Dominic quietly sat up and rubbed his head, his revolver lay in the sand next to him while the sunset danced on the horizon. He had no idea how long he had been out, but from the amount of sand that had bunched up around him, he had to guess it had been more than a couple days. Somehow he hadn’t been taken out by the elements, but he supposed that had to do with… Whatever the hell that was… The man quietly pushed himself up onto his feet, dusting himself off as he looked around. There was nothing for miles save for his motorcycle which was parked a dozen yards away. Dominic picked up his revolver and slipped it into the holster as he began looking around.

“Mizu!” He shouted loudly as he began looking around for the Changeling, his boots sank a couple inches in the sand with each step he took. “Mizu, where are you?!” The man heard a noise to his right, he turned rapidly expecting to see the mare in question. Instead he found himself looking at Discord, the chaos god was in his human form. “You… Discord, you have to know where Mizu is. I have to find her!”

“She’s fine… She’s just taking her time with her vision, that all.” Discord said, trying to sound disarming. Dominic sighed, he knew that Discord wasn’t one to lie to him… Unless...

“Did you have something to do with this?” Dominic asked as he started walking towards the Chaos God, Discord raised an eyebrow. “Did you help those… Those things? Did you fuck with my head?”

“No.” Discord said plainly, he looked to the side. “Personally, I wish they hadn’t drawn you in with images of your family.” Dominic took a couple deep breaths, accepting Discord’s answer as the truth. “Look… You’ve had a long couple of days, and I’m sure that you want to get back home as soon as possible. They had be stick around here, to offer you a ride back when you woke up.” Dominic stood there for a couple seconds, looking towards his motorcycle, then back at Discord.

“No…” Dominic said softly, he could feel a tightness in his chest as he was faced with numerous emotions. “Look… I haven’t taken a vacation in eight years… And, I’m going to go on one with my family when I get back, but…” The man looked at the ground as the sunset continued to cast shadows over the ground. “I’m going to drive back home… I just… Want to relax for a couple days.”

“Well, in that case.” Discord started walking towards Dominic, he snapped his fingers and a full face motorcycle helmet appeared in the air. He tossed it to Dominic, the man caught it barely, but managed to hold on. “Ride safe… And if you want someone to ride with, I’ve been meaning to try out those ‘motorcycles’ you’re so fond of.” Dominic looked at the helmet for a second, then back at Discord.

“I’ll let you know.” Dominic said as he began walking towards his bike. “I guess I’ll see you later then, Discord.” Discord nodded and snapped his fingers, once again the chaos god had vanished in a flash. Dominic stopped next to his bike and looked to the setting sky, then at the helmet. It reminded him of something out of an eighties movie, coupled with his long leather jacket and the revolver on his side, he felt like an almost entirely different person. The man pulled on the helmet and tightened the strap, then he slowly straddled his bike and pulled the keys from his pocket. He slipped them into the ignition and turned them, then hit the starter button. The engine turned over within a couple seconds, the rumble echoing across the barren desert wasteland for miles and miles.

Dominic’s breath fogged up against the plastic visor of the helmet at first, but he quickly shifted into gear and tore off down the dark dirt road. The wind made the fog disappear, and the bright headlight of the bike cut through the blackness of night like a sword. The roughness of the dirt road didn’t do much to sway Dominic’s comfort on the bike, his mind was more focused on what had happened to him when he had been… Wherever he was. Beings so powerful they had been keeping the world from going to hell, only now it seemed they were out of power, meaning the world was even closer to total war once again.

His mind continued to ponder and ponder as his ride went on, thoughts of how he could try and keep the peace, and what sort of weapons the Crystal Empire could’ve been developing. What was more, the words about reaching out to other dimensions resonated with him. What was more… The words about a hostile dimension struck a cord. There were preliminary plans for such an event, but nothing concrete… Dominic would be sure to make first contact protocols a priority when he returned to Canterlot. In the distance he could see the lights of the highway, and on either side of him he spotted the occasional porch light from a farm or shack.

Being out on the road by himself, with nothing but his thoughts and the sound of the engine for company, it felt like an entirely different world. There were no political struggles, no tensions, no briefings or intelligence dossiers. It was an odd thought, but he liked the thought of just… wandering. He wanted to go on, with no direction or destination in mind, wherever his heart fancied to go. At the same time, he knew he had a family that he loved, and responsibilities to attend to...But who knew, maybe one day when his term was finally up, he could just open up the throttle on his bike and explore the country that he worked so hard for.

As the highway got closer Dominic realized he had been riding for nearly two hours or so, but time had flown by so fast he hadn’t noticed. His eyes fell on his fuel gauge, the man cursed under his breath as he saw he was running low. It wasn’t much of a concern though, as he recalled there was a fuel station near the onramp for the highway. Sure enough, the lights of a gas station caught his eyes. Dominic shifted down as he turned into the gas station, his engine rumbling as he rolled to a stop next to a fuel pump. He turned off the engine and took the keys from the ignition, then pulled his helmet off and dismounted the bike. The man set the helmet on his seat and began walking towards the convenience store, he noted a couple cars parked in a side parking lot as well as an olive drab MP vehicle parked in front. He also noted there was a lit up payphone at the edge of the parking lot.

It was a Military Highway Patrol vehicle from the looks of it, Dominic just hoped that the people in the store wouldn’t recognize him, or wouldn’t believe it was him. He didn’t feel like having people calling him ‘Imperator’ or offering him discounts and so on, he just wanted gas and some smokes. Dominic pulled the door open and stepped inside, his boots softly thudding against the tiled floor. It was just like any other convenience store he visited, a couple aisles of junkfood, some roadside tools, and a wall of refrigerators filled with soda. There were also slushy machines, coffee pots, a soda fountain, and at the center of it all was a counter with a display case of donuts resting on one side. The clerk was leaning against the counter, watching something on a TV mounted on the wall. Dominic approached the counter and reached into his back pocket for his wallet.

“I need a dollar fifty on pump one…” Dominic said as he began going through his wallet, the man looked behind the clerk and noted a wall of short cigars and cigarettes. “Can I also get a pack of Yankee Sweets Reds?” The clerk looked up and raised an eyebrow at Dominic then pushed a couple buttons on the cash register, presumably to set up the fuel on the fuel pump.

“You have ID?” The clerk asked, a little louder than usual, but Dominic caught sight of the MP browsing the snack aisle so it made sense. Dominic handed the man his government ID, not thinking that it had his actual name on it. He usually had a ‘doppelganger’ ID that helped make his ruse more believable, but his head wasn’t fully with him. The clerk took the card and examined it, he stared at it a couple moments, then held it up to the light, changing the angles to get a look at the reflective seals embedded in the card. “Um… Joe! Could you come here a moment?”

“What’s up, Benny? This guy giving you trouble?” The MP asked as he walked out of the aisle over to the counter.

“Check this guys ID, it’s gotta be a fake, right?” The Clerk replied, handing Dominic’s ID to the MP. Dominic sighed and adjusted his jacket, then ran a hand over his head to flatten out his hair a bit more. The MP looked at the ID, held it up to the light like the clerk, then pulled a small ultraviolet flashlight from his pocket. The blacklight revealed that the card was indeed legitimate.

“Uh… It checks out.” The MP handed the card to Dominic, appearing very confused. “S-Sir…” The man said respectfully, Dominic nodded quietly in acknowledgement and turned back to the clerk, who was now hastily grabbing a red pack of short cigars with a white Minuteman emblem on the pack.

“So, what’cha watching?” Dominic asked, trying to get the attention off of himself. The clerk paused and looked at the TV, it was playing a western of sorts. Dominic could tell it was recent because it looked like it had been filmed just outside New Liberty.

“Oh, it’s a western called ‘It happened in the West’.” The Clerk said, Dominic paused as he recalled that name. He and Altair had watched it more than once, it was his son’s favorite western. “About this guy who carries around this gold watch that plays this chime, and this other guy who’s hunting for him because he has the same watch… I don’t want to ruin the ending.”

“I’ve seen it already, one of my favorites actually… It’s no ‘For a Few Dollars More’, but it’s still a classic.” Dominic said with a grin, both the clerk and the MP seemed surprise that he even watched movies. “Anyway… I gotta hit the road. What’s the damage?” The man gestured to the cash register.

“Oh, um, don’t worry about it.” The Clerk began to say.

“No no… I insist.” Dominic replied, the clerk paused, then nodded and punched in a couple more keys. Dominic picked up a lighter from a nearby rack and placed it on the counter. “Oh, I need that as well.” The clerk nodded again and added it on.

“Okay… Your total is seven thirty five.” The clerk said, Dominic nodded and withdrew ten Onorussian Dollars from his wallet. He set them on the counter, smiling slightly as he leaned against it.

“Could I get my change in coins for the pay phone?” Dominic asked, the Clerk nodded and began making the change. He handed Dominic a handful of gold colored coins, known as Lunulas. “Thanks, man… Have a good night.” The man turned to the MP and nodded, noting that the man was had the rank of sergeant. “Sergeant…” He said with a nod of his head before walking to the door with his pack of cigars, lighter, and coins. He slipped the items into his jacket pocket as he approached his bike, right where he had left it. This portion of the highway was quiet at night, only a few cars were on the road. Dominic unscrewed the gas cap and put the nozzle into the tank, then selected the mid-grade fuel.

He stood there quietly, watching the numbers tick by on the pump. It thudded as it had dispensed ten dollars worth of gas, Dominic looked in the tank and was grateful that it had stopped just short of overflowing. The man removed the nozzle and placed it back on the pump, then screwed the fuel cap back into place. Fuel in Onorus was cheap, mainly because Onorus had started out running on ethanol. Part of the Griffon territories made its living off of growing plants for use in ethanol and alcohol, there was a saying that there was no such thing as a ‘Dry County’ in the country.

With his bike now fueled, Dominic mounted it and pulled on his helmet. He didn’t bother securing it before starting the bike, the engine rumbled as he shifted into first and rode over to the pay phone on the edge of the parking lot. There he killed the engine and removed his helmet again, he dismounted the bike and set the helmet back on the seat. Dominic sighed and stood in front of the phone booth for a couple seconds, staring at the phone inside that was lit up by the dim fluorescent lights. After a couple minutes he stepped forward and opened the door to the booth, Dominic stepped up to the phone and took a couple Lunalas from his pocket. He slipped two of them into the phone and picked up the receiver. The man punched in the number for his private line in Canterlot.

”Please deposit one dollar for long distance.” The phone announced in an automated voice, Dominic sighed and reached into his pocket, fishing for more change before removing four more Lunalas and inserting them into the coin slot. ”One moment please.” The phone began to buzz, and Dominic could feel his breath hitching in his throat. He nearly let out a small cheer when he heard the phone pick up on the other end.

”Hello? Who is this?” Maria’s voice came through the reciever, Dominic sighed with a little bit of relief.

“Hey, Mary Bear.” Dominic replied with a detectable amount of joy in his voice. “It’s me.” There was a bit of a surprised gasp on the other end. “I just wanted to call and let you know I was doing okay, I’m on my way home.”

”Oh… Thank god, I was starting to worry!” Maria replied, she also sounded happy, which was even more of a relief to Dominic. ”Did things go okay…? Are you okay?” Dominic paused for a moment, then pinched the bridge of his nose while looking at the ground. ”Hon’?”

“Yeah… Yeah… Things went okay…” Dominic said quietly, he looked up and out towards the road. “It… Well, it wasn’t what I expected… But, you know how things go…” The man leaned against the wall of the booth. “I just… Well… I just needed to hear your voice.”

”Well, go ahead and take a listen then. I’ll tell you a story if you want!” Maria said warmly, Dominic smiled and felt his eyes water. He quickly wiped them and rubbed the back of his neck. ”Luna’s asleep, but if you want to talk with her too I can wake her.”

“Nah… Let her sleep.” Dominic felt himself relaxing a bit now that he could speak with Maria, her voice was one of the best things to listen to when he needed to unwind. “How’s the boy?”

”Oh, you know, rambunctious as ever. I think he gets it from his dad.” Maria said with an obvious grin, Dominic could hear it through the phone, even when she was so far away. ”You’re in for a surprise when you get back, just a heads up.” Dominic was about to ask for a hint, then he remembered this was Maria, she rarely gave hints if it was something relating to Altair and surprises.

“Can’t wait…” Dominic said with a smile, he closed his eyes, imagining Maria and Luna’s faces as he stood there in that dingy phone booth. “Anyway… I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to make a couple stops on the way home. Unless, y’know, there’s some crisis going on.”

”Take your time, honey! Luna and I have things covered so far, but we definitely will need to talk more when you get home.” Maria said, Dominic nodded to himself. Of course something was up, it wasn’t like the world stopped turning just because he was out of his office. ”Hey, can you do me a favor?”

“Sure, honey. Just name it.” Dominic said as he heard that warmth of hers again.

”I know you don’t like to hear the ‘F’ word, but… Try and have fun, okay? I know, we have the whole ‘vacation’ thing planned, but I also know you like your alone time… So, you know, enjoy yourself while you have it.” Maria said softly, Dominic paused quietly, then put his hand on the glass of the phone booth. ”Also… If you don’t mind, can you stop at the memorial in New Liberty? I’ve been meaning to stop and put some flowers there for mom and dad, but I’ve had my hands full.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. I was gonna stop there too.” Dominic said, he paused as he heard a buzzing noise on the speaker. “Oh, hey, I gotta go. I’m sure the people in intelligence are freaking out because I’m using a payphone…” Dominic sighed and looked towards his bike outside. “I love you.”

“I love you more!”

“Well I love you most, so nyah!” Dominic said in a childish voice, Maria giggled on the other side of the phone, and just like that Dominic felt butterflies in his stomach. That lyrical warm sound, so beautiful that no recording could ever match it.

”We’ll see about that the night you get home… Goodbye… And ride safe.” Maria said in a playful and seductive tone, Dominic paused… He didn’t want to hang up, he didn’t want to stop hearing her voice… It took a great deal of willpower to summon the word.

“Goodbye…” Dominic said before he heard a soft click on the other end of the line, Dominic put the receiver back on the payphone, the sound of change being dispensed echoed through the phone booth. Dominic stared at the phone for several more minutes, closing his eyes and trying to remember Maria’s face in his head again. He hated being away from her and Luna. He loved them both immensely, but Maria had been by his side since he was a child… He couldn’t help thinking about her more often, the way she walked, the way she talked, her laugh, her eyes… Dominic could barely stand to be away from her. The man opened the door and stepped out to his bike, he pulled on his helmet and mounted the vehicle. The engine roared to life as he hit the starter and revved the engine, the tire kicked up a large plume of dirt as he peeled out and sped onto the highway.

The engine bellowed like a caged beast as Dominic felt himself shooting down the road like a bullet from a gun, his jacket flapped in the wind behind him while he kept an eye on the route ahead. There were no lights along the highway, and no headlights were coming from the opposite direction. Dominic occasionally looked up towards the sky at the stars, smiling at how peaceful it all looked… He would’ve stared at it all night, but he had to keep his eyes on the road ahead.

[♠]

Daring Do adjusted her pith helmet as she skirted the outer fence of a Top Secret Onorussian Military Base in the middle of the desert. She was moving along the fence closest to the main structure, a massive warehouse that housed untold treasures and magical artifacts. The mare had been nearly put out of a job since the rise of the super state, the government had seen to gathering any magic artifacts that could be considered a ‘threat’. Daring wasn’t about to take such a thing lying down though, no sir. She had spent weeks casing the facility, and now knew the routines with relative accuracy.

She stopped at a row of bushes and watched the dirt road that lead to the gate into the compound, the guard house was lit up with flourescent lights and she could see a griffon sitting in the office, nodding his head quietly as he listened to a radio. Daring had slipped it into the office when she had distracted the guards a week prior, no one had noticed the addition, each shift seemingly thinking it belonged to an earlier shift. It was part of her plan to get into the facility, as flying over the fence would trip the alarms. No, she needed a different way in, one that would use all of her cunning and skill to pull off. She heard the distant rumble of engines and turned her gaze down the road, watching as three sets of headlights flicked on.

Three supply trucks were driving down the dirt road, right on time as usual. Daring bit her lip as the trucks rolled past and began to slow near the gate, the noise of the engines, coupled with the distraction of the music, put the guard at the gate at ease. Daring slipped out of the bushes as the final truck rolled past, as it stopped she came up alongside it rather than behind it, knowing that there were always guards in the trucks. She slipped under the truck and took a moment to catch her breath, the engines turned off one by one, and Daring could see the talons of the griffon step out of the guard house.

“Dokumenty, pozhaluysta.” The griffon said as he stopped by the driver’s window of first truck, Daring felt the nerves stand up on the back of her neck as she realized just how close she was to him. “Khorosho, ty chist.” The Griffon began walking to the second truck, his talons kicking up a little bit of dirt with each step he took. He repeated his request to the second driver, and after several more tense seconds, began walking towards the third truck. Daring bit her lip once again, her heart racing as the griffon stopped a foot away from her, at the window of the third vehicle. “Dokumen-” The griffon stopped suddenly, Daring saw him snap to attention. “S vozvrashcheniyem, komandir!”

“Spokoyno, soldat.” Someone in the third truck said, Daring froze as she heard the familiar voice. It was none other than one of her enemies, though he was now a member of the Onorussian military. Caballeron was in the third truck, that likely meant that the vehicles were transporting artifacts rather than supplies. The griffon moved towards the gate, the sound of chain link fence moving became apparent as the gate opened. Daring gritted her teeth and latched onto the bottom of the truck, holding on tightly as the trucks started their engines. The three vehicles began rolling forward, and just like that, Daring found herself going past the gate. The dirt road changed to asphalt, and a new level of nervousness began to hit her.

Sure enough, the trucks began driving towards the warehouse that had been Daring’s target from the beginning. She heard the groan of metal as the massive doors began to open, the trucks didn’t even slow down, just managing to pass through the doors without hitting them. Daring looked around as she saw the inside of the warehouse for the first time, mountains of crates and boxes lined either side of the vehicles as they moved deeper into the structure. They travelled on for two minutes before eventually stopping, the engines were turned off, and the doors to the cabs were opened.

“Alright, let’s secure the artifact. Gas masks, everyone.” Caballeron’s voice echoed through the now quiet warehouse, Daring raised an eyebrow and slowly let herself down from the underside of the truck. Gradually she began to hear the wheezing noises of gas masks as soldiers walked towards the third truck, what was more unnerving was the fact that she could see the ends of their rifles. “Team one, unload the device from the truck. Team two and team three will cover you.”

Daring turned towards the rear of the truck, watching as the soldiers got into position. A team of four humans walked towards the back of the truck, she heard them unlatch the back and begin moving something. It sounded heavy, and from the way the truck gradually seemed to rise up when it was removed, it most likely was. Daring watched the four men lower the artifact to the ground, that was when she noticed the markings. It was a heavy black stone cylinder, and carved into it were ancient runes from ‘The Farlands’. The Farlands were a distant continent that had been untouched since ancient times, a land where science and magic blended life into macabre and dangerous mutations. The area was heavily influenced by arcane radiation, like that left behind after a Thermo-Arcane detonation, only hundreds of times as strong. Even Onorus stayed away from it, save for the scientific expeditions sent to find out why it was the way it was.

Daring had studied Farland Runes in her college days, and though she was still a little rusty, she could make out what the cylinder seemed to say. Roughly translated, they meant ‘Death Lives Inside’. Daring suddenly felt underdressed, as in, she wished she had a gas mask.

“Careful now… I don’t need to remind you all how potent this stuff is.” Caballeron said, his voice muffled by the gas mask. Even though Daring didn’t know what was in the cylinder, if it was from the Farlands, then it truly had to be something dangerous and possibly even evil. “Let’s get the teams from Biohazard Containment here, we need this thing sealed tightly.”

“Yes, sir.” One of the soldiers said, Daring watched as one broke off from the group. She took this as her chance to try and get out from under the truck, maybe she could get a better look at the cylinder and any other artifacts housed in this strange building. The mare slid forwards, crawling towards the second truck, and then the first. She stopped under the first truck and looked around, there was no sign of anyone around, so she slipped up and out from under the trucks. To her amazement there were rows and rows of crates, large and small, all of them were nailed shut and had various markings painted on them, the only marking they all had in common was a triangle with an Eye of Providence at the center. The mark of Providentia, Onorus’ shadowy intelligence service.

Daring stared for a second or two before moving towards one of the rows adjacent to her, with all the other guards preoccupied with the new arrival, it was easy for her to slip away undetected. She trotted quietly past more crates, wondering just what it was that was hidden inside each one. Daring Do then turned towards the wall of boxes to her right, she cautiously hopped up up onto them and managed to get a good view of the cylinder she had unknowingly ridden in with. Now that she was seeing it more clearly, she noticed that the top of the cylinder was pointed into a sort of pyramid, with a nozzle like hole at the very center of the pyramid. Daring hadn’t come for any particular artifact before, but now… She felt drawn to that cylinder. The mare turned and began to make her way down the boxes, when she was back on the floor she started to sneak back towards the original row.

“What the…?” She heard Caballeron’s voice from her left. “Something’s activated it! The device has imprinted on someone here! Find them before they can release the gas!” Daring heard frantic boots against the floor as the soldiers began to fan out, Daring felt a pit forming in her stomach as she continued moving. She was just about to round a corner when two humans wearing gas masks came into view, they leveled their rifles at her.

Eliminate them. The thought echoed through Daring’s mind, she suddenly felt ten times faster. She surprised herself as she covered the distance between her and the men with ease, bashing into the two soldiers before they had a chance to fire a shot. She felt drawn even more to the cylinder, rushing towards the row that she had seen it in. More soldiers were there, six of them in total, they began firing at her. Bullets whizzed past her as she dove for cover behind the front of the first truck, she gritted her teeth. Don’t hold back. Destroy them too! Daring was about to rush out and show those humans what she could really do, but suddenly she felt cold metal pressing up against the side of her head. No!

“Miss Do.” Caballeron’s voice said sternly, Daring turned towards the stallion with surprise. “Please… Put your hooves up.” Daring stared at him intensely, not realizing that the color of her eyes had changed to a dark crimson. Half of her wanted to surrender, as she normally would in this situation, but another half felt… More aggressive. It told her how she could disarm Caballeron, how she could take out everyone in the building. “There is no escape…” His voice was muffled by a wheeze from his gas mask. “Don’t make me destroy you.”

“I don’t know why… I… No… Kill… No… Please… Help me.” Daring said as her mind seemed more conflicted than ever, Caballeron looked her in the eyes. She could see something moving in the reflection of his gas mask goggles, before she could realize what it was she felt something close around her neck. She began thrashing around, turning to look at what had caused her discomfort. There was a human wearing a white rubber suit, gloves, and a gas mask. He held a long metal pole with a noose at the end, just tight enough to control her without killing her.

“Get her to containment, we need DeCon teams to go over this entire section.” Caballeron ordered as the man began dragging her away. “With how red her eyes are, we may be looking at a facility wide incident. Contain the canister as soon as you can, we must stop any more gas from escaping.” Daring heard the soldiers give affirmative answers as she was dragged away, more humans in white suits seemed to be flooding the warehouse. Some of them carrying clicking sensor devices while others carried blue tanks with rubber hoses on the end. A couple more came over to Daring, carrying what looked like stun sticks. Daring thrashed particularly hard, prompting one of the faceless goons to stick her in the side with the stick. Sure enough, pain lanced through her side. Whatever it was in that cylinder, it had messed her up… She had a brief moment of clarity, in it she pondered that perhaps the Onorussians had a point in gathering up the artifacts… Such dangerous things, left out for anyone to find, could be deadly in the wrong hooves. Who knew what other dangerous mysteries the Farlands could hold.

[♠]

A devastatingly strong wind blew sand and dust high into the air, a massive wave of air that seemed to stretch for miles. Splintered, carbonized logs and trees were strewn about the landscape like matchsticks, and barely visible above the sandy soil were the black stone rellics of a once vast city, destroyed eons ago in a tremendous explosion. Specks of purple and blue light floated on the breeze, winking in and out of existence like fire flies… The visible incarnation of Arcane Fallout. These were just a handful of the things that could be found at the center of the Farland Exclusion Zone, and they weren’t even the most interesting of them. That title, one would think, would belong to the dangerous and mutated creatures that called the barren wasteland home. However, even the monsters of the Farlands paled in comparison for sheer danger. The holder of that title was not a living thing, nor was it a destroyed structure or tree, or even a tremendous tornado of dirt that twisted in the distance like a serpent.

No… The most dangerous thing in the FEZ was no larger than a golf ball. At first glance, it would appear to be one of the glowing flecks of fallout, but a quick inspection would yield it was stationary… A pulsing beacon of light that stood out among the fog of dust. It was this pulsing light that had caught the attention of five shadowy figures as they wandered through the wastelands, three men and two women. Like the Wastelands of the Caribou War, only humans could dare to brave the Farlands, as the arcane fallout would kill any Equestrian native that came within close proximity. The group walked in a straight line, the men holding rifles while the women held scientific devices. Their rugged grey HAZMAT suits protected them from the wind and dust, barely, as well as the pockets of toxic gas that littered the landscape.

“It’s just up ahead!” One of the women shouted over the wind as the group trudged through the dust. Her Arcane Fallout Counter clicked wildly in protest, the needle was practically off the scale as they moved closer to the pulsing orb of light. It lit the surrounding area with an eerie, hauntingly beautiful blue glow. Giving some sort of wonderful view to the otherwise overcast and depressing location. “Tri-Alicornium levels are astonishing, I’m reading at least half a dozen proto-fractures and we aren’t even next to it yet!” The group stopped when they were no more than twenty feet from the orb. “It’s like it’s constantly fluctuating…”

“Opening and closing. Like a door.” The other woman said quietly, the two of them began walking towards the orb while their escort watched the surrounding area. The second woman reached into a pocket on her suit and withdrew a small device, so small it fit into the palm of her hand. “It would take a massive explosion of Alicornium to create a rift of even this size… Guess we figured out why the area is so irradiated.”

“How… Not why.” The first woman said as she watched her partner get even closer to the orb. “Alicornium doesn’t go critical on its own… Someone would have had to do this intentionally. Could this… Could this be the remnant of an ancient war? So ancient it predates the Equis Period?”

“I don’t think so… There wouldn’t have been any point to setting off a bomb of that size.” The second woman said as she held the device out near the orb, she slowly opened her hand. The device slipped out of it, drawn to the orb like a magnet, before vanishing completely. “It would take fifty alicorns at least to even have a chance of detonating that much alicornium… Could it have been some sort of experiment that went wrong? Like the old Castle Bravo test on Terra?”

“Maybe… We’ll have to do more archiology when the storms die down.” The first woman said, she watched her compatriot take a tablet from another pocket on her suit and begin examining it. “Has the probe’s analysis returned?” The woman watched her friend for a couple seconds, but got no response. “Doctor Dyatlov?” Still no response. “Doctor Dyatlov! What does it say?”

“The probe…” Dyatlov turned to her colleague. “It’s detecting… Atmosphere.” The first woman stared at Dyatlov with wide eyes, though they were hidden by her gas mask. “Seventy-Eight percent nitrogen, twenty-one percent oxygen… Plus other trace gasses… It’s nearly identical to Terra, and a dead ringer for Equis.”

“You mean… The orb, it leads to another Equis?” The other woman said in surprise, Dyatlov nodded.

“It does, Doctor Zewe.” Dyatlov turned to her associate. “We need to report this to the high command immediately, they’ll finally see fit to authorize a full expedition of the area! We’ll learn more than just where the orb goes! We’ll get to excavate more of the Farlands, learn what kind of people lived here!” Dyatlov and Zewe felt both excitement and caution as they began to back away from the orb, but in their minds they hoped that their discovery would lead to something possibly as important as the old world’s ‘Large Hadron Collider’.

Author's Notes:

So, here's another thing. Hooray! I'm sort of setting things up for some future stories I have planned, but don't worry, I'm still more focused on this. Anyway, here's your clip of the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4klCmzaNmkg&t=313s