Sunset sat in the front-most passenger side seat, securely strapped in as the Scouticus Maximus lurched downward as it began to descend into the enormous bowl-shaped valley of snow that contained the frozen remnants of the Crystal Empire. She would have thought that having made this trip recently, Sprout would have seemed less on edge. It took her a moment to realize that they hadn't been towing a trailer that was as long as the vehicle itself the last time, so their maneuverability was not as great as it had been the previous trip, and he obviously didn't want that careening out of control, taking the front half with it.
She was stunned when they had stopped outside city limits and she beheld the massive cyclone of wind and snow that completely occluded the Crystal Empire, and that according to Zipp, this storm was completely unmoving ever since the region was scouted months ago, and it was likely the reason that the Empire had remained unknown to all three tribes until Sunny began to uncover ancient history.
After a couple minutes, the incline began to flatten out, and Sprout gently began to apply the brakes.
"I'll try to get it closer to the library this time," Sprout told Sunny as he began to make a wide right turn, turning the truck and trailer all the way around on the frozen surface, coming to a stop next to a large four-story building. He set the parking brake, and everypony began releasing themselves from their harnesses.
"Alright everypony, let's get suited up," Sunny said, getting up from the front passenger seat and coming towards the back, unlocking and opening up the cargo compartments that were built into the floor, while Pipp, Zipp, Sprout, and Sunset went to the very back where the cold weather gear was hanging in both corners.
There hadn't been time to get Sunset fit for gear of her own, but since Izzy was out of town, she tried hers on, and it fit closely enough. Sunny gave her a quick tutorial on how the built-in radios in the hat worked, and after they all tugged their masks and goggles on, they stepped out into the eye of the storm. Sprout was the last one out, flipping on the vehicle's amber beacon lights to give a clear indication of where it was parked if they had to move further away.
Sunset found the stillness absolutely unsettling, with every single crunch of snow under her hooves in complete clarity with no wind to mask the sound.
"Well, Hitch and I never really got done with the house we were checking out, so I'd like to go back there and pick up where we left off," Sprout said.
"No one should go alone, who's up for going with him?" Sunny asked.
"I will," Sunset said, nodding at Sprout.
"Alright. Zipp, Pipp, and I will unload these containers and start going through books," Sunny replied.
"Alright. Remember what I told you about the spell tomes?" Sunset asked. "Look for the old ponish numerical symbol on the front corner or the binding, and try and keep them separate from whatever else you pack up, so I can go through them and sort through them later, find out what's safe and what isn't."
Sunny nodded at her.
"Will do. We'll be on channel one, you and Sprout on channel two," the earth mare told them. Sunset tapped her left ear twice, going to the second radio channel, quickly followed by Sprout.
"Come on, it's this way," Sprout said. Sunset was surprised to see hoof tracks in the snow already.
"I'm guessing from your first trip here?" she asked.
"Yeah," came Sprout's reply through her earpiece. "I'm really amazed the tracks are still here, but if the storm keeps most of the blowing snow out, then I think hoof tracks and tire tracks would last a lot longer than usual. Not to mention that we're the only ones that have been up here in... Who knows how long."
Sprout and Sunset retraced his and Hitch's hoof tracks to a three-story structure.
"How did you get in last time?" Sunset asked.
"Second floor window up there," Sprout answered.
"Hm..." Sunset mused, looking around for a moment, before her horn lit up. Sprout moved aside, and two orange beams shot out from the tip, impacting and quickly melting the snow drift against the building. The snowmelt quickly refroze after it ran down to the ground, but the front of the structure was quickly and efficiently uncovered, revealing the front door and windows.
"Let's go in through the front this time, what do you say?" Sunset asked Sprout, whose stunned expression was concealed by his cold weather gear.
"Whoa," was his only response to seeing that degree of magic this close up. It was certainly more flashy and extravagant than Izzy's levitation or her glowing claw-things at the concert the other night.
"So you've been in here before? What did you find?" Sunset asked, as her horn lit up again as she began to magically fiddle with the lock on the front door.
"We're guessing this place was the home of a crystal guard; the only thing we pulled out so far was a couple suits of armor; one went on display in the Museum of History in Maretime Bay, the other one went to the museum in Zephyr Heights. We'll have a lot more room this time around, but I'm not sure how much we'll get, I know Sunny wants to save most of the room for the library, and have one of the largest buildings in town cleared out."
After Sunset's spell had the lock sufficiently thawed, there was a click, and then she braced herself again, as her dual heat beams shot out and traced along the doorjamb, meeting at the top before parting and going down the sides again. She repeated this motion several times, until the sides of the entryway were positively steaming from the heat it was now giving off. After a minute, the beams dissipated, and she tried the door again, and it rotated inward on its hinges as she pushed, opening the way.
Sprout followed her inside, and they both noticed the change in temperature. It wasn't warm, but it was certainly more bearable, as they both pulled their goggles down, letting them hang from their necks and tugged their masks off, depositing them in their saddlebags. Sunset shook her head, but kept her mane tied back, not wanting to have to tie it back up when it was time to put the headgear back on when they were done in here.
"Getting things out of here should be a bit easier now, with that kind of access. I gotta say, it's still a bit unsettling, seeing a place that used to be lived in, look like this. Untouched for so long."
"Yeah, it's a bit eerie, I'll give you that. Maybe it'll be a little less eerie if we can put some names and faces to who lived here. For instance, how about you start there while I take a look at the living quarters," the unicorn said, pointing the earth pony to the stairs, where framed photographs hung on the wall. Sprout nodded, making his way over to the crystal steps, and began to study the pictures, as Sunset went to the large room on the left.
There was a couch, two end tables on either side, a center table, and a fireplace built into the far wall. There was a candle holder on each end table, and a larger, six-slotted candlestick on the center table, all with their wax sufficiently burned down. There was a frozen stack of wood next to the fireplace.
"No doubt they had to keep warm constantly until the order came down to evacuate... That would be my guess..." Sunset said to herself as she tried to picture what the city's final days were like.
"Flash Sentry..." she heard Sprout say from the stairs, and the unicorn's heart skipped a beat.
"What?" Sunset asked, turning back towards the foyer, nearly galloping across the crystal floor back to the stairs, where Sprout stood staring at a picture on the wall. "What did you just say?"
"Colonel Flash Sentry, of the Crystal Empire E.U.P. Guard," Sprout said, turning to her and pointed the tip of his hoof at the photo he had just read the golden plaque of.
Sunset came up the stairs, and Sprout went up another few steps to make room as Sunset's breath quickened as she closed in on the picture frame in question, and laid her eyes on the aged stallion in dress uniform.
It was really him. The features were decidedly more equine, obviously, but the eyes... She certainly recognized the confidence in the eyes, as hers began to tear up.
"You knew him?" Sprout asked, as he saw how captivated the unicorn was by what he had discovered.
The stallion in the photograph was nowhere near her age; his posture and proud expression denoted likely decades of experience. She slowly reached a hoof up and softly touched the photograph, before lighting her horn up and ever so gently removed it from its place on the wall.
"Sunset?" Sprout asked again gently, getting her attention.
The unicorn took a breath, and glanced at him before returning her gaze to the picture.
"Sort of. I sort of knew him. I knew a... A mirror version of him, if that makes any sense," she answered.
"From the world you came from?" Sprout asked softly, and she nodded.
"It still bugs me... Wondering if it's been just as long as I've been here... Or if just as much time passed over there as it did here, and all of their lives passed by in an instant... Ugh, time dilation, I'll never be able to wrap my head around it."
Sprout looked at the rest of the pictures on the wall.
"Well, it looks like he lived a long and happy life, and had more than a few descendants," Sprout pointed out, motioning to the rest of the pictures as the rest of them ascended along with the staircase.
Sunset tore her gaze away from the frame she held, and saw that Sprout was indeed correct; young ponies in cadet armor were gracefully aged as the photographs climbed the stairs, until new ones joined them as new generations were born. Seeing this took away some of the weight from Sunset's heart and mind.
If this was Flash's family home, he had lived a fulfilling life, and multiple generations had followed in his hoofsteps before this storm threatened the city. It had easily been a century or more.
"Did we bring materials to protect these for transport?" Sunset asked him as she wiped her eyes. Sprout nodded immediately.
"Pipp packed plenty in the truck. I'll go get them, be right back," Sprout replied, squeezing past Sunset and descended the stairs, putting his mask and goggles back on before heading outside. Sunset also headed down the staircase back into the living room, as she sat down on the frozen couch, gently running her hoof over the photograph again, taking another deep breath as she did so.
"Good to see you again, Flash."
The sad part is that the same dodgy record keeping that got them in this mess keeps her from knowing the answer to her question.
sudden headcanon: Flash is Hitch's ancestor
same coat color (mostly), same inclination towards justice, same bumbling demeanor
the deviations Hitch displays are likely genetics doing their thing
Again, you did a great job on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up. Certainly appreciated the details of the differences between this trip to the Crystal Empire and the group's last visit, as well as the use of "the Buddy System" in their search. Also loved Sprout's reaction to Sunset making such short work of those couple of snowdrifts as well as Sunset's reaction to Sprout mentioning what he just read about what became of the pony version of her ex-boyfriend.
Very definitely looking forward to more of this.
Aww man. The feels are strong in this
Ohhh oh no this is used to be flashes house oh that's sad
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i was kind of thinking the same thing,
but some were along the way there is a Flutter shy decedent.
Wow that was actually pretty sad so it looks like sunny and the other has finally made it and it looks like they separate into two groups sunny is with pipp and Zipp and sunset is with sprout although I kind of wish hitch and Izzy come along to cover more track but apparently they're busy but anyway Sprout and sunset check out the house that he and hitch found earlier when they first got here and telling her that used to be one of the Royal Guards house so they begin checking out the house and to Sunset surprise it belongs to Flash Sentry and even though she never really met him especially the Pony version it still hit her because he reminded of his flashback in the human world thinking how is he been doing and it looks like that's been a huge generation of his family but boy that really hit her poor sunset I wonder what they going to find there I guess we'll find out next time
11275049
Considering how many centuries it has been at minimum, yeah. There is DEFINITELY room for Hitch to be descended from Fluttershy AND Flash (not from the same line, unless one of Flash's kids married one of Fluttershy's [though that IS certainly possible]) but still have enough Earth pony in the genes to be BORN an Earth pony
Aw...poor Sunset, being reminded of the time difference by realizing you'll never see your friend again, that's got to hurt...
Not surprised there, they were probably the same size.
Sure is sad alright, especially if it's abandoned.
Sure can be confusing alright.
Just when Sunset thought she was safe from sad reminders of the past. Good to see pony-Flash got a long and fulfilling life.
great chapter
This whole storyline is just a punch to the gut, but in an almost good way.
Loved this chapter. I can't wait to see what else they find in the Empire. I love how slife of life this story is.
That is so sweet. It's amazing to see Sunset at the Crystal Empire and find out about what happened with this world's Flash. I have a feeling that maybe she will bump into one of Flash's descendants and fall in love? It would be nice closure for her since the new Flash could be like the old Flash she knew since she is in a period that could work out creating the Flash, she knew but a bit different. Mostly say like in ending to the story if you wanted to end it to give Sunset a new hope to find Flash again?
I wonder what kind of books Sunset will use to teach the ponies. Like there is a lot of history and magic they are missing out on. Also, would the recent film they did on Netflix be part of your stories?
Edit: Yoooo that artwork is perfect!
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This is the last story I'm doing that is using just the New Generation movie as canon. Future stories will adapt to new canon, such as Zephyr Heights being confirmed to not be Canterlot, and the Crystal Brighthouse.
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Ah I see. That’s fine I hope Sunset has the best ending for her! And thank you for the wonderful stories this has been a great slice of life I’ve been reading in a long time
Ouch! It probably hurts Sunset even more knowing that she only briefly saw Flash's pony counterpart, she never got a chance to get to know him personally like she did with human Flash.
11275196
Where is that Zephyr Heights/ Canterlot thing coming from? I don’t remember seeing anything disproving that connection.
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Comics. They're going to discover the derelict ruins of Canterlot as part of the first story arc.
11275320
Ah. Haven’t seen any of those.
I bet this story is gonna be New Generation ‘My Little Dashie’ story!
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Whelp the second ending of the previous fic can give you a starting point as to how to do it, at least it will be flurry who drops the bombs and no sunset
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11275354
To be fair, the comics are only "secondary continuity" (i.e. only canon if the show doesn't disprove it).
Besides, the comics are already a slight alternate continuity anyway (i.e. lighthouse simply rebuilt instead of the Crystal Brighthouse and Sunny having a better handle on her "training wheels Alicorn" abilities [enough to go out on a flight with Zipp and Pipp]).
But, to be even fairer, the multiverse is semi-canon in this franchise anyway, so I guess we shouldn't overthink it.
Oh that last chapter was super effective
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Well, I just check to see what the recent comics for MLP is like and turns out Sunset came back to Equestria to form a band with two others. That’s definitely a sign that she does become a rock star
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Oh nice. I didn't get too many of the G4 comics; I only read like five, when they involved a favorite character.
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Same, I haven’t read them all since most of them have weird designs… but there are some good gems.
That should be whose.
Its.
I think the word, she, or the words, her spell ought to be between the words, heat and was.
Anyways, very interesting, and a bit emotional chapter.
That's a very good point, honestly. As of now, we don't know how long it's been in the mirror world since Sunset left. So, it does seem possible that Sunset's friends from that world could be dead, much like Princess Twilight and her friends, and that Sunny, Izzy, Hitch, Zipp, Pipp, Sprout, and Ray are literally all she has left.
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Fixed, thanks!
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No. Just no.
They're nothing alike. One is a well written fic giving plenty of high quality feels, the other is My Little Dashie.
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Yeah. I won’t lie, at first I cried after reading the story, but after watching the short film on YouTube, I realized that it was actually poorly written.
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I think the biggest critic is the author himself... Fair disclosure, I cried 3 times but I also read it just after my life finished collapsing around me and it ended up being a cathartic experience for me.
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Well considering that the movie says it's been like one-thousand plus years, who's to say that Hitch isn't related to both of them?
There was a story where Luna came back from her banishment and got to hear about how her daughters died some nine-hundred years ago. The suggestion was that by the modern age almost all ponies could direct a tiny bit of their ancestry to certain alicorn princesses. It's definitely a sobering thought.
Speaking of the time thing...how is Sprout or even Sunny able to read from these ancient items?
Of course it had to be Brad! Of course!
*guitar strums*
Look at this Photograph!