't even know if I feel that way about her yet. For all I know it is all some strange mind trick I'm playing on myself to get through this all."

"Dingy?"

"Hm?"

"That thought was crap."

"I really wish I had never taught you that word..."

We trotted the ruins for hours as the setting sun stretched the shadow longer by the moment. It wasn't until I had bumped into my 5th wall that I started hearing noises. I was just finishing up my second round of cursing when the pitter patter of tiny claws started coming into earshot. At first I thought it was just dew dripping, but it was growing louder and more visceral with every passing moment.

"Rocket... Rocket! Did you hear that?" I said, crouching down behind a pile of rubble.

"Yes. It's the Blats."

"What the hell is a Blat!?" I whispered.

"Blind Rats. They have big teeth and sharp claws. The building we came from has hundreds of them in the basement. They really like water. They only come out at night to feed. They do not like the sun."

"What the hell, Rocket!? Why didn't you tell me about them earlier?"

"It didn't seem important." She said as she tested her hoof on a bare power line. Small sparks jolted out as she tapped it and then took it into her hoof.

Before I could slap her, one of the devilish things came into view. For some reason they looked way bigger when they were in the basement back at spark. Out here they were... almost cute. Big, furry, cute little... Ok, it just swallowed another Blat whole. Ok, we're leaving.

"Why are you leaving, we have to go to the building across the street" Rocket said as if this was normal.

"Nope, nope, nope! That's 10 pounds of nope in a wet 5 pound bag. Hell to the nope."

"There is no other way. This is a dead end, we have to cross here."

The thought of such a small creature being able to unhinge its jaw like that was really messing with me. If it could do that with such ease, what could it do to me? All I have is this suit and this stupid scanny thing to protect me. I looked out across the street and saw that more of them had begun to descend to see if there were any scraps left over. To my horror, they began to fill the shadowy spots on the street like a black swarm of gnashing maws and clicking claws.

"H-how? There were none and now there's 500 of them out there!"

"Look, across the street. That is the building. You just need to make it that far." She seemed to mumble through her down-turned gaze. She was looking at that power wire the way that Blats were looking at one another... if they could see.

"Yeah, but... Wait. How do you know that is the building?"

"I... I remember. I remember... I... Please, just give me a second." She said as she held the wire close to her chest.

I looked on in confusion. Here I was, surrounded by little monsters and my guide was going down memory lane. I had watched her charge up many times over the last few days now, but this was different. Her eyes, which had once been hollow voids, were beginning to grow brighter, more defined with each passing second. Slowly her form went from a deep cyan to a light blue and her mane began to gain form. What was I watching? This was otherworldly and this is just... natural? She started to tremble, rocking slowly at first and soon began to heave her chest as if she could not breathe. Was she... Was she dying!?

"Rocket! Snap out of it! Let go!" I urged but did not dare break above a whisper.

"No! NO! Not yet! Wait... I'm ok... I'm ok..." She said through light sobs and a barely shaken voice. She wasn't dying... she was crying.

"What's wrong? Tell me what it is and I'll help it make sense! The crap thing! Remember the crap thing?"

"I-I remember..." She said, letting go of the wire and throwing it to the side. "It hurts. I don't want to... It'll hurt too much!" She whimpered in her hollow tone.

"What hurts. Damn it, TALK TO ME!" Oops... too loud. All around us the streets fell silent. For a brief moment the world hummed with the distant ambient tone as though I was in a void. But it didn't last. Soon there was a deafening clatter of claws scurrying in my direction. "Oh hell..."

I looked up to see a proverbial army teeth and claws darting from shadow to shadow to where I was hiding. Their bright white teeth glimmered on the edges of the last rays of sunlight as they searched out my voice. I panicked, searching for anything I could find that was heavy that I could swing their way. Anything to protect myself. I laid eyes on a half broken stop sign and took hold of it in my hooves. "If I'm going to die here, I'm going to take as many of you little bastards with me as I can, so help me!" I grunted confidently as I very bravely wet my suit.

They were closing in, maybe a few dozen yards away. I clenched my hooves around the pipe and gritted my teeth. So this was it, I was about to die here, in a world with only one predator. I thought back over my life, it was too depressing to bear. I guess... better it be me than somepony who had loved ones. Try as I might to just give up and take what was to come, Jet entered my mind. I was letting her down, she was waiting for me on the other side. If I never came home, then how would they know what was to come... So many thoughts, so many fears... Com'on, Dingy... make or break time.

With all my strength and tears of fear in my eyes, I screamed and swung my weapon as hard as I could. With a loud clang the octagon fell on the first 5 of them to reach me with a horrifying crunch. I steadied myself against the concrete mound and stifled a wrench as I bounded up for another swing, bringing the edge down fast and swift into one of the beast's side. Blood poured and bones broke under my assault, it was by sear luck that the sun gave just enough light to bring them to a bottleneck. But behind me, the fast approaching shadows were bringing another wave of them closer by the second. How long could I hold out like this?

That thought was quickly answered as a failed swing missed one of the little monsters I was aiming for. With ferocity I had never imagined it bit down deep into my hind leg. With a kick I sent it flying into the mass that was gathering behind me. I gave out a sharp shriek of pain as another lunged for my belly and found my upper thigh. First pressure, then searing pain as its teeth punctured through my suit. Through the pain, I swung again, sending more Blats flying and frantically ripped the one from my thigh loose, giving it a hard stomp for good measure. Fear was fully set in when I looked up and saw even more pouring from the sewer grates but was quickly replaced with anger.

I began swinging wildly, the edge of my staff sending showers of sparks with every hit to the concrete. With every swing I screamed. With every clash of steel on stone I roared in anger from the pain, from the madness that I was being put through. Years of pent-up anger came out in a visceral blood rage. It wasn't long before I noticed that my back was no longer against the wall of rubble, I was advancing on them for a change. Deep down, I found something I never knew I had.

"BRING IT ON!" I screamed as I flailed and swung. I'm sure I looked ridiculous fighting my little rat army, but in my mind I was a superhero. I was ready to die but I was going to make them pay every drop of blood for this all you can eat buffet. Just then, I was knocked to the ground by a mass of claws. With a scream I felt a million tiny knives dig into my hide on my back, digging deep and pulling at my suit. I screamed in pain as I felt flesh begin to tear from all over my body and the trickle of warm blood running down my sides. I covered my face with my hooves and pulled myself into a ball to protect myself against the agony, but there was no escaping it.

"I-I'm sorry Jet..." I whimpered as the pain grew and I felt claw on bone.

"NO... NO!!!" I heard being shouted as my coat began to stand on end and a metallic taste grew under my tongue. A powerful reverberation began to grow under me as I saw light creeping into my vision through my hooves. With a powerful blast wave that pushed me down the sidewalk, I felt the small daggers being pulled from my back as the Blats were thrown from me. The deafening screech of hundreds of them dying at once only made me draw up tighter. What was that!? What just happened? But before I could look, I was rocked with another blast of hot magical energy.

I rolled to my stinging back and tried to gasp for air. I looked over my chest and saw the pulsating form of Rocket standing in the middle of the street. Waves of cyan and white fiery energy radiated from her like a ever growing spear that vaporized the creatures with every pulse. She trotted my way as her corona began to fade and with it came silence. There were no more clicks of talons on stone or gnashing... Just silence.

"Dingy! Get up! You have to get up to activate your Cuff's medical function!" She shouted. How the hell did she know that? I didn't even know that. I tried to roll to my hooves but the pain sent me screaming back to the ground. "You have to get up! I know it hurts but you can do it girl!" Great, another personality change. She was just full of surprises. One moment she's a moron, the next a bomb, now a scientist... What's next? Toaster oven!?

"I can't! Everything sucks!" I whimpered.

"You have to get up or... you'll die. Those things have venom in their claws!"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THESE THINGS!?" I screamed as I forced myself on my belly and tried to stand. On shaky legs, I managed to find my hoofing and sway in place long enough for my Cuff to figure out I was dying.

'Critical injuries detected... Synthesizing antivenom... Antibiotics injected... Administering collagen accelerate... Injecting antivenom..."

"OW! Oh wow that sucks! Ow,ow,ow!"

'Injecting .5 milligrams of morphine per kilogram for pain.'

"Ahhhh... Bwat's bletter..." I slurred as I felt everything go numb. "Twere twas dat eerlwhurl?"

"Dingy, those are the narcotics talking. Look, I don't have time to explain, but I know where we have to go and what we have to do."

"That's nice..."

"DINGY! There are more of those things and I can't pull that special little move off again. We have to go!" She said, pointing at the building.

"Ok. Can we get ice cream?"

"...Sure..."

"YAY! ICE CREAM!"

"SHHH! Quiet..."

"Yay! Ice cream!"

I was still loopy by the time we reached the interior of the building. I was lied to... there was no ice cream in here. The further we went, however, I began to come to grips with just how stupid I was being. That first surge of narcotics was heavy enough to take a few years off my mentality. The inside of the storage building looked like just that... a storage building with long hallways and hundreds of doors. How did Jet ever think I could find the right one in the first place? It would take me years to find it and even more while I was high as a kite. Thankfully Rocket seemed to know where she was heading. Maybe she was able to tap into a data line or something back there.

It sure wasn't the usual shower of sparks and destruction of private property I was used to seeing, maybe she learned more about this place. I don't know what it was about her, but this change in personality was welcomed. She seemed confident and sure of herself. Like something was driving her to help me. Just then, my Cuff beeped at me, then beeped again... and again... and again.

"Shut up stupid thing!"

"Dingy, you got a live message."

"How do you-"

"I programmed it OK? I used to work for Spark. I remember everything and I'm dealing with some serious guilt right now. Just... answer it, OK?" She roared in my face.

"Wow... grouchy pants..." I tapped the accept button and let the audio play.

"Dingy? I don't know if you can hear this, I'm transmitting through the building you are in. I'm relieved you made it."

"Pff... Yeah... I made nearly in one piece..." I muttered under my breath.

"What do you mean, nearly!? Are you ok!?" Jet shouted into the mic.

"JET!? You are talking to me!? Holy Crap!"

"Holy crap indeed. Look, we don't have much time and I need-"

"Time, time, time! We never have any time! Look, I've got a bad case of almost died and I'm dealing with some complex emotions that are severely impairing my ability to make sound decisions. I'm also high on morphine. Forget the mission for a moment, I need some answers."

There was a long silence from everypony both in the room and not as I stared at my Cuff drunkenly.

"Go ahead and let her vent... She's on morphine and I know where to go." Rocket said as she began studying a locked door to a room labeled 'Spark Industries Long Term Storage'.

"What was that!? Are you pulling some kind of joke?" Jet shouted through the Cuff.

"No. Turns out if you recharge a ghost long enough, they start to talk."

"Very funny, DB... Wait, recharge? Like... Magical energy recharge? You mean to tell me that thing I picked up on my scan data can gather energy?"

"Yup... She's a sassy one too. Set fire to the first place we slept... Blew up a bunch of Blat things a few minutes ago too. Slaved my life, no big deal."

"Ok, fine. What did you want to ask? Please make it quick." Jet asked in annoyance.

"Why are you doing all of this? Risking everything to bring me back?"

"Because it's the right thing to do, Dingy." She said matter of factly.

"Is that it? Because it's the right thing to do... nothing else?"

"Is that not enough!? Look, I feel gutted over what happened, I do! I want to make things right between us. What, you think I'm working with them? That I'm on their side or something? I can assure you that the moment you are back my flank is making tracks to some place warm and less smoggy. I want nothing to do with them."

"Ok. I understand." I mumbled out. Wow, I really was a foal wasn't I? All those feelings I had tricked myself into believing, all of those longing thoughts were just part of the stress. I was mortified to say the least.

"What? Did I say something wrong? Dingy, speak to me! I didn't mean it like that"

"It's ok. I'm fine. I just let my thoughts get the better of me, that's all." I spat out as I wobbled over to the door and looked over at the key pad.

Jet gave a long sigh and I could hear something crash to the ground in the background. I watched as Rocket rolled her milky white eyes and went back to the sign on the door.

"Look... Maybe there is another reason. Maybe I want to see you again for some reason other than guilt. But we will never know the answer to that question if you don't get your tan little flank back here, now will we?" My heart leapt. I don't care what my brain was screaming, I didn't care if it was all a joke. I needed a dose of hope right about now and I was going to take it. I'll save the pain for later... when I'm rejected.

"But I might not get back Jet..." I said as I Rocket began pointing out numbers for me to press.

"Don't say that! You came this far, just... a little further and you will be home. I promise! Just get to the other side of the door labeled-"

"Way ahead of you." Rocket barked as I pressed the final key and the door opened.

"Access granted." The door chirped and swung open.

"How did you- only a hoof full of ponies knows that code, I'm not even authorized to have it! I had to scratch it into my hoof to keep it a secret."

"Just have a medivac read for when she gets there. She's bleeding badly. There's a claw lodged between her 6 and 7th vertebrae that needs removed right away, it's leaching toxin." Jet said as she stepped inside the doorway.

"WHAT!? Dingy! Are you ok!? Oh dear maiden!"

"Calm down. Just do as I said and she will be fine."

"I'm ok, Jet. Just a little woosey."

"Ok, once you are inside, look for a crate labeled-"

'Transmission ended.'

"Shit! No, no, no! Come back! Stupid thing!"

Rocket let out a long sigh and trotted forward into the stacks of shipping crates.

"Ok, what gives. One second you are just blindly following, the next chatty as can be and now... annoyed?"

"Look, you are not the only... being... dealing with complex emotional issues! I'm happy for you, more than you could ever understand. She seems to like you a great deal and you might get out of this alive. But right now we need to get you back home. You have a job to do and I feel like I'm the only one doing it."

"GEEZE! Take it easy! First you don't want me to leave now you can't wait to get rid of me!?"

"NO!" She shouted as she spun on me. "I want to see this through. Dingy, you might not realize this, but I lost somepony very close to me. The more I 'recharged' I began to remember things about her. The more I start to miss her and now... I find out I'm what ultimately killed her through my actions. I would do anything to make it right. ANYTHING! I lived in the moment once and it got me here. I don't want to make the same mistake twice." She said as she turned and began looking at the crates.

"I'm so sorry... I didn't-"

"It's fine. Jet... She's not... I mean, she's... Look, I would hate for her to go through this, or you. If that means trotting this place for the rest of the days on earth, I will. I just feel like this... this might be a chance for me to make things right. A one in a trillion chance. I may be a ghost or something that I can't even conceive, but even I can tell she likes you. You just fought off a pack of Blats to get here, to get back to her, right? The last thing she or I want is to see you die when you are this close. Trust me, nothing will ever change that."

"We do crazy things for those we are fond of, eh? Com'on, let's find this crate."

She nodded and smiled and motioned for me to fire up the scanner. No sooner than I did, the room was bathed in a healthy glow of blue as it began searching the crates and reading them aloud. Long strings of numbers followed by single alphabetical notations were designated to all the crates rather than the usual composition and age. Spark must have started using these things regularly in their corporation to speed things up after I left. A sobering thought hit me. If they were using a piece of tech that was new and untested on me as a day to day item for shipping crates... Did I ever make it back? The world was unchanged. Did I have to make it back before things went into motion? It was all so much to dwell on and worry about. What if I made it back, helped bring about change, what would happen to Rocket?

She was holding on to some deep grief, would I have the chance to fix it? Would me making it back fix things alone? How far would I have to take this before I brought about real change? There was much more riding on this than me just finding my way back home. Ponies were counting on me whether they knew it or not. My Cuff beeped and began to vibrate as its beam landed on the crate we were looking for. It was awfully small for a piece of tech that would save me from a situation like this... Then again, not even 10 minutes ago I thought I was going to get ice cream, so what did I know? Apart from all the other boxes it looked like little more than nothing at all, but this box had a name and address attached to it. The others did not.

'Shipping crate: Destination. 6303 Capital Boulevard, Canterlot. Administrative Assistant, Jet Shade. Long term storage. Category: Personal Effects.'

"That's the one. Open it up." Rocket said as she totted over to the shelf.

I batted the box into my hooves from the top shelf and sat it down in front of me. You can tell a lot about a pony by the way they keep their things. Jet's box was covered in numbers and equations as though she had been working on something right up until the moment she had placed it here. In the top right corner there was a little doodle of a pony with a hoof to her chin in deep though. I couldn't help but give a chuckle at it as I looked the box over for a way to open it.

"What is so funny?"

"Oh nothing... Just a cute drawing."

"The box wears the marks of a pony who was very distressed... and you think it's cute."

"Yeah... Yeah I do. You wouldn't understand. Nevermind."

I fumbled with the box for a few moments before hearing a latch give way and the lid flip open. Half the contents fell out on the floor in front of me in a pile of memories and keepsakes, save for a little plug looking thing with an antenna on it.

"This must be it. Now, do I just eat it or..."

"Dingy, you are hopeless. It plugs into your cuff and it will talk to it."

"Where? There's not a plug anywhere on here! Trust me, I have been wearing it for nearly a week!" I said as I shook my head. The morphine was wearing off and I was becoming aware of a dull ache all over my body as time went on. I was beginning to sweat and my head was swimming from the drugs.

"Right there... above the screen. Flip the door open." With a tap of the hoof a little compartment was reviled to me hidden this whole time. The little square port had hundreds of tiny prongs in it that looked like gold and bluish metal. "Plug it in. What are you waiting for?"

With a firm press the device snapped in with a satisfying click and I watched as my screen lit up and began cycling loading screens and numbers rapidly. With a beep and a whistle here and there, the screen finally fell to a blinking prompt, 'press yes to continue'. I gave it a tap and was presented with a half charged bar reading 50% and a grey'd out prompt to launch the spell matrix.

"Only 50%... Jet said it had to be at 100% to cast. I can't walk that, I feel like I'm about to fall over right here."

"I know you can't."

"What if I plugged it into the wall, is there a way to charge this thing?" I said frantically looking the Cuff over for something else I missed.

"Dingy... It's no use. It charges kinetically or wirelessly. There is no plugging it in." She said as she trotted closer. "It needs a massive charge to get to 100%, something nearing a kilowatt of magical energy."

"SHIT! Why does everything have to be so hard? So that's it then... I just die here." I said falling to a pile on the floor.

"I know why I'm here. I know what I have to do." Rocket reached out with her horn and began channeling her energy into the little device. With each passing second I watched as brilliant glow began to wain.

"Rocket No! You can't do that. That will drain you to nothing!" I shouted as I pulled my Cuff away from her. "If you do that, you'll die."

"Dingy, it is the only way. Look around. Everything in here runs on solar power, no magical energy in sight. I'm the only magical source you have. Please... Let me do this."

"But... I don't want to hurt you." I said with tears welling up in my eyes.

"It won't hurt me." She said as she began channeling her energy into the antenna. I watched as the power meter grew and her brightness faded.

"I'm so sorry, Rocket. I'm so sorry!" I squeaked as I watched the meter click over to 90% charge..

"Don't be... We do crazy things for those we love..." It came out as a whisper as the last percent fell to 100 and she broke the tie to my leg. I watched as her form began to fall away into wisps of blue magic.

"Thank you, Rocket. I'll always remember you."

And with a flicker, she was gone. I looked down at my cuff and saw a blinking 'press yes to launch spell matrix'. She had gave her life for me, what life she had left, just for me to go home. I felt tears rolling down my face as I wobbled to the middle of the room. I had to find a way to make it right, I have to find a way for her to not trot the world for thousands of years.

"Ok... This is it."

I sniffed and wiped my eyes dry as I loaded the spell. With a trembling hoof I pressed the button. I felt the void open behind me and I began stepping back into the either. I felt my body go weightless just as the pain set in and my mind fell into darkness. I'll find a way, Rocket. I'll find a way.

Chapter 8: Data Recovery

Pain. Agony. Suffering. I thought I knew what those words meant, but little did I know just how deep their meaning could go. I have no idea how long I fell for all the while passing in and out of consciousness. My body had said enough is enough and began shutting down. The morphine that had been pumped into my veins dulled the ache, but only for so long. I felt cold, hard tile beneath me. I heard a pony shouting. I felt needles puncher my hide ever so slightly. But I could not find the energy to open my eyes.

I just wanted to sleep, I want to sleep forever and never feel like this again. All my organs were screaming at the top of their lungs, pleading for the dull pain to leave them. I just wanted so badly to sleep. But I could still hear voices calling my name. Wave after wave of chemicals hit my system like a firestorm causing my heart to thunder and my skin to crawl. What was keeping me alive? Why was I still here? My lungs began to slow, but were soon being inflated. My heart began to weaken, but was soon forced back to beating. Just let me die already! Stop torturing me!

Just when I thought I couldn't handle anything more, just when I was about to break from the pain, I felt a small jab in my leg of a needle. The pain began to fade slowly, the ache went away and I felt my every muscle relax. Finally, I was at peace. It was finally over, I could rest again. I could sleep forever.

oooooooooooooooooooo0000000000oooooooooooooooooooo

*Beep*

I awoke to the steady chirp of a heart monitor. My mind fully aware that I was still alive, but my eyes were refusing to realize it just yet. No,no,no! Why was I still here!? I had accepted my fate, I wanted to rest! For the second time in my life I had been ready for death, prayed for it this time, and for the second time I was denied. What did that say for my mental state? Here I was alive, sore, something was poking me in the side, I needed to pee and all I could think about was that I would rather die than face what was to come. I had to be back home, back in my time. Who else would have saved me, but what happened? Almost involuntarily I raised a hoof and began swatting at where my alarm usually was. But my hoof barely left the bedside.

"Dingy? Dingy... You awake yet?" A soft voice filled my ears like the scent lavender could fill your nose on a summer's evening. "Dingy, you can do it. Open your eyes for me, please?" It was a mare's voice, hauntingly familiar and filled with dread, worry and sadness. I struggled to find the energy to open my eyes, wanting to see who it was I was hearing so vividly. Dim light began to peak through my lashes as a white unicorn mare with jet black mane came into my fuzzy view. "That's it! That's my girl!" Her voice crackled with notes of both happiness and tears. "I thought we lost you there for a moment. You terrified me!"

"Wha- Wha- appen." Wow, that was smooth. Oh wow my head hurts. How hard did I fall back there?

"Shhh... Save your strength. You are coming out of a medically induced coma, it will take some time for the rest of the drugs to wash out of your system. Just... Take it easy and I'll fill you in." Jet said as she pulled her hoof from my side and reached her magic out for a glass of water. So that's what was poking me! She held it to my lips and I did my best to take a sip... I got more on me than in me. I nodded my head, still trying to focus my vision on her as she shifted closer to my side.

"Dingy, when the portal opened back up on my end, I was standing there waiting for you. It took longer than normal for you to return, but when you did you were thrown from the void and into the medical service cart. The med team was still on their way when you arrived, but you were in such bad shape that...

My point is, you are lucky to be with us. You had some kind of toxin in your blood that was trying to dissolve your nerves. I can't imagine how bad that hurt. You can thank your ghost or whatever she was, without her, you might be dead. It took 9 hours to remove the claw from your vertebrae, but once we did, it was like your body just... went into recovery mode! Neither I, nor Egress, have ever seen anything like it. But the damage to your organs was too severe for us to try and wake you, so we put you under for a few days to help with the pain. In that time you had to have 3 blood transfusions, a bone marrow transplant and your kidneys shut down. But here you are, tough as nails. "

There was just so much to take in and my brain couldn't keep up. Thinking about it was like trying to wade through concrete. All I knew was that I was alive, Jet found Egress and I nearly died. As my memories began to come back to me, I fought to ask questions, but my mouth was still not doing as it was told.

"E-E-Egr-"

"Egress? Oh! Egress went into hiding. We were right, Dingy, Spark sent a team after her. I thought she was long gone until she showed up at the loading dock. She has been keeping tabs on what happened to you, to the team... all of us really. I guess Spark's encryption isn't as good as they say it is. We are some place... far away. I don't want to say much because it could be dangerous to do so but... Just know you are safe. We are safe."

Safe? This wasn't a hospital!? How did they manage the surgeries she meanti- Oh right... Smart ponies with access to sophisticated tech... Wow I'm stupid.

"Spar... Sparrrrrrk?"

"Spark has been planning this for over three years, since we discovered magical tracing and geo-time mapping. Under the file you were listed as expendable. Dingy, I am so sorry! I never meant for any of this to happen to you! You're young and pretty and had your whole life ahead of you and now-"

Jet's mouth stopped nearly as fast as my heart when I saw her reaction to my hoof reaching out and holding her's. I knew none of this was her fault. I didn't need to hear it from her. It was always Spark. Jet was the one that brought me home, she was the reason I kept moving forward rather than die where I stood. I had been through hell and all I wanted right at this moment was to feel somepony's touch. I wanted to feel something real and not think about the pain I just went through for a moment.

"Dingy... I'm so sorry!" She broke down. She held much more regret for her role than I had given her credit for. You would think she thought it had all been her fault in the first place. I gave her hoof a tug and tried to reach for a hug. I wanted her to know that I forgave her and that I didn't blame her for what happened. I just wanted her to stop crying.

She brought her hooves around my neck and crawled into the bed beside me. Ok, didn't see that coming. Here I was fresh out of a coma and I was already snuggling with a cute mare. Nice. Jet sniffed her way through tears as I felt the weight of the drugs beginning to set in again. It wasn't long before I fell back asleep.

oooooooooooooooooooo0000000000oooooooooooooooooooo

"Rise and shine love birds. It's nearly 8 P.M. and you both have some chores."

Chores? Who in their right mind would ever let me operate a broom let alone try and walk.

"No... Sleepy time." Jet mumbled as she rolled over and poked me in the head with her horn.

"Ow! That thing's... Oh wow that hurts. Talking... No..." My voice was scratchy and hoarse from being so dry. When did we fall asleep? We had just laid down when-

"I can't let you two lie here and take in any more ARS in your conditions." She said in a motherly tone that cut me to the core. Dr. Egress I presume. Wait, conditions? Plural? What was wrong with Jet?

"Con... Conditions?"

"Yes conditions sweetie. You need a bath because you stink and Jet needs her bandages changed. After that we need to try walking and eating little miss time traveler." Her departure from the analytical mare I had first met was startling, but it was her, I knew that draw and tone anywhere.

"Jet!? What happened? Are you ok?" I said, just now noticing she was wearing a pained expression.

"I'm sure she's told you by now, but you were pretty banged up when we got you here. You experienced severe nerve death in the outlying tissue of several of your organs. It became necrotic and your body is too weak to fight off some of the resulting systemic infections. Your kidneys being the primary target of much of the resulting stress, failed about 23 hours into your medically induced coma. You required a donor with the same markers in their blood. Jet was a 89% match. Seems to have taken though." Yup... That's her. That's Egress. I had no idea what she was saying and I was still peeing myself over what she said.

"Where is... Here?" I asked, setting up in bed.

"Well without being specific... A little place I don't tell ponies about. Call it my vacation destination. Or the private lab where I work on the real juicy stuff! Now, enough chit chat, there will be plenty of time for that later. Let's get you two cleaned up."

The two mares helped me to my hooves that soon fell out from under me. It felt like I had never used them before in my life. But with each try they slowly came back to me with the help from Egress and Jet on either side of me. We soon came to the bathroom where I was helped into a warm bath. I can not tell you how good it felt because I was too busy nearly blacking out in ecstasy. The warm water filling my dry coat and mane, the relaxation of feeling slightly lighter than normal... Heaven. Egress made good on tending to Jet's wounds. The white bandages had blended in perfectly with her coat save for a tiny red spot that grew larger with the removal of each layer.

"Jet... I told you no climbing around or acting foolish. Look, you tore stitch!"

"Sorry mom..."

I chuckled. It was so refreshing to see these two acting so casual and not so... nerdy. But they both looked at me as though I had lost my mind.

"What, it was funny." I said, sinking my snout below the bubbly water.

"Dingy... Egress is my mother." My mouth hung open. They looked nothing alike! They didn't act alike and they didn't even seem to have any sort of bond! I nearly choked on the bathwater before Egress reached over and pulled me up by my mane.

"But... you don't look... You don't even share a common name!" I choked out.

"Dr. Shadow Egress, at your service. This is my daughter-"

"Jet Shade. I remember the box." I meeked out as I sank my nose below the water.

"Aw, you remembered!" Jet said, giving me a sly look.

"Yes, yes... Well, just because you nearly died and Jet brought you back does not give you two the right to be snuggling while on the mend."

"Mom!" Jet shouted in recoil. It was adorable, like a teenager shouting over not getting to go out. This was a nice change of pace. "I'm 23 years old!" She said through clenched teeth. I glanced at Egress with looks of shame and fear that I had wronged her. She responded with a wink and a soft smile, reassuring me that she was, by all accounts, just teasing her daughter.

"Well I suppose that after all she has been through, she deserves a little rnr... But I'm going to have to cut your allowance for breaking bedside decorum."

Ok, that was too much. I nearly drowned from laughing under water. The pain from my fresh scars on my back lit up like fire, causing me to nearly drown a second time when I saw Jet's face. She was slack jawed and shocked that her own mother, a highly sought after scientist, would be doing this to her. This had to be the adult equivalent of showing off baby pictures. Jet took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to compose herself.

"Mother. I love you. But I will beat the ENTIRE Fu-"

"Now, now. You know I don't like swearing. And that is me being serious. Give me some credit here, I haven't broken out the baby pictures... But I will if I have to."

The two of us fell silent. Me hiding under a thin veil of water and bubbles, secretly kind of wanting to see these pictures and Jet with the cold dead eyes of a killer, but not breathing a word.

"Now. You two get cleaned up and come downstairs and get something to eat. Dingy, I will debrief you at the dinner table for lack of an office. I have some data I need some answers to. Spark may be out head hunting, but I have my own plans." She said as she stood and trotted for the door.

"Ms. Shadow?" I squeaked. "You're not actually... you know... mad about-" My mouth was failing me for a second time today while I tried to find the words 'are you mad I cuddled with your daughter?'. I didn't even know if she liked mares for sure or not.

"Dingy... She's 23 years old and never had a coltfriend. I'm just happy she's not dating a piece of lab equipment." She said as she closed the door and trotted off. Wow, that was way more sass than I ever saw coming. Jet looked on in horror as her mother had just eviscerated any sexual prowess she could have displayed right in front of me.

"Dingy... I'm sorry. She gets this way around anypony I-" Her head snapped to me, hiding under the bubbles in the tub, smirking at how cute she looked embarrassed. "I understand if you don't want to talk about this..."

"It's ok. I get it. I was probably just getting some mixed messages out there. Out then?" Good Dingy, blow her off... I really do suck at this whole... Chatting up mares thing don't I?

"They weren't entirely mixed." She said, swinging her hooves from her seat atop the vanity. I nearly drowned from shock. I knew it! I knew she had a thing for me!

"So you..." I started.

"I have never had a coltfriend, marefriend, whatever. I know that there is so much more going on right now that is more important too and that this is stupid to even talk about but... Do you... you know... kinda-" Oh my goodness. Was she trying to ask me if I liked her?! All of a sudden all that teasing seemed superficial compared to the deep shade of red she was turning under that ivory coat.

"Yes. Yes I like you." I said resting my chin on the edge of the tub.

"R-really!? Why?" Oh crap. Ok, that was not planned for.

"Well. Let's see... You risked your life to bring me back. We can start from there. You talked me through one of the most traumatic times of my life and you gave me a kidney... I would say I'm fond of you." That's it girl, just talk nerdy. Nerds love that. Jet just smiled and began to blush and kick her hooves against the door to the sink. "What about you? Why? Why me?" Jet froze, began to fall and slid her flank into the sink.

"Me?!"

"Yes, you. Why do you like me? I mean, I assume you wouldn't just give out a kidney to anypony."

Jet wiggled to free herself before half falling, half flailing to the floor in front of the tub. She took a deep breath and hid her face in her hooves.

"Because you are brave and strong and everything I'm not. And you're cute." Her words trailed off into a mumble and I couldn't hear her.

"Come again? What was that last part?"

"I said you're cute OK!? The way you wear your mane, the way you walk, even the way you approach things you don't know anything about. It's just cute, ok?" She squeaked. Well, that was certainly more than I was hoping for. Maybe I like you or nice mane, but cute? I could only hope that my blush was hidden by the thin film of bubbles I was trying to scoop into my face. Truth be told the feeling was mutual, but how could I top that adorable outburst? I didn't want to steal her thunder.

"Are you two done yet? The food is getting cold!"

And I wouldn't have to try. Saved by the mad science mare.

"Come on, Dingy. We need to get down their." Jet said with a turn as her magic passed me a towel.

I crawled my way from the tub and took the towel in my hooves. I could reach my mane just fine but as soon as I turned for my back, I nearly collapsed from pain. The stitches in my back were preventing me from such a simple movement. I tried again and gave a wince as I felt the fire begin to flair up once more. This was embarrassing, but I was going to need help drying off. Jet just stared at me curiously as though I had not just had surgery.

"Hey Jet? I know this is going to be awkward, but... a little help?" My words snapped her out of the daze she was in.

"Huh!? Me? Help you... towel off?" The shock on her face said it all. Yup... Embarrassing.

oooooooooooooooooooo0000000000oooooooooooooooooooo

"And then you say she disappeared before or after the little monsters attacked?"

"Blats and yes, inside the storage room." I corrected.

"Ah yes. Sorry."

The three of us had been at it for hours now. I had chronicled all of my grand adventures for them both. Jet seemed less interested in the parts about the ghostly apparition and more interested in the fact that they could be recharged. Egress on the other hoof, well there was no detail that was not of interest. She had built a mountain of notes over what had happened, all on paper. Things were going fine until I got to the Blats, Jet didn't much care for the story, but hung on my every word.

"It is just so puzzling to me that these scary creatures, well some of them, are the only natural predator. They must reproduce at an alarming rate if they only prey on living beings."

"I have no idea. When they get near one another they just eat each other and anything in their way."

"Fascinating! And this... Rocket. She saved you with a..." She paused to flip through her notes. "An explosion?"

"Yes, that is correct." I said sipping my tea.

Egress sat back in her chair before stacking her notes in a tight pile and placing them in front of her. She began tapping her pencil on the table as she thought hard over all I had told her about what was to come of our world. In hindsight, save for the Blats, it was an eden.

"Follow me, I want to see something." She said as she gathered the papers and trotted to a door behind the table.

Jet and I followed her down a set of stairs to a cacophony of beeping and scratching sounds. At the bottom of the stairs I was greeted with the same sounds, smells and sights of Spark, but on a much smaller scale. Everywhere I looked there were machines beeping and whirring away. Had I been blindfolded I would think I was back at Spark. My coat stood on end, making my hide shake. Jet, standing right beside me, gave me a friendly hoof pat on my back for reassurance.

"It's ok, Dingy. You're safe here."

I watched as Egress trotted to a small door on the wall, open it and toss the notes into it. She then pressed a button and turned to us both.

"Mom! Why did you burn those!"

"Ah... You know the rules." She said as she motioned for us to come closer.

"Take the notes, but remember the words." Jet partotid.

"And with notes like those, I'd rather not share. That is dangerous information. Burn after reading kind of information." She said as she motioned for me to give her my hoof. "Ok, I need to take a blood sample, Dingy. I have a hunch about something and I want to try and confirm it."

I watched as she drew a long needle down on my leg before piercing the hide and pulling a full vial of crimson fluid from me. I winced from the sharp jolt of pain and the odd sensation of the needle pulling at my muscle. She then dropped some into a small tube and placed it with one of her beeping machines.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Science dear. Satiating my curiosity to be precise."

She twisted knobs and punched buttons on the clicking machine, shifting from screen to screen, seemingly comparing the data. Jet and I sat in silence and watched her work feverishly on the sample. What could she be looking for? Contamination? A new illness? Anything? But it wasn't long before I got my answer.

"Curious... Jet come look at this." She said, looking at a graph of peaks and valleys.

"That's a lot of flux for a pony who was showing nothing beyond background prior to the test. Possible absorption through the the spell?" Jet asked, looking at a different screen.

"This much!? No way. Jet, you have been slamming magical cocktails for a week trying to get her back here and your's is barely 90% of this."

"So what could it be? There, that marker. What on earth is that? It's in the same spectrum but..."

"Hey, care to fill me in? I keep hearing things... not good things... about my blood. Kinda getting a little scared over here." I said, rocking in place.

"Dear... You have something in your blood. Something that I... we have only seen this in extreme cases of magical exposure. and even then, none of those ponies survived it. You on the other hoof are here, breathing. No other pony has had this marker and been alive. Even after they expire they only show it for a brief time." Egress said as she moved to another machine.

"Not helping!" I said as I buried my head in my hooves. I felt a warm hoof from Jet rubbing my back to help console me.

"Hey... you're here! With me now! You're safe and healthy and still alive." It was sweet, but it did little to tell me what on earth was going on.

"Dingy... What you have in your blood is binned with your blood. It's hard to explain without further testing, but we call it the soul cell. We ran a study on it not long ago, but it was hard to get sound empirical data. Every time we attempted to sample it, we found that the shelf life was less than a few minutes. So for you to be here, alive with it in your dna can only mean a few things. 1. Your soul is bound beyond the constraints of your consciousness, but for that you would have to be dead. 2. you have some other ponies soul inside of you, which is impossible because you were alone or 3. I messed up somehow... also impossible."

"What about Rocket? She was there! She put herself into my cuff to save me! Could it be her?" I said, really hoping that I was not secretly dead.

"Dingy... It's possible that she was just a figment of your imagination. I checked all the magical signatures and the only ones on there were from Jet and myself. Dear... I'm sorry. But you were alone out there."

I sunk my head low. Why wouldn't she believe me? I was there, I saw it happen. I talked to her as if she were a real pony. It was embarrassing, humiliating even.

"Wait... But I heard her speak! It was tinny and hollow, but I heard it. She defiantly had somepony there with her. I detected it in earlier transmissions." Jet said, coming to look at the data.

Jet's tone was coming off more protective than I had expected. I was used to the quizzical nudge here and there from her, but she sounded like she was defending me. It was appreciated and not overlooked. Right now I really wanted to feel like something other than a lab rat. Speaking of, why did she have actually lab rats on her table? Their clicking claws and little squeaks were putting me on edge.

"I know you did, you played the audio back to me... I can't even say how many times. But I'm telling you, your magical signature is the only one on it." Egress affirmed.

Jet looked at me blushingly, as if to say, sorry. But it was not lost on me that she had stuck up for me. I gave her a smile and a nod in return. Damn squeaking!

"Doctor Egress! Can you please put the mice away... They are freaking me out." I asked sheepishly.

"Oh those damned things... how did they get out again!? You would think not being able to see would be enough to keep them in their cage." She said as she began trying to get the two of them back in the wire box.

"Wait... They can't see? That's terrible! The poor little-" I paused.

"Yeah, they were a failed experiment to blend multiple dna strands to create a life form that could survive all climates and heal quickly. Basic 'what we all want' science sure, but if it had worked, the environment would have been none of our concern any longer. Sadly, all I got was rats with no eyes that get fat easily." She said as she put the last one in the box and closed the lid.

I stood up. Grabbed the box, walked to the wall she had placed her papers in, opened the door and threw them in.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? THE POOR LITTLE GUYS!"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME! THOSE LITTLE GUYS GROW UP TO BE THE SIZE OF ALLIGATORS IN A FEW THOUSAND YEARS!" I shouted in anger. "How could you be so foalish to think you could meddle with animals like that!? Do you know what those things become? Do you even have any idea!?" I screamed as I smashed the button that said incinerate.

"Dingy... We didn't know. How could we know? I just felt bad, abandoned the experiment and tried to give them somewhat of a life. I was doing the right thing!" Egress shouted back.

"The right thing was to leave well enough alone. I nearly died."

"Dear, I understand that but-"

"But nothing! There were thousands of them. THOUSANDS! Each blind, each with hundreds of teeth and claws and... and... they tried to kill me. Don't tell me you understand... I had their claws in my back, ripping at me until that, that, that thing saved me. They have to be destroyed."

Flames roared behind the tiny door. Burning every last shred of evidence and existence of those little monsters. I hated myself for doing it, killing another living creature, but what if they were the reason that they were the only creature on land when I was there. I didn't know if it would change things, but I felt it had to be done. I slumped against the floor and covered my face. I felt the tears begin to grow once more as I tried to just... breathe for a moment. I felt Jet's hoof on my back again, then her other hoof, then a cold muzzle on my neck. No damn it... not now, I'm trying to be upset. How dare somepony have that kind of control over me.

"It's ok. They're gone, Dingy. I understand why you did it. But I will never understand the pain you went through." She said into my ear.

"Thank you, Jet. Thank you."

"Ok... Dingy I'm sorry. You were right, it was foalish of me to meddle like that, but you have to understand that I could have never known-"

Her words were cut short by the pounding coming from upstairs. Hooves on hard wood began to thunder as though a stampede was taking place in the dining room. A loud crack followed by a massive crash followed as the front door was thrown from its hinges. Somepony was here and they were pissed.

"Shit! Girls! Quick, hide in here! I'll distract them and you two make a break for it as soon as the cost is clear! Understand."

"Mom! No! There is room for all of us, get in here!" Jet shouted as she helped me down into the floor space.

"No time, dear. They won't stop until they find somepony, best give them me off the bat. Now get in, Shady, that's an order!" She said, kicking her daughter's hooves out from under her, causing her to fall rump first into the hole with me. "Protect, Dingy. I trust you, don't ruin it." She said as she shoved the cover over the hole right as the ponies came down the stairs.

Jet was pacing around me, the both of us shaking like leaves in the breeze. I reached up and pulled her down to me, but only managed to pull her atop me in my frantic state. She was trying to shout for her mother, but I covered her mouth with a hoof and pressed my other to my own. We had to be quiet if they found us hiding down here... There are no words for what could come next.

"ON THE GROUND!" I heard multiple bucks shout followed by a loud crash as Egress was tackled to the floor. A loud crack sound accompanied by a sharp scream of pain sent Jet flailing for the floorboards. It took all of my strength to hold her back in her struggle to get to her mother. Deep down I felt a pain bite deep in my soul holding her back, but what could either of us do!? They would have us in seconds if we popped out and what good would that do? I promised Egress I would protect her daughter and I intended to keep that promise. So I bit down on her mane and pulled her to the ground with me. Jet looked at me with those dark purple tear filled eyes, they screamed betrayal. But my own tears were flowing with hers, I just pressed my forehead to hers and pulled her tight into me.

"Well, well, well... It would seem you have been hiding from me Ms.Egress. I wonder, where is your daughter? Surely a mother wouldn't abandon her child like that in such a desperate time." A voice said from a buck. I had heard that voice, it was the first one I heard when I came to Spark!

"Don't you dare! You leave her out of this!" Egress shouted.

"Oh now, now. I can't have you speaking to me like that. Don't you know that you are property of Spark? So is your daughter. It was all in your contracts." He said in a cold, condescending voice. "Don't think for a moment we don't know what you have been up to, we tracked the magic right back to your doorstep. We know you have the test subject. We know your daughter is here with her. We know your daughter disobeyed a direct order to stand down. She even used company equipment to bring her back. We. Know. Everything." He said as his hoofsteps grew closer. "Just give us the test subject... That's all we really want." His voice reeked of subtrafuse and lies. He was a far cry from the buck I had met.

"Never. What you are doing is wrong! We can't keep going like this! We will all die!" Egress shouted in pain from just above us.

"Now, who are you to say such a thing? this was all your idea after all."

I looked to Jet who wore the same shocked expression as me.

"At least that is what the files will read. They will state that Dr. Egress was the soul directive and creator of BLST and that the actions within were beyond company law. As such you sent a pony to her early grave. Our actions against you will be a fair bit of clean press. I should be thanking you, really. Nopony will ever know what happened to you, they will just know that you were the cause of the problem." He said with a cold tone that ripped right through me. Now Jet was fighting to hold me back. I wanted a piece of this buck. I wanted to make him squirm for a change.

"Now. Where is that daughter of yours? Jet is it?"

"Fuck you!" Egress screamed through tears and sobs.

"Is that really anyway to talk to me? You know I hate swearing as much as you do. Now, tell me..." Egress groaned and began to scream as we heard bones begin to snap and joints being pulled out of place. "Where is your daughter!?" With a loud pop, something gave way.

"SHE'S GONE! SHE'S GONE!" Egress cried out in pain. "I SENT HER FAR AWAY WHERE YOU WILL NEVER FIND HER OR DINGY!"

"Well, what a shame that is. And to think I was looking forward to a reunion between us all. Now she will just have to come home to a funeral." He said as he trotted back.

"What!? NO! DONT-"

A shot rang out, piercing the floor and biting deep into Jet's hind leg. Jet bit down on my leg and I bit my tongue as I watched blood pour down from the open hole in the floor, splattering across us both. Try as she might, Jet couldn't keep quiet through the pain of losing her mother, through being shot with the same bullet that had killed her, from a buck she had trusted. Light broke through the gaps as a corona of magic enveloped the floor panel, lifting it free.

"There you are." Wolfbain said greedily as he glared down at the two of us. "No worse for wear... Take them both to the holding cell in the lab." He said as he turned and trotted for the stairs.

"What about Egress?" A buck wearing riot gear asked.

"Torch the house. We will spin it that we came to serve her a warrant and she tragically died in a blaze set by her own accidental nature. The papers will eat it alive." He said as he trotted through the door.

A armor clad buck put us both in cuffs, chained together and forced us to trott. Jet screamed in pain as she tried to move closer to her mother but was kicked back by the guard right in her bullet wound.

"FASTER!" He shouted as his gun barrel guided us up the stairs and into the back of a sealed cart.

I should be grateful that we were still alive, but sitting here, holding Jet close just made me feel guilty. Her cries were deep and powerful for her loss and all I could do was simply hold her. Why did I have to go there that day? Had I not gone would things had gone differently? Would Egress still be alive? What about Jet? She had sacrificed so much for me, all in the name of doing what was right, just to lose even more? No, this can't be right. This isn't how this story is going to go.

"Why... Why did they do that?" Jet sobbed into my chest. I just rested my chin on her head and started crying. It was like I was feeling her pain right with her. Deep, tearing pain in my chest, pulling at everything I had and making it all ache. Egress' last words to me were being repeated in my head over and over again. 'Protect her, Dingy.' How could I protect her from Spark? We are in custody! But the pain pushed me to promise myself that I would, no matter the cost. Jet had saved my life and it had cost her her mother's. I was going to pay that back, somehow, someway. I just don't know how just yet.

"I got you, Jet. Just hold onto me, I got you now."

Chapter 9: Between Two Worlds

Blinding white light filled the room we were in. Everywhere we looked was white, the walls, ceiling and floor, all white. Jet blended in nearly perfectly with her surroundings, save for her black mane that was a mess in my lap. She was passing out more and more often with her waking moments filled with agony. How long have we been here? Hours? What did they plan on doing with us? There were so many questions in my mind, but the one that kept coming to the forefront was always the same, how are we going to get out of this. Giving up wasn't an option, dying wasn't an option and going quietly wasn't an option. Ponies needed to know what happened here, they deserved to know what was going on.

"D-Dingy?" Jet mumbled from my lap. "I feel cold... Am I dying?" She asked in a hollow tone.

"No... It's just really REALLY cold in here."

It wasn't a lie either. It had to be nearly freezing in this room and all we had to keep warm was each other and my hospital gown made into a makeshift blanket. I did my best to insulate her from the cold floor in her state, but the growing puddle of blood at my hooves was a clear sign that we needed to make something happen and fast. The cold concrete floor was rough and felt like ice under the both of us.

"They must have us in cryostorage. It's near the testing lab, by my office. They must be doing a slow pull down."

"What's a slow pull down?"

"It's this process where we would test the endurance limits of a pony on Equaal under duress over 24 hours. It's designed to zap their energy and find their limit. Over the time period the temperature drops below freezing and they are made to stay active. We usually have them hooked up to a port in the wall to monitor body functions... but there are no wires attached to us." She said as she fell back asleep.

So that is what they were doing. I bet they were going to play this off as a lab accident, maybe even blame Egress for it somehow. The thought of these bastards getting away with murder like this played hell with my emotions. I began pounding my hoof into the wall behind me in anger, but drew it back after it hit something hard other than the wall. My Cuff, the device was still attached to my foreleg. Why hadn't they taken it off?

"Jet... Jet! Wake up." Jet only groaned and drew herself up into a ball. "Jet, I still have my cuff. Why didn't they take it?"

"Your what?" She said, rolling over in a shiver.

"My cuff! I still have it!"

"Why would they... Oh. They can't take it off, they would need the key to take it off. It's a long chain of numbers and letters."

"Wouldn't they have that information?" I asked, looking it over.

"They would have had I not nuked the OS that was holding it. Heh." Jet said defiantly. "They would have to take your whole arm if they wanted it now... not much good it would do them either. The code is programmed to fry the data the second the host dies. Call it a fail safe." She said as she tried to pull herself up, failed and landed right back in my lap. "Sorry. It just... hurts."

"I know, it's ok. Just lay down and try to rest."

"I can't. I think I'm turning toxic." She said, pulling at her flank to see the wound swollen and red with infection already setting in. "Dingy, if we don't get out of this, there is something I want you to know."

"Don't talk like that! We are going to-"

"Dingy, please. When I first saw you up there on the platform, waiting for me to cast the spell... I thought you were just some scared mare going through what she had to to get paid. I have seen a lot come before you. But over the last week I got to see the strong, brave mare you truly are. It made me jealous. I started to envy you even... But it's taken until now to realize, that... what I was really feeling was longing. I wanted you from the moment we first spoke on coms. I wanted to know you more than just a test subject... but a friend... maybe even more, if you would have me."

"Jet, what are you saying?" I asked, looking down at her.

"I'm saying that... I think I fell for you. Hard." She rested her chin on my chest, those big purple eyes looking up at me with every bit of hope in the world looking back at me. I didn't know what to say. What could I say to mirror the thought, I knew I felt the same but... how do you say it to a mare you barely knew? So I did what I did best, something stupid. I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers and did what came natural. With her head in my hooves and my lips on hers I gave her my answer and oh did it ever feel so right.

"I think I fell for you too." I said with a smile. Who cares if we were about to die, I wanted to feel this... this moment. Jet slumped back to the floor at my hooves. No. No, this was not happening. I didn't just have a mare pour her heart out to me like that and start dying. Hell to the no!

Well, that settles it. I'm getting us out of here, even if I have to gnaw my way through the locks. I need more of that in my life and a little less of all... this room. I had a plan, but I didn't want to speak it out loud just yet. It was stupid, crazy and thought up in a haste. So the chances of this working were 50/50. If they couldn't get my cuff off without a key, then they couldn't get the data. If the data wipes when its host dies... Then they couldn't kill me to get it. But with me near death from pneumonia...

"Jet... Does this room have microphones? Cameras?" I asked, looking around.

"Microphones... and there is a camera in the corner."

I looked up to where her hoof was pointing in the far corner of the room. I took my hoof and began pawing it at the ground, watching the little flakes of hoof come off like little wisps as I sharpened it as best I could. I did the same with the other, I would need something pretty sharp to make this work. In the far corner there were a few items, a white crate filled with balls and a single dumbbell, presumably for exercise. Once I had shuffled my way around the room a few times, I reached for the dumbbell and carried it to the center of the room.

"Dingy... What are you doing?" Jet asked from the floor.

"Where does that feed go?" I whispered to my left.

"Security station. It's a closed circuit."

I reached up a hoof holding the dumbbell and rolled it to see the soft underside of my leg. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"You want the data? You think you can wait me out? Let's see who gets here first, you or blood loss!" I shouted as I dragged my sharpened hoof across my fetlock hard enough to draw blood. "Better come quick..." I said as I used what little strength I had to hurl the dumbbell at the camera on the wall, shattering it and leaving it to hang by a wire.

"DINGY! NO!" Jet said, scrambling to my side, her legs failing her every step of the way. "Why? Why would you do that!?" She asked with tears in her eyes. I reached my leg down and took the gown and ripped off a length of fabric.

"Here, help me bandage this up! Quick!" Jet did as asked and I grabbed the dumbbell once more, taking a place by the door. Com'on you greedy bastards... com'on. Ok, Dingy. Just like the Blats. I waited for what felt like an eternity before I heard the buzzer sound and the door crack open. I slid my body behind it, waiting to see how many ponies came through the door. Imagine my surprise when just one lonely buck stepped in and allowed the door to shut behind him.

"Against the wall! Where is she!?" He shouted as I drew back with my leg. With as much anger as I could throw behind it, I brought the weights down on his head with a satisfying crack, denting his skull and sending him to the floor in a pile. Blood began to pool around his muzzle as I reached down and took his ID badge and baton.

"Jet, quick! Can you walk?" I asked as I slid to her side.

"Not without help." She said, never taking her eyes off the downed guard. "Is he?" I looked over at his lifeless body.

"Yeah... He is." I said quietly. I pushed my shoulder into hers and helped her to her hooves. "Better to worry about it later. Where do we need to go to get you help?"

"My office... I have a-ow- a surgery pod there. I think it can remove the bullet." She said with a groan.

I poked my head out the doorway and saw... nothing. To my right was a long hallway, the same I had trotted down when I first came here. The other way was a jungle of doors and hallways but the darkened labs suggested that we were the only ones down here. On the wall to my right was a timer that was slowly ticking down from two hours and forty five minutes.

"We were there for five hours. The next drop in temperature is in a few minutes. You got us out of there just in time." Jet said, nudging me to my left. "My office is four doors down... I think I have a spare med kit there too."

The two of us hobbled our way to the office labeled 'Doctor Egress & Jet' where we both paused. Jet stared at the etched glass for a moment before nosing the door open and letting us in. Both her wounds were still fresh, both the bullet hole and the one in her heart from her lost mother, but she was holding it together well. She looked back at me, seeming to fall apart at any moment.

"Not yet. There's still work to do." I said as I started looking for anything to help us. Jet locked the door behind her and hobbled to a corner of the room where she began punching numbers into a keypad for a locker. Once opened, the little locker was packed full of bags and boxes that nearly spilled out onto the floor at her hooves. It wasn't long before a small box was pulled from the wreckage labeled 'Experiment 471: Robotic Surgeon REV. 3' . She opened the box and pulled an oval shaped apparatus from within, took a seat on her side and placed it over the wound.

"I designed this to help with bee stings in hyper allergic foals. It extracts the stinger and drains the sting site..."

"Jet... That's amazing! Why have I never heard of something like this?"

"Well, it has a flaw in the anesthetic- OW!" She clinched her eyes shut as the device bit into her hide as a little barb shot down into the wound. Flaw indeed. Jet shrieked in pain and buried her head into the cushion on the small chair beside me. I ran to her side and took her hoof into mine. "Oh wow that sucks!" She screamed into the cushion. She bared down on my hoof as another wave of pain began to rock her body when the little machine began extracting the bullet. Soon, a glittering crimson chunk of copper and lead was hovering in the air above her thigh.

"It got it! Look at that!" I said in joy.

"Yeah... woohoo... Thank Equestria this thing never made it to market." She said as it lowered itself down and began draining the wound. "It should drain the wound and administer antibiotics and seal the wound with a pug." After a few moments it had done just that. The little robot removed itself and hovered in place for a moment before landing at her side. I was holding back a snicker.

"That's better. Amazing little- what? What is it?" She said, looking down. "Oh for peach's sake!"

The little robot had done its job alright. Left a mouth sized hickey on her rump and patched the wound with a little bandage with the image of a pony blowing a raspberry. It was, by all accounts, adorable and hilarious given our situation.

"Feeling better?" I asked as I examined the wound on her flank. Hilarity aside, this thing was amazing! I ran my hoof over the spot where the bullet had entered and it wasn't even raised anymore. Science was amazing, Jet was an amazing scientist and this thing was a product of both. I looked back at Jet who was wearing a deep shade of red and realized that this whole time I had been basically copping a feel on her.

"Sorry. I was... Sorry." I said as I pulled the hoof away.

"No. No... It's ok." She said sheepishly. Ok Dingy, mind out of the gutter. What's your next move girl? Do we try and escape? Burn the place down? What? "You know that spell you cast to get me back here? Is it on the mainframe thingy? Like is it, private or something?" I asked, my brain not wanting to get the thought of what just happened out of my head.

"No, it's all on my cuff. Most of the spell is something of my own design so I know it, but the ability to cast it... That's all on my cuff." She said, pointing to her desk. "I need a second." She said, slouching to the floor.

"The pain was really bad huh?" I asked as I retrieved her cuff.

"No. Just... need a moment." She said, stuffing her face into the cushion further. She really is a strange one.

"What if I told you... I have a plan. It's really stupid and we might die, but it could get us out of here. Would you trust me enough to try it?" I asked sheepishly. Part of me really wanted her to say no, or fight me. But another part of me really wanted to see what would happen next.

"Yes. I trust you. What's the plan?"

"Here, put this on. You will need it. What if we took all the supplies we needed and just. Left. This town. This place... This time."

"Dingy, I don't know about that. Why don't we just... make a run for it somewhere?"

"Hear me out. If we take the data, they can't follow us. It would take them forever to undo the damage we would cause them. They may never recover from it. It could be the catalyst for change. Either way. What we need right now is some time. We need time to think of a plan to make this all work for us."

"W-where is this coming from? Since when do you think like a mercenary?"

"Didn't you read my file? We used to do stuff like this in the rain forest... against Spark... who we are being held captive by, look, do you think it will work or not."

Jet took a moment to think about the matter. I personally loved the idea, as crazy as it was. We jump forward in time, even back to 6300 if it came to it and hide out. With the Blats gone, I hope it will be relatively safe there. Food will be hard to come by, but if the Blats are gone then maybe we can forage? This was all on the notion that those two rats were the only ones in known existence. But hey, it could work... right?

"If the spell is still loaded in the chamber then it could work, but Dingy it will just send us right back to where you came from. With all those... Blat things."

"Ah ha! But I killed said blat things in your mother's lab."

"But... what if that is not where they came from!? What if they are just an example of forced evolution?"

"What choice do we have? I have seen this place, no way it's not on lock down. Jet, if we don't try then we might as well go and hide out and wait for them to find us. It's now or never." I said, trotting over and passing her her Cuff. "You and me babe, we got this." It was false confidence but it was all I had. For all I knew, there would be worse things out there after the Blats were gone. "If it makes you feel better, we will take a weapon. A gun or something."

"Oh... I got something better! I just remembered mom was working on..." She paused, shook her head and looked back at me.

"Not yet. Soon, I promise."

"Here it is. The Atomic Silent Slicer!" She said, holding up a large rifle looking thing. "Able to separate material on a molecular level! We made it for the rain forest harvesters... Sorry about that." She said sheepishly.

"Ass... You named it Ass... Why the hell do you ponies have access to tech like this and name it Ass?" I was floored. Every moment with Jet was a new adventure, I swear.

"What did you want us to name it, Ms. Judgy Pants!?"

Just then we heard a guard coming down the hall. The unmistakable hoof steps on steel grating echoed off the walls as he made his nightly rounds. Judging by the slow movements they were not in a rush as of yet, so I assumed we were in the clear.

"Crap. It's the guards. Quick! Hide in here!" Jet said, lifting a floor panel.

"Why do you ponies have so many of these places!?" I said as I slid down inside. Jet pulled the lid back into place just as the guard unlocked the door. She quietly did up the latch and made a motion with her hoof to keep quiet... As opposed to what, screaming? We listened for a moment as he trotted around the room before coming to the pile of boxes we had created in the corner.

"Huh... not where I left you... Damn it Nightstick, I'll have your flank for going through company property!" He shouted to himself as he ran out the door and after somepony named Nightstick.

"Great! Now two of them are coming! What are we going to do!?" I said, crawling from the hiding spot.

"We have to get to the platform. It's back from where we came from. Quick, grab that bag. It has some snack bars and a med kit in it." Jet said, gathering her things. I watched as she slung the rifle over her shoulder and made for the door. In the hallway we could hear talking between other ponies. Just around the corner a small group had assembled by the door to the cryostorage. Well, if they weren't in for a surprise. Jet and I hid behind a crate in the hall just down from them. Of course the door to the platform was right next to crystorage... Why wouldn't it be!

"Now what?" I whispered.

"We can't shoot them all. This thing needs time to recharge between shots! By the second shot they will be all over us!" Jet said, looking beside her and trying her luck with a door knob. Just as she did, a little voice came from just under the threshold.

"Jet. Is that you?" She whispered.

"Yes! Clicky!?"

"Yes! What's going on? There is security everywhere. They are saying that you died in a house fire! Did you find Egress?"

"Yes. Clicky... She's gone." Jet said softly. She was playing this so tough, but I knew deep down she was being torn apart.

"Oh Shady... I'm so sorry!"

"Thank you. Can you help us? We gotta get out of here!"

The door cracked open and a grey mare's head came into view from the shadows within the room. If it had not been for her blue mane, I might not have seen her at all. Slowly the door opened and we crawled inside behind her. Jet reached with her magic and locked the deadbolt behind us where we were hiding under the control panel. Jet and Clicky shared a brief hug before finally turning to me.

"How can I help?" She asked.

"We need the spell to fire off. If we can get some distance between us and them, time wise, we can come up with a plan to fix all of this. We have a way back, but we need a way out." I said, peering over the console. There were more of them now, gathered around the door seemingly trying to override the security system.

"You want me to shoot you forward in time!? But last time-"

"Last time I was almost eaten by giant rats with no eyes. We got that covered." I said, pointing at the rifle.

"Is that the A.S.S!?"

"Yes, the ass. We have the ass, the ass is coming with us! Please! Can you help us or not?" I said, trying to snap her out of the shock she was in.

"But with two ponies it's even more dangerous! You could be killed!" She said, biting her hoof.

"Clicky... listen to me very carefully..." Jet said, pulling her head in close to hers. "My mother was shot a few hours ago. The bullet went through her and right into my leg. I nearly died from toxic onset and I just had my first kiss ever... If you think I'm worried about dying here, the spell is the least of my concerns."

Whoa... Easy Jet... No need to go bragging or anything... it was just a kiss. I drew myself up into a ball in the corner. Partly out of fear and partly from embarrassment.

"Jet... I didn't know... I can charge the spell from here, but you will have to trigger the matrix from inside the chamber. You are leaving everything up to the automated system doing it that way and you know how buggy that thing is. You will have to override the administrative access code 47-0 if you want it to work at full capacity, even then, it's dodgy at best. After that you will have to set the time delay, synchronize your Cuffs and hold on tight. There will be no walking backwards into the portal. It will pull you in by force!"

"Charge up the system, override admin control, synchronize Cuffs... maybe die." I said, looking down the hall.

"One more thing... the moment you trot in there they are going to see. The lights are automatic, they will turn on the second you walk in. I can lock down the cell, but as soon as they get in here, it's over. They can shut it down."

"Got it, no time... Wait, what about you?" I said, sitting back down beside Jet.

"I will... Make it all work. For as long as I can." She said as her horn began to glow, her magic began punching buttons.

"Wait, you can't just set it on auto and bolt out of here?! When the guards get here-" I started but I was cut off.

"They will get here." She said with a soft unsure smile. All of a sudden it became painfully clear the position I had just put her in. There was no way she could get out of this unharmed. At best she was going to spend her days in a jail cell for this and that was the best possible outcome.

"Clicky... Are you sure you want to do this? You know what this will mean." Jet said, reaching for her hoof.

"When your mother left. We were devastated. I was as close to her as anypony else here. Not long after I found this under my terminal." Clicky pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from her lab coat and passed it off to Jet and I. The scribbles on it were barely a letter, but the name in the top corner of Dr. Egress was embossed heavily enough to be made out.

'If you are reading this. They found out. Clear your data and be ready to leave at any moment. There may come a time where you are asked to do something, something selfless and unfair. Just know that whatever you decide in that moment, I will always care for you. Initium novum. Egress.'

"She left me this... I think she knew. I think she knew this would all come down to this. Please, I loved your mother. Let me do this, for her. Jet I worked with her side by side to see this through, we all did. We all knew, aside from all the data and the profitability, we were doing it to bring a stop to all of this. We want our world back and Spark won't give it up without a fight. So please... Let me fight. Let me do my part." Clicky said with tears welling up in her eyes.

I had never seen such conviction in all my days of fighting for what I thought was right. It was humbling, taking me aback for my own thoughts on why I was doing this. I just wanted to save my marefriend and avenge her mother's death... But this mare... Her heart had to be made of solid gold to offer to do this.

"Ok... Ok. You charge up the spell. Dingy and I will get everything ready." Jet said as she pulled her in close for a hug. "I love you, even if you do type like a jackhammer."

"I love you too, even if you are the teacher's pet." Clicky said, wiping a tear from her eye and looking over the control panel. I watched as she used her magic to fry the control panel to the door behind her and then, she went to work. Jet trotted out of the room and into the cell's air lock. I was close to follow, checking one more time for anything we could use for this trip. Just as I was about to walk out, Clicky stopped me with a tug on my tail.

"I know you don't know me. You might not even care who I am. You don't owe me as much. But if I had one wish it would be that Jet come first in your life. She means the world to me, to all of us. I watched her nearly kill herself to get you back here... You owe her as much love and protection as you can give. She's going to need it." Click said, without looking up at me. The words bit deep, inspiring fear and worry that if I made one wrong move, there would be hell to pay.

"Clicky?" I asked, trotting closer to her.

"Yes, Dingy?"

"That mare is too good for me. She has something I could only ever hope to have. She has a heart of gold and a mind brighter than the sun. I would rather die than let something happen to her." I said, giving her a hug. "I promise, I will always protect her. Thank you. You will never understand just how much this means to me." And with that, I gave her a kiss on the cheek and trotted to the doorway. Jet stood there smiling, already suited up, looking out over the vast amounts of... science stuff?

"You ready to do this?" I asked as I pulled on the old blood stained suit.

"With you? I'm ready for anything." She said, turning to me with a smile.

"You know, we might die, right?" I said, offering a hoof.

"Yeah... but it will be a cool death at least. Ready? Set? Go!"

The two of us bolted into the room, instantly the light flashed on and it wasn't long before all eyes were on us from the hallway. Jet ran to crack the control panel as I... Did nothing. I tried to access my Cuffs sync function but it was I was coming up short in the knowledge department. I had only used the thing to cast a few spells and scan things. How could I know how to set this thing up?

'Spell matrix charging, twenty-five percent. All non-essential ponies please clear the area.'

The voice boomed through the speakers into the room. I watched as a very angry Dr. Wolfbain entered the viewing area beside the control room. His stern glare was a far cry from the soft loose lipped buck I had met before, if anything I would say he was ready to break down the glass and strangle me.

"Dingy! Jet! Stand down at once! You are Spark property and possess sensitive data that is not yours! Open the doors at once or we will use lethal force!" He shouted through the intercom,

'Spell charges at thirty-seven percent.'

"Lethal force? Is that what it's called now? I thought you called them unfortunate accidents. No, I won't open the door. I won't sleep until the whole world knows what you did!" I screamed back at him.

"Guards! Break down the door!" He bellowed.

I had never seen a pony so mad in my life. I was really good at getting under somepony's skin, but that had to be some sort of record.

'Administrative override sequence 47-0 initiated. Directing full power to spell matrix. Spell charges forty-nine percent.'

"Dingy! Keep him talking! It'll slow him down!" Jet screamed as yellow lights flooded the room.

Behind Clicky an army of guards had assembled and were trying to break down the door. They were throwing their shoulders, crates and anything they could get their hooves on at it, but it was no use. The thick steel just kept taking any abuse they could throw at it.

"You know Wolfbain. You fooled me. You had me thinking that I was going to save Equestria with this clinical trial. But I guess the joke is on you!" I said smugly.

'Spell matrix charge at seventy percent'

"How dare you mock me!" He screamed.

"All this time I thought I was helping to better pony kind, but you just wanted to make a quick buck. I fought my entire life to save this shithole of a planet you made, while ponies like you did nothing more than rape and burn it."

"So help me if you do not stop this right now..."

"You'll what? Kill my family? You already did that through years of toxic labor and poison. What more could you take from me? What more is there left? My life? You took that the moment you mailed that letter." I said trotting in place. Jet ran from her terminal to my side and grabbed my hoof for a moment, punched in a few numbers and ran back to the terminal.

'Spell matrix charge at eight-four percent...'

"Get that door down NOW!" He screamed as he left the observation room and began helping the guards. The door behind Clicky was holding, if only just, but I watched in horror as the glass pain behind her began to show cracks from the constant pounding. We didn't have much longer before it gave way and this was all over.

"Clicky! You have to hurry! If they get through that door it will all be for not!" I shouted through the open control room door. But she closed it in my face hard enough to send me stumbling backwards on my hind hooves. She looked up just long enough to mouth the words 'Just a minute' and went back to work. Cheeky mare... "Jet! How are we looking?"

"Almost there! Setting the time delay now!"

'Spell matrix charge ninety-seven percent."

Come on! Hurry! There is still time for Clicky to make a run for it if it would just hurry the hell up! Just then, the glass gave way, filling the room with a shower of broken shards, raining down across the control board. I watched as hooves poured through the open gap, reaching for the doorknob that was being held firm by a corona of magic from Clicky's horn. Her voice came over the loudspeaker, strained and terrified.

"I can't hold them much longer! Get to the platform!"

"GOT IT!" Jet screamed and she ran to my side.

'Spell matrix one hundred percent. Firing spell in T minus 20 seconds.'

With the spell charged, Clicky abandoned the terminal and ran to the wall beside her and paused near a large red box. She was just standing there. What was she doing!?

"Clicky! Get the hell out of there! There is still time!" I shouted.

"Go! Get out while you still can!" Jet screamed.

We both watched as she flipped the box open and began punching in a code to the small panel. She then closed the box and sank to the floor beneath it.

"What is she doing!?" I screamed.

"No... Clicky no! Don't do it! There is still time!" Jet cried.

"What is she doing!?"

"She activated the emergency containment function!"

"What is that!?"

I looked at Clicky, who was crying on the floor, but looked up for just long enough to give us both a nod as we listened to the timer tick down to seven seconds. What was that crazy mare doing!? But I didn't have to wait long to find out. The moment she released her magical grip on the door it opened. The guards rushed in, but not long after that, the room exploded. Fire poured from the ceiling with enough force to blow out the windows and rip body parts from the guards. Wolfbain was engulfed in a fireball that reached out into the hallway and enveloped everything in its path. In an instant, Clicky had given her life to save us.

I had said she would never understand how much all this means to me. I stood corrected in the worst possible way. She willingly died to save Jet and I, she didn't just risk her life. She gave it up willingly in the hopes that what we were doing was right. Jet screamed beside me and tried to run to her, but even I knew it was too late. Nothing could survive that blast. Nothing.

"NO!!! Clicky Why!?" Jet cried as she fought to leave my side, but I held fast to her.

"It's too late! It's too late, Jet! She's gone! She's gone..." I cried back as I wrapped my hooves around her and listened to the countdown hit zero.

'Firing automated spell matrix.'

With a bright flash that filled the room, I felt the portal open behind me and the force it generated begin to pull. I gave one last look back at the control board where Clicky lay motionless, just barely out of view, and saw a figure walk into the smoky room. Wolfbain. How the hell did he survive!? The speaker boomed through the static of magic and conjure.

"See you soon." He said as he trotted out of the room.

"Not if I see you first." I mumbled as I held on to Jet while the two of us began to slide backwards. "Next time, you die."

The vacuum became too much for me to hold back and the two of us were in free fall.

oooooooooooooooooooo0000000000oooooooooooooooooooo

The landing was anything but soft. For me at least. Jet found comfort in landing atop me. I was not so lucky. The two of us stood up and gave each a once over for broken bones and blood. I recognized this place... I slept here one night with Rocket. Jet took a moment and looked around the lush, green landscape, taking in the smells and sounds around us. The sun was just setting on the ridge top where we landed. You couldn't ask for a better place than this. Jet looked at me, the whole world in shambles in her eyes, begging me, pleading with me.

"Ok, now." I said as I sat down in front of her and let her fall into me.

And just like that, she broke. She had held in every emotion, every tear she could, like the strong mare she was. But even strong mares break and everypony cries at some point. She buried her face into my chest and screamed. She was shaking with agony and loss, her every sob drawing one of my own. Every scream she gave rocked through my body, shaking my very soul. I wrapped my hooves around her and pulled her in as tight as I could, feeling nothing but guilt and regret for everything that had happened. I didn't say it, but I was feeling every wave of pain she was having in that moment too. Call it a bond, call it magic. Whatever it was, it was something we would have to go through together. Just two ponies, alone in a forgotten world, but together nonetheless.

Chapter 10: We Begin Where We End

Cricket chirps filled the brisk night air atop the cliffside overlooking a once again overgrown Ponyville. Our little spot on the outskirts of town was the perfect place to spend the night, even if that night was filled with moments of fear, crying and trying to find a place to pee in private. I know that Jet is by all accounts my marefriend, how could she not be given what all we had been through, but peeing in front of her was not exactly something I was ready to establish. In an effort to keep our minds off things we decided to try and figure out exactly when we were. Jet was clever enough to use her admin controls to reconfigure her Cuff's on-board scanner to tell dates and times. It was a boring distraction, but a distraction nonetheless.

With moments of regress over the loss of her mother, the betrayal of her company and the fact that we were indeed in the year 6303 once again, the night was not completely wasted on worry. We had gotten a chance to get to know one another a little better. Through careful prying I found that I was possibly the only pony she had ever kissed and apart from the odd date here and there, the only pony she had called closer than a work mate. She was cold, analytical and by the book, but she had a softer side, one I had come to see and know pretty well.

This was completely the opposite of me who enjoyed such games as 'sniff test' for my clothing and 'is this still eatable?'. what was it that she saw in me that made her say 'yeah, her! The brown one with all the personality defects! Sign me the heck up.' Morals aside, she had the world ahead of her. Great paying job, relatively easy life, a mother. I had none of those things and here I was dragging her into the future that I wasn't even sure was safe or not. It was a heavy weight to carry, but every time I looked at her I couldn't help but think that things would just work out, I just had to try hard enough.

"Jet? Why me?" I asked as I took a seat behind her. I put my hooves around her neck and let her fall back into me, hoping for an honest answer.

"Is this really what you want to talk about? Here, now? Shouldn't we be coming up with a plan?" She replied, matching my move with her own nuzzle to my chest. She was taking full advantage of having me as a pillow and still being tight lipped.

"We have time. I just feel like... I need to know. Nopony has ever actually wanted to be with me... well besides my friends."

"That's preposterous."

"No, really! I haven't been on a date in years, what makes me so special?" I asked, cutting a serious edge to my tone.

"I don't know, honestly. I see something in you I wish I could have. I feel like I want to spend time with you all the time and to quantify it would be nearly impossible." She said as a matter of fact. "You got a cute butt too." Jet covered her mouth like a foal who had just found their first swear word.

I couldn't hold back the laugh. It was amazing to hear her switch gears like that seeming accidentally.

"What's so funny!?"

"Nothing... just... You just caught me off guard is all. I'm not used to hearing you talk like that, it's nice. I like your butt too." I said, trying my luck by giving her backside a gentle squeeze. Jet jumped from the very touch of my hoof. "Sorry! Did I hurt you!? Jet I'm so sorry!" I said, pulling my hooves free from her and throwing them wide.

"No! No... I- uh... No, it's ok. I wasn't expecting it is all. Dingy, something you need to know about me is that I'm not very skilled at this whole... dating thing. Is it customary to be feeling up your marefriend on the first date?"

The question caught me off guard to the point where I started to feel guilty. Was I pushing things too fast? Was I toying with her just out of natural curiosity? Things in the girls camp back in the rain-forest had always been light hearted and joking in the way we had done things. It was common to get your flank pinched when you weren't paying attention. It was meant as a prank more than anything, to scare you and get a laugh from others. Nothing sexual implied or even alluded to. But Jet was not used to the tomboyish atmosphere I was.

"No..." I said, letting out a sigh. "I don't suppose it is. I guess I'm not too good at all of this either. I'm sorry." I said, hanging my head at the thought of already hitting a social landmine on day one.

"No! I mean, seriously. I'm asking literally, not rhetorically. I'm a scientist, not a prude, Dingy. Besides, I quite liked the feeling. I just wonder if I am to reciprocate or make my own move, so to speak."

Oh now that was just adorable. How could I not love a mare like this? Smart as a whip, child at heart.

"Well, I guess it's whatever your heart feels is right? If I do something and you feel uncomfortable, just tell me, I'll stop and vise versa. Trust me the last thing I want to do is screw up something-"

I was cut short by Jet who had picked that moment to challenge my tongue in a fight to the death. I was shocked and taken completely off guard by the gesture, but also pleasantly surprised that she knew how to kiss properly. Also very confused that she knew how to kiss...

"Whoa!" I said, breaking contact.

"Oh no! I did something wrong, didn't I?" She asked frantically.

"No! You are a really good kisser! I thought you said I was your first..." I asked accusingly.

"Well... when you have nothing better to do in a lab than sit and wait for a reaction to take place... you find ways to occupy your time. In my case I'm ashamed to say that I like to read somewhat cheesy romance novels from the grocery store." She said, tapping her hooves together. "They tend to be... graphic." An awkward silence grew between us. Way to go, Dingy! Way to kill the moment.

"I like one where the buck spent ten years chasing after a mare just to fall in love with his best friend." I blurted out.

"The Wildest Dreams! I have that book on my desk!" Jet shouted in glee, nearly knocking me to the ground. "That's my favorite book! I love the part where he realizes he's in love with her and finally gives in and they kiss! So romantic." She said as she climbed atop me and pressed her nose to mine.

"I like that part too."

Alright, good save! Her lips pressed to mine and we were back in action! No guards to worry about, nopony to disturb us. Just Jet and I on the top of a cliff making out. I was catching a good rhythm right about the time I felt a hoof start to wander over my backside and another resting just below my stomach. Ok... Now I was feeling uncomfortable. I didn't want to push this too far too fast and ruin things. Clicky's words were still fresh in my ears. 'She deserves all the love and protection you can give'. Was this love that we were doing? Or did I need to protect her from herself? Why did this have to be so damn hard! I just want to enjoy some post adrenaline relief!

With my mind balanced on a string, ready to fall to either side of playing it safe or saying to hell with it, a slight move of a hoof further south gave it a shove. I never did have good self control, so why start now? It became apparent that she was in fact inexperienced in that department. Oh com'on, how can you kiss like that and not know how to work the equipment. You have one of these, Jet. Act like you have been there!

"No, no... Like this." I said as my own hoof began exploring.

"Oh... OOOOOH..." She bemoaned. "Oh I can do that..."

That's a girl! Oh yes! That's more like it. The teaching lesson soon eroded into a free for all until the two of us couldn't take it anymore and began grinding into one another. It wasn't long before we found that sweet spot in rhythm with our heart beats and we both found a moment together that nearly sent us rolling off the cliff. We both lay there, our bodies quivering and wracked with sweat and the two of us breathing heavily from the once-in-a-lifetime post adrenaline orgasm.

"That was... Intense." Jet said as she rolled to my side.

"Yeah it was. I wasn't sure I was ready to go that far, but wow..." My head was swimming with emotions. Lust, fear, anxiety... But I still wanted more. It was like a drug, a powerful drug. I had gotten myself off plenty of times, but never like that!

"Give me a moment... I need to catch my breath. But can we do that again?" Jet asked, snuggling up to my side. "You know, for imperial data?" I couldn't tell if she was being coy or serious. But my heart felt like it was about to explode. Not to mention my back was on fire after that little moment. During it was fine, I barely noticed it, but now... Yeah, I was feeling it. But I wasn't entirely useless.

"I might need more than a moment... But I know a few tricks with my mouth if you want to gather some different data." I said, matching her tone playfully.

"Oh! Ok! That sounds fun!" She said, leaning in for a kiss.

"No... Not there..." I said with a sly grin as I shifted down her body and gave her lower belly a little kiss.

"WAIT! There!? With your... With your mouth-" She started, but it was too late. Now this area I knew all too well. "Oh dear Luna!" She said as she rolled to her back and gave in.

Oh jet... It's going to be a long night for you.

oooooooooooooooooooo0000000000oooooooooooooooooooo

The sun broke over a cloudy morning on the cliff side, threatening rain with every chilly gust of wind. If this was anything like the last time I was here then we would need to find cover and fast. Luckily, we were not far from Canterlot Gardens, It was less than an hour's hike from here. If we got a move on we could be there before the rain hit and avoid having to try and start a fire to keep warm.

"Jet... Jet... Wake up. We need to get to cover. I think it's going to rain." Jet just groaned and rolled over, pushing her cold butt into my side. Damn it... I'm not one to turn such a thing down but now was not the time. "Jet, com'on. If this storm is anything like what happened..." A thought hit me. Was I here? Like, was I here with myself in this time too!? Were there two of me on this planet at this moment in time?

"Dingy... It's early. I'm still tired." She said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "What is it?"

"Jet... This looks like the storm that had me hiding out in the base. If we are caught out in it that could be the death of us." I said, trotting to the cliff side. I looked down and saw the field I had crossed the week before, the golden grasses were waving in the strong gusts of wind.

"I suppose you are right... Although I wouldn't mind the shower... and the chance to brush." She said, trotting to my side and smacking her lips in disgust. "Yuck!"

"Jet... What are the chances that I'm out there... somewhere?"

"I would say pretty good..." Her words trailed off as she pointed to a glowing blue dot far below us heading for a little shack. I squinted my eyes and tried to focus in front of it and... There I was! I blended in perfectly with the tall grasses save for my white clad neck from the suit. It had never occurred to me that had I taken that suit off I would have been perfectly camo'd to my surroundings. "Well, I think that's you anyways. Is that... R-Rocket? Is that its name?"

"It has to be. Look right in front of Rocket. That's me. See my pony tail?" Jet screwed up her face and leaned forward.

"I think so? I'm kind of near-sighted." She said as her hoof gave way and she nearly fell off the cliff. Had I not got a grip on her tail, she would have. "Stands to reason, the spell sent us forwards nearly one day from when you got here originally, that timeline has already happened and is established already. It would be best to not interfere with them." She said as she trotted over to put on her suit.

"Is that really what my mane looks like? I look like a foal!" I said in disdain.

"Dingy... get your butt suited up. You woke me up for a reason, remember?" Oh, that was a new tone. Grumpy Jet.

"Fine... But when we get back I'm cutting my mane." I said in a rebellious tone. I trotted to her side and slipped on my suit.

"Oh? And is that before or after you get your nose pierced and join an indie rock band?" She said as the two of us started up the trail.

"What's wrong with nose rings!? I have one!"

Jet gave me an 'obviously' grin and just fell in behind me as we worked our way towards Canterlot Gardens. The path we were taking was in stark contrast to the one I had taken the first time I came here. It was in fact much shorter, but also much steeper. If my history classes served me well, then this used to be Princess Twilight's personal hiking trail that she had constructed. What was she the princess of? Physical fitness!? Thankfully the trail leveled off before I felt like I was going to just give up and jump to my death. The garden was... still a garden? Be it somewhat overgrown, but it looked to have been managed.

"Ok... Is this a spell or is somepony here?" Jet asked as she ran a hoof over a small patch of flowers. A sharp crack filled the air and Jet recoiled in pain. "OW! Definitely a spell!"

"Well, Princess Twilight did hold the throne until it was absolved. She was good with magic after all." I said as I trotted onto the grounds. We came to a small greenhouse on the west side of the grounds, the perfect place to hold up until this storm blew over. To much of my relief, this particular greenhouse was used to grow vegetables for the entire castle and had for the most part remained productive. Oh what I wouldn't have given to know about this! I was starving by the time I made it this far a few days ago. Jet scanned one of the tomatoes and chanced giving it a nibble. She then began eating them one after another.

"MMMM! Organically grown! They are amazing! Dingy, you have to try these!" Anything to wash the sex out of my breath at this point. I don't even like tomatoes but they were amazing! "So... how are we going to handle this?" Jet said, taking a seat right as the rain began to fall on the mossy roof.

"That's just it. I hadn't thought that far ahead. I was more worried about saving our flanks."

"Well. Let's start at the beginning. We know Spark wants the data, I know that without it their magical extraction program is in its death throes. Without sustainable resources they can't continue to market to the masses on the scale they need to keep the doors open. But even still, if we have the data, why is everything still like this?" She asked, surprised that there weren't more ponies around.

"Yeah... when you do something in the past, shouldn't that change stuff in the future? We took their data, we have the spell, Clicky even... WHY IS EVERYTHING STILL SO CRAP!?" I shouted in frustration. My hooves covered my mouth in fear of possibly alerting those Blat things... But to my relief they never came. Huh, well, something's changed.

"If that were the case... then Spark would not be to blame. That's impossible. My mother knew that this was what was going to happen to us if we kept this all up!" Jet paused, turning only to see my shocked face. She knew? She knew this world existed and they still sent me here!? Jet began to scramble her words, fumbling them as though she had been caught lying. She stood before me, hooves beginning to tremble and sweat beading on her frosty white coat.

"Jet... This is one of those times where you need to be very clear about what you say..." I said, my words sharpened with an edge of threat. I stepped closer to her and gave my best stern glare, but I was fighting back emotion the whole time. I doubt it did much good.

"Ok... Listen. Before I tell you this, you have to understand some things first... I'm just asking that you consider the situation first. I came to know you under need to know information. On top of that, my mother had her own agenda, the kind of agenda that can't be spoken publicly. Dingy, we were planning to overthrow a multi-billion bit industry and put a stop to centuries old work and ideas in the blink of an eye. That's not something that you tell just anypony. We would have told you but... you know... Spark." She said setting down. "Mother had been working on a side project. Something of a timeline viewer to try and help plot out timelines.

The project was a success... A bit too much of a success. We were able to view time far in the future, but nothing sooner than the year 6303. We knew something had to have happened between then and now to force the connection closed. What that something was... we had no idea. It was a pet project, something of a hunch gone wild. When we figured out the possible implications of what it would mean if Spark got it, we moved it into secret storage. We had to find out more before we could come up with a plan.

When you came back... Things happened so fast and I was having some emotional issues... Dingy, I never meant to keep anything from you. I'm right here, telling you everything you need to know. Anything you want to know! I promise, it was never an act." She said, her final words near pleading. It was all convincing, but something was making my mane crawl, something that just didn't add up.

"Jet... Who is she?" I asked coldly. How could I have forgotten such a simple detail like this? I reached into the suit pocket and... it was still there. I pulled out a crumpled note and passed it to her. "I found this in your office that first night. it was framed on your wall. There was a picture on your desk from a wedding, a grey mare."

She looked it over a few times. I watched closely for any changes in her face, but all I was seeing was confusion. She folded the letter back up and passed it back to me and began pacing frantically.

"Jet? JET! What is with this letter!?" I shouted finally. It was no use, she just kept pacing. Finally, I slapped her chest and she broke her trance.

"Did you read this?" She said quietly.

"No... It seemed personally. I don't even know why I kept it." What could that piece of paper have to do with anything I wanted to know right now other than this all being a ruse!? Jet unfolded the paper with her magic and began to read it aloud for me.

"My dearest Jet, if you are reading this, I'm not coming back." She began but paused.

"So... a break up letter? I knew that much." But then she continued.

"Just know that I tried my hardest to get back to you. This world might not have shown me much, it might not have shown me anything at all other than pain... But it showed me love, it showed me you. Just know that our time together might have been short, but it is the only moment I hope I get to relive again and again. You will always be my one and only, no matter what the cost. Love, Dingy Beige."

The two of us stood in shock. Jet was shaking, I was perfectly still with fear. What happened!? How did it happen!? How did I make her fall so head of hooves for me, or vise versa? What tore us apart? I stood there, my mind racing, trying to put all the pieces together, but all I could think of was... It didn't work. Spark won and we were no more. But why would my letter be in her office on the wall in Spark Towers?

"Jet... Who was the mare on your desk? She was grey and you two were at a wedding." I asked as she stood and trotted to the window. She put her hoof out and touched the rain as it fell, running down her leg.

"Dingy... That was Clicky's wedding. It was one of the few times I ever got the chance to see somepony outside of work. It was in the summer, last year. I was her best mare."

Guilt flooded my mind. She protected us even though she had somepony to go home to. She had love, a life... family and she gave it all up because of something Egress had seen... How powerful of an event was it that could drive a pony to do that? Just when I thought that I put my heart through enough, I looked to the white unicorn in the window who had just read a letter from me saying I wasn't ever coming back. I could feel the tears in my eyes beginning to form. We had just met, I barely knew her but I knew there was something there, I could feel it! When I was near her it was like she was a magnet and I was steel, I couldn't help but get closer to her.

No... There is no way I would ever leave her. I know it was soon, but... In this moment, knowing how much this hurt her, I wanted nothing more than to make it all go away. I would live in a ruined past forever before I spent a second in Eden without her. But that only left one logical conclusion.

"Jet?" I said with a shaky voice. "I don't want to die..."

"Dingy!?" She shouted as she ran to my side. "What are you talking about!?"

"If I wrote this... It wasn't because I was leaving you. I-I-I couldn't! I wouldn't ever!"

"What are you saying!? Talk to me!" She screamed as she pulled me in close.

"Don't tell me you don't feel it either! Don't you dare! Jet when I'm with you, I just want to be with you and nothing else! I don't care about the future or the past or... any of this shit! I just want you! Every second I'm with you it gets worse... stronger. Every time I see you in pain, I hurt with you." I squalled. I finally had something I always wanted, somepony to call my own. Now I find out it's temporary. This was criminal, cruel and just... evil.

"Dingy... I feel it. I feel it too. When I'm with you I can't think straight... And I have a Phd in molecular magical manipulation!" She cried out with a little laugh of relief. "I just want you. Nothing else. Nothing more. Even if it's just for a little while or the rest of our lives."

There was relief for me in her words... But I was still terrified. We saw things we were never meant to know. We saw our futures together and no matter how I could unscramble the pieces, they just kept falling into the same place every time. I had Jet... She had me... But one day, she would lose me. There was no date on the letter. Just a sloppy signature and some heartfelt words. But there was no mistaking it, pain was in our future. But for now, I was going to make the best of it.

"I guess this is what mom was talking about when she was studying life long mating habits. Magic binds ponies to the earth, the sky and to their own mind... But it also binds them together in ways we can't explain."

"Jet?" I said from beneath her mane.

"Yes, Beigey?"

"Shut up... Just... hold me."

The comment got a snicker out of my partner and I was calling her my partner even if it did feel odd at first. The two of us spent the next few hours laying on our backs, bellies full of tomatoes that were threatening to run right through me, watching the rain fall. Jet would inevitably start trying to figure things out, thinking out loud about concepts, timelines and even some master plan that can't be changed because of something we already did. I just lay there next to her, trying to figure out how I ended up dying and leaving her all alone.

"What if... no... That would be ridiculous." She stammered.

"No, no. Keep going. I like listening to you talk.. helps keep my mind at ease." I said, scooching closer to her.

"Ok... hear me out. When all logical possibilities are dead ends... that leaves illogical, right?"

"I mean... ok?" I asked. I have no idea what she meant, but anything to keep her talking.

"Ok. So if we are here, now... Let's call it 6303B, because you have already been here once, 6303A. And things back in 2303 were ruined and broken beyond repair... Something would have had to have changed to put the world on this crash course. Anything that changes back then before you left the first time would affect 6303A and B. But anything that happened after you left would not affect 6303A, but would affect 6303B. This is all just theory... But that note. Is that from A universe or B universe? Because it is still with us. No,no,no... That's not it, back on track Jet.... The note is a checkpoint... it's from universe A, it would change if we made a change at any point in the timeline leading up to when you returned back! That's it!"

Jet shouted as she jumped up and down in place.

"WHAT!? What is it!"

"It's simple! Don't you see!"

"Hey! Smart pony! I might be cute to you, but you are talking to a mare that once tried to straighten her mane with a hot skillet." I said trying to contain her.

"Is that where that scar came from? Really?"

"Maybe..." I said, narrowing my eyes at her threateningly.

"Dingy... This note! It's unchanged because we haven't changed it yet! You picked this up when you came here the first time! That means it's not going to be there if we go back there now. It means that it could change! Maybe even disappear! If it can, then maybe we could change other things! This whole place! what happens next even!" Jet said in excitement. Wow... That mare could really turn it on and off in a hurry. I was barely keeping up, but... Was that hope I was feeling? Could we really change our futures? Is it really that simple of a plan?

"Wait... You mean we could... Fix all this!?"

"Maybe!? It's all paradoxical, but what choice do we have!? You said you were attacked by those rat things, just down the street right?"

"Yeah and it freaking sucked!"

"When was that? Days from now? When?"

"About a day after the rain stopped. Why?"

"I know a way to kill two birds with one stone, that's why. If we can find a safe spot nearby, I can pull the note from your pocket, make a mark on it and slip it back in. If it's still there when we look at your note, then this all holds water."

"But what about the Blats? I killed the breeding pair."

"Did you? Your back still has stitches in it."

"Hell..." I grumbled. "I don't want to go near those things..."

"If I'm right... Then you want those rats to be alive."

"I can't believe I'm saying this... But let's do it."

Jet bounced with glee. I sat there pouting about having to watch myself get mauled. Nothing like reliving the past. Woohoo... Can't wait.

oooooooooooooooooooo0000000000oooooooooooooooooooo

"Oh... Oh my goodness! Oh I can't look!" Jet said from the window to my right.

We had found a little hidey hole of a spot, three stories up and just down the street from where it all had happened. But even from here my screams sounded like they were coming from my own mouth as I swung the stop sign with all my strength. It was... horrifying. The first time was bad enough, but a live instant replay of it was pulling at locked doors in my mind. Jet had severely underestimated the Balts and I on the other hoof knew exactly what they were capable of. So imagine how thrilled I was to find out that I had not killed the breeding pair at all, in fact I think there were more of them this time.

"You have to look, you have to snag the note. Remember, right front leg, just above the Cuff." I said, giving her a nudge.

"Dingy, this is horrible! I can't!" She said, rising to the window, but closing her eyes.

"Jet, they are about to overwhelm me! Do you want your answer or not!?" I begged. Truthfully, I didn't just need to know, I had to know that we had this chance.

"Ok... Ok... I can do this." She said as she focused her magic on my leg and removed the letter with surgical precision. In a poof, it disappeared and reappeared between us. Subconsciously I caught myself patting my pocket to see if my copy was still there... It wasn't. Wasn't that an answer enough? But before I could say a word, Jet had placed a small mark on the paper and in a flash, it was gone again. Screams filled the air as the Blats descended atop past me. Jet looked on in horror as they swarmed my flailing body in a bid to free myself. I was right below us now, just at the edge of the building under a mass of mutated rats.

"Crap... I forgot! Get down!" I shouted, pushing Jet to the ground and covering both of our heads.

A few seconds later the room was bathed in a neon blue glow, followed by an explosion. The glass window panes gave way, showering us with tiny crystals of sharp stones. I felt Jet try to move under me but I pulled her back close just as the second shock wave hit. My screams were replaced by the screams of hundreds of smaller ones as they expired in the setting sun. It wasn't long before we both began to hear voices, two of them in fact. HA! See? I'm not crazy!

"Dingy! The note!" Jet said quietly.

I retrieved it, thanking my stars that it was back in its rightful place. But something was strange about it... I didn't have to open the note... I knew the mark was there.

"It worked." I said, setting between us.

"It did. But how do we know that?"

The two of us sat there, looking like we both had a sneeze that wouldn't come out as we tried to process what just happened. Finally, Jet reached out with her magic and opened the crumpled sheet and sure enough, there was the mark she had placed.

"Dingy, how did we know it had worked!?" She said, staring at the floor.

"Oh! That thing you said! We changed something in A and it had a direct effect in B or something. If the mark had always been there, we would remember it! Whoa... That's freaky."

"Freaky indeed. Ok, we know it works. We know we can change this future... But how do we change it?" She said... sat in place.

"Don't look at me. I'm good with plants and that's about it." I said pittfully.

"Well... That's not the only thing you're good at." She said, leaning it for a nuzzle."

Oh hello! That was a new fact now wasn't it. If we could find a way to easily fire off that spell again from here, then we could go back at any point in time and repair the damage that was done. It was a second, third... maybe even a fourth chance for us to make things right! We could even barge into the meeting they were having the day somepony came up with the idea to extract magic! This was an absolute win for us! My train of thought was stopped by the sound of a very drunk me drooling all over a very agitated ghost.

"Oh! Jet, quick! This is the best part!" I said as I pulled her up by her suit to the window. The two of us looked down and... wow that was a lot of blood! How did I not die!? Jet was beginning to wretch from the sight and truthfully, I wasn't far behind. I could see bones. But that didn't last long.

"That's nice..."

"DINGY! There are more of those things and I can't pull that special little move off again. We have to go!" She said, pointing at the building.

"Ok. Can we get ice cream?"

"...Sure..."

"YAY! ICE CREAM!"

"SHHH! Quiet..."

"Yay! Ice cream!"

Jet was officially wetting herself. I was not far behind and we were both holding each others mouths shut. In our fight to keep quiet I feared we were making more noise than if we were just laughing normally. Jet buried her face in my chest and began to nearly cry from what she had just seen.

The door to the storage depot was wide open, past me was nowhere to be seen, but Rocket was looking right at me. I smacked Jet and turned her head towards the ghostly blue mare and pointed.

"Oh crap... Is this bad? This feels bad." I said in a whisper.

"It's not good... no..."

Rocket, glanced inside, then back at us before raising a hoof to her lips and mouthing 'shhhh'. She gave a little over exaggerated wink and was gone.

"She... She knew we were there. Here... Jet she knew! She didn't say anything to me either! Jet, what's going on!? I don't remember any of that!" I said, falling to the ground. With the note it was as simple as night and day... But this... I had no memory whatsoever.

"I don't know Dingy. How could that thing have known about us being here!? She must have heard us laughing or something."

"Well, if I don't remember it, does that mean it won't have an effect on our future?"

"No. It shouldn't. But this is all new frontier science! We know nothing, we can only guess." She said, pointing at the note. The note... it was still here. It was wearing fresh ink but otherwise unchanged. Every time I glanced at it I was being softly reminded that our story had an ending that was less than fairy tale. Anxiety and fear flowed through my body like electricity every time I thought about how I was doomed to leave Jet here, alone one day. It pulled at my heart too much to bear. It was in direct violation of a promise I made to Clicky. No, this all had to change.

"So what do we do now?" I asked as I tested the dust layer on a centuries-old mattress. I recoiled as it mushed under my weight and turned to goo that clung to my coat. "Ew..."

"We need a plan. Something that will allow you to still come to the future, but at the same time, stop Spark. I have been thinking about this... There is no way to do this without consequences." She said as she folded up the note and put it in her pocket.

"What do we have to lose? At this point it's already broken. At least we got each other... Whatever amount of time that is." I said, trying to wipe the goo from my suit and coat.

"Like I said, there will be consequences but there is a bright side to all of this." She said as she trotted over closer to me.

"And that is?"

"We have all the time in the world."

Author's Note

If you enjoyed this story, I have a few others, some even longer on my homepage! To answer your next question, yes, there will be a part 2 and even a 3 with larger word counts and maybe even a solid conclusion. Seeing as this story is meant to push me out of my comfort zone of my typical FoE fiction with different rules, female leads, time travel, paradoxical correctness and even less joking around like I enjoy doing... I intend to see this through and die with the herd so to speak.
At the risk of casting my hard work to the winds on this site in a sea of thousands of other like stories, I can only hope that you found enjoyment in my writing. Nihil sub sole novum, but here is hoping that you enjoyed it all the same.