Trinity of Time: Fate and Change

"Before you leave," added the engineer, "take this." He tossed me an identification card, along with a note signed by a certain "Ominous."

"That's a temporary ID card. I've programmed your name into the Citadel's system. The system will recognize you as a high rank researcher, a veteran of the firm."

He scouted his surroundings, making sure nopony else was listening in. Once the train had stopped, the two masked ponies just suddenly vanished. Not a single trace of them or their leader remained, as if they had never been there in the first place. Finally, the train conductor sighed in relief.

"When you go upstairs, you might be a little surprised by just how big the place is. However, do not stand there like a moron gawking. That'll certainly attract unnecessary attention. The last thing you want to do is jeopardize this opportunity."

"Go straight down past the main dome, and climb into the first elevator you see. Anyone you choose will work. Scan your ID, and it'll take you to the research facility. That's where you want to go."

"Why would I do that?" I questioned him suspiciously. "Why would I trust your words?"

He chuckled in amusement, mocking my apparent ignorance.

"How stupid of you... Don't you know yet? The Flames of Fate can indeed change the world: for better or for worse. The three that brought you here want to run experiments on you, all to test the extent of the power behind the Flames."

"Fortunately, the hopeless pair of minions left you behind with me, while they carried away their master to the infirmary. Now, I've hid for far too long in this wretched place. But with your help... We could truly change the world for the better!"

"The Surface is corrupt. The Surface is dirty. The Surface consists of nothing but pain and misery. I heard the Equalizers overthrew Celestia's daughter, the rightful Queen, and soon after assimilated everything to reach their ultimate goal: their absolute ideal."

Curious, I asked what would that be. For a moment, the intensity of his glare paralyzed me. I quietly watched the horror suffering etched in his deep, dark, black eyes roll by like an old-school film.

"They've created the Perfect Heaven above: a land where everybody lives equally and are seemingly happy. Those who oppose the rules are sent down here to the Surface, where dreadful, soulless beings known as ErazerBots capture, and kill all rebels in a bloody arena match."

"In some cases, when the rare emergence of a city occurs, everypony is biologically wired to the Citadel's Motherboard, where everything about them is recorded, and kept stored somewhere far away."

I stood immobilized by fear. The sheer weight of this new burden crushed me in the brink of an instant. What had I just gotten myself into?

"Wh... Who... Who are you?" I managed to mutter.

"Somepony special: somepony who pledged to protect. And just like you, I'm friend with Silver."

On that note, he pressed a button on the control panel. The glass doors quickly shut tight. A loud, blaring siren was heard. I backed away from the bullet train, as it sped into the distance, and out of my existence.

I turned around clockwise, my back facing the magnetic rails. For some odd reason, the electromagnetism wasn't affecting my wings. I wonder why that is the case?

A pair of transparent doors slid aside. I stepped inside the tube, waiting to be whisked away by the powerful suction of the elevator. I waited for quite some time.

Eventually, the suction stopped. I stepped out the glass doors, overwhelmed by the grandeur of this place before me. A large, transparent dome stood several stories above my head. Multiple circular floors twisted upwards along with the giant structure. The building itself was also divided into two wings, branching off sideways. All this empty space remained flooded by massive amounts of impossible sunlight. From my point of view, the skies shone in a lush, azure hue. Puffy, white clouds of all shapes and sizes hovered by the inexplicably present sun. Everything appeared ideal to my eyes. A little too ideal, to say the least...

Oh right, what he said earlier! I couldn't just stand here, meandering. Let me see... The elevator is just up ahead. The further I galloped, the narrower the pathway. Kaleidoscopic pulses coursed across lines engraved within the corridor's walls, similar to blood flowing inside veins. I could see my reflection everywhere, including the black, glossy floor. It was made of two layers; black tiles beneath, with an overlay of glass. Special beams separated each tile.

Alright, I'll just slide my card here, and have my hoof analyzed. Wow! It worked! I'm... I'm surprised, honestly! He wasn't lying! Fortunately enough, nopony crossed my path just yet. Quite frankly, no one seems to have noticed me and my artificial wings. How could that be? Meh. I'll leave that for another time.

The elevator inevitably stopped. Somehow, I landed underground. No longer did I feel the sunlight on my coat. Instead, a chilling breeze settled in. What an eerie place down here! Brr... So cold too... So, according to this map on the wall, there's a room down this hallways. Well, since I couldn't even decide what floor I wanted to go on, my guess is the train engineer planned all this in advance. He intended for me to go down this hallway.

Finally, an imposing steel door appeared before me. I pressed the tablet controls. It, again, scanned my hoof. Slowly, all the while emmiting a loud, obnoxious noise, the gates eerily crept aside. Hmm... The lights are off, yet I can see some sort of faint glow. You know what: that's a Cryogenesis tube! Yeah! It's one of those long cylinders the hospitals use to store the deathly ill, in order to administer the right cures! Don't scientist also use them to grow bio-genetic limbs? I know wings and horn have to look artificial, and can only be procured by licensed Blacksmiths. Still, those who lost legs, organs, and all those other bodily things can get a new, biologically compatible set implanted.

I pressed some sort of switch. A bright, white ceiling orb illuminated the whole room, revealing several more tubes: six, to be exact. Somepony had imprinted large letters to the sides, but due to the upright nature of the cylinders, I couldn't read what it said. Yet, I couldn't help but feel like I had seen those words elsewhere before.

Then, I saw something: a leftover manila envelope, with the words "TOP SECRET" imprinted in large, red letters. I unwound the string, pouring its contents onto the table. After gathering the papers, and classifying them neatly in their intended order, I peeked at their contents. Immediately, I dropped everything in horror. Those words on the cylinders weren't random; they were the names of the six most powerful wielders of the Elements of Harmony, apart from the original six, and the Princesses. Six of two earth ponies, two unicorns, and two pegasi.

The names read as follows: "Twilight Sparkle. Applejack. Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy. Rarity."

Immediately, a bridge between two conflicting data emerged. The Citadel wanted to clone the ones referred to as the "Mane 6." That's what the voice meant by "Fake Harmony!"

Crap.