Episode 1: Ponies With Attitude
Oceanview State University
It was a beautiful, picturesque day, and the college campus was bustling with life. Although the official start of the new year was still two days away, there was still much to do. All of the various clubs and societies were lined up table after table in attempts to gain new members. Various coeds of both genders taisped across the main Quad, soaking in the rays of the sun that they would still be able to take advantage of for at least another two months. Yes, everything was just about as perfect as one would expect.
But then, the scene was shattered completely. It started off as just a low rumbling, but it soon increased in magnitude. Most of the students dropped to the ground in response. This wasn't the first time the area had been on the receiving end of a small earthquake, and it certainly wasn't going to be the last. Some of the students, far away from home and not used to such phenomenon, screamed and ran about all over the place. Others were doing their best at keeping everyone calm, just waiting for the shaking to cease.
"Hey, look at that!" A male student yelled, pointing into the sky.
Everyone who could hear him looked and saw what he was pointing at. A large beam of light split through the sky and hurtled toward the Earth, eventually crashing with a resounding bang in the middle of the Quad. Interestingly, as soon as the beam landed, the shaking of the mini-earthquake stopped, allowing everyone to recover and pick themselves up off the dirt.
Although there had been a definitive crashing sound, there was no crater where the beam of light landed. Instead, a single being stood where the light had been. It was definately not human, in fact, none of the students witnessing this had any idea what it was. It was clad in black-and-gold armor, from head to toe. Its helmet did a good job of covering its face, allowing only a slit where its eyes, which were a shiny red color, could peer out. Even though its face was hidden, judging by the fact that it was probably about seven feet tall, and almost as broad at the shoulder, it was safe to say it wasn't from this world. For a time, it seemed content to just stand there and take in its new surroundings, before lifting his right arm, gloved index finger raised to the sky where he had seemingly come from, and began to speak.
"Greetings, Earthlings," the definitively masculine voice bellowed from behind the helmet, "my name is Barbarus, soldier of Lord Constellarous. I am here to make sure that my lord's takeover of your world goes smoothly. So, with that in mind, bow before me!"
With this last yell, he flung both his arms out to his sides, which seemed to summon an entire regiment of new strange creatures. They were all much smaller than Barbarus, and actually pretty scrawny, wearing black attire which covered their entire bodies. The only break in the monochrome color scheme was a silver star-shape symbol which seemed to sit in front of their faces. Though they were much more human in general appearance, they moved about in odd patterns more reminiscient of less intelligent primates.
"Not so fast!"
Everybody on the Quad, including Barbarus and his minions, turned toward the new, feminine, voice. What they saw shocked them all. Six figures stood on the far side of the Quad, forming a perfectly straight line like soldiers in the infantry. Each one wore a full-body suit of a different color, standing blue, yellow, orange, white, red, and purple from left to right. The suits featured a golden double sash running diagonally from their right shoulder to their left hip. Each wore a plain white belt, white gloves, and whit boots topped with golden bands, with a dark shade of purple taking the place of white on the one who was primarily white. The other difference in the suits was that the helmets each bore a different-shaped visor-like shield which took up the majority of the front, leaving no place for a mouth.
"What is this!?" Barbarus seemed both shocked and aggravated that anybody would get in his way.
"We have come to stop you," the white one, the same one who had interrupted Barbarus in the first place, said, pointing her gloved hand straight at her foe.
"Bring it!"
*--*--*--*--*
Earlier that day, Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria
Princess Celestia paced nervously in the throne room, her four hooves making a quite rythmic tapping sound on the white marble floor. She was trying her best to be patient, but today was not the day for patience. If her calculations were correct, he would be trying to land later today, and she still needed to brief the others.
"Here we are, princess," a voice cried out as the doors to the throne room burst open, allowing six ponies and a baby dragon to enter.
"Ah, Twilight Sparkle, I am glad you and your friends are here."
The seven visitors quickly bowed before looking back up at their princess expectantly.
"What did you need us for, princess," Twilight asked, impatient herself.
"There is a major threat on the way, like a combination of Nightmare Moon and Discord himself."
The names of their two most difficult enemies gave the seven pause. If Celestia was this worried, then the threat must be very real.
"Well, what can we do?"
"Twilight, do you remember when I sent you into another dimension to retrieve your Element of Harmony?
Twilight did indeed remember her sojourn at Canterlot High and her battles with Sunset Shimmer, though she still wasn't sure what this had to do with anything.
"It seems like another dimension is under attack from a new threat, and I would like you all to bring it to a halt."
"No problem," Rainbow Dash said, flying right up to Celestia's eye level, "We save the world for a living. Whatever it is, we can handle it."
"Of course," Twilight said, still puzzling, "but why bring up Canterlot High?"
"Because," Celestia patiently explained, "the place I am sending you is very much like that world. It is not the same world, mind, but still very similar. Allow me to explain further...
Celestia's horn glowed with a golden light, bringing up a sort of projection which showed a university campus. It was bustling with people, even though it was still pretty early in the day.
"This is Oceanview State University. You see, a new being who goes by the name Constellarous is on the rise. He has vast magical powers, including the ability to leap across dimensions, and he has his sights set on Equestria," this elicited a collective gasp from her audience, "However, before he comes to this dimension, it seems he has decided to use this other dimension as a warm-up. And, if my celestial calculations are correct, and they are, his forces will first land here."
"OK," Rainbow spoke up again, "so just beam us there, we'll take care of this Constellation fellow, and then we'll come home."
"I wish it was that simple," Celestia sighed, her head dropping slightly, "but there are certain problems with sending you there. For one, as Twilight well knows, you all would be reverted to a form like the inhabitants of this realm, known as humans. You will lose your horns, your wings, and your magic. And I am afraid it will be impossible to defeat Constellarous without some sort of special equipment."
"We can do it, princess," Twilight said, "whatever we need to do, we are up to the challenge."
"I know, Twilight, which is why I have prepared such a thing."
Celestia moved to the side of the throne room, and with a bit of magic, opened up a previously unknown of side-room, which the others quickly followed her into.
"What is this place, princess," Twilight asked, thoroughly intrigued.
"What it is is unimportant," Celestia said, "what is important is what this room holds, a way for me to transfer some of my magic with you."
On a table in the middle of the room sat six watches, yes watches. The bodies and links were made of a silver metal, while the faces were each inlaid with a gem which resembled very familiar marks.
"Hoofwatches," Rarity asked, tilting her head the side, "forgive me princess, but how much magic could you possibly pack into such a small space?"
"Quite a bit, actually," the princess answered, "there is one for each of you."
Each of the six smaller ponies took a hold of their personal watch, Twilight and Rarity levitating them in their magic. Spike seemed a little downtrodden at this sudden train of events.
"So," he said, looking down at the floor with a glum expression, "you all will be going on without me, then?"
The ponies all noticed Spike's expression, and wanted to say something, but Celestia beat them to it.
"But Spike, I need your assistance here," the drake's head shot up at this, "You see, these watches do two things. The first, and what I will need Spike's help with, is as a communication device. They can project holographic images across dimensions and to each other. Spike, you are in charge of relaying all my correspondance to the six while they are away." Spike nodded once in understanding. "The second thing they do is the real magic. You see, these watches will allow you the ability to transform, or metamorphise, into a state of being which is beyond the normal human form. It won't give you your magic or wings back, but it will allow you to fight off Constellarous' forces as if you could."
"How do they work," Twilight asked, giddy at the idea of magical transformation.
"When the time is right, you will know. And speaking of, I believe it is time for you to leave, Constellarous' forces will be making their presence felt soon."
"OK, princess," Twilight said, giving a glance over to her friends, who all gave various non-verbal responses to her silent question, "we're ready."
"Good luck, my little ponies. I will be in touch soon.
Celestia's horn glowed once again, it safely enveloped the six ponies, and in a flash, teleported them to another dimension.
"Come, Spike," Celestia motioned the drake back to the throne room, "we can keep an eye on them from here."
*--*--*--*--*
Outside Oceanview State University
A golden light flashed, and six bodies fell out. Fortunately, Celestia had aimed her magic where nobody would see the event, lest it cause a spectacle.
"Oh, my head," Rainbow groaned, holding her head in her hands, the presence of which was not lost on Rainbow, "Holy Luna, what are these things!?"
The others quickly gave themselves the once-over as well. They found that, like when Twilight jumped dimensions, they were outfitted in new clothing, ranging from Rainbow's t-shirt and shorts to Rarity and Fluttershy's summer dresses.
"Looks like we all made it in one piece," Twilight concluded.
"Yeah," Applejack said, trying to find the perfect way to sit her hat on her head, "but where --"
The farmer was cut off as the ground began to shake beneath them. Fluttershy quickly dove for the safe haven of the ground, while Rainbow tried to fly off, unsuccessful of course without her wings.
"Twilight," Pinkie exclaimed, looking off into the distant sky somewhere, "what is that?"
All of them, with the exception of Fluttershy, looked to what Pinkie was referring to. They saw a bright beam of light not unlike Celestia's magic rain down from the sky, followed by a loud crashing sound.
"C'mon girls," Twilight said, "we have to find out what that thing was."
They were about to get going, before realizing that running in their new forms wasn't exactly a piece of cake, even for Twilight.
"Tch," Rainbow groaned, "we should try that magic Celestia mentioned, we look ridiculous like this."
"I quite agree," Rarity concurred, "besides, we were going to have to try it out eventually."
"Yes," Twilight said, "but we don't know how the magic works."
"Um..." Fluttershy finally said something, having picked herself up, "I think I know."
The others looked to their friend in confusion, wondering how she could have already figured it out.
"Well then, show us Fluttershy."
Fluttershy straightened up, hooking her watch onto her right wrist. She looked at it for a moment to make sure it was straight before continuing.
"OK, here goes nothing. It's...um...morphing time!" She brought her right arm across her chest laying it on her left shoulder, "Ready," she threw her arms wide away from her body palms facing forward, "Power of Harmony," she brought her left hand to connect perpendicular to the watch near her right shoulder, then brought it back behind her, taking a slight step back, "Go! Kind Yellow!" She thrust her right arm forward with a step, popping her hand down slightly while keeping her arm straight. With a click, the gem in the watch, in her case a yellow butterfly, stood up straight out of the face and glowed. The others watched in awe as the butterfly shape seem to lay across her face, followed soon after by a soft yellow light. When the light subsided, they gasped in shock as Fluttershy stood before them, decked out in a yellow-and-white uniform, the butterfly forming the shape of a dark visor on the helmet.
"Well, what are we waiting for," Rainbow grew impatient, "let's do it."
The others all got in a line, standing opposite Fluttershy.
"It's morphin' time!" Twilight called.
"Ready," they all said together, going through the same motions Fluttershy had, "Power of Harmony...Go!"
"Loyal Red!"
"Honest Orange!"
"Laughing Blue!"
"Generous Violet!"
"Magical White!"
The five other ponies were bathed in their respective light for a moment, before coming out decked out in full uniform.
"Awesome," Rainbow breathed.
"Come on," Twilight said, beginning to move toward the impact sound, finding running a lot easier, "we have to get to whatever that crash was."
*--*--*--*--*
"Bring it!" Barbarus roared at the appearance of the strange beings. He certainly hadn't been expecting much resistance, especially not what seemed to be organized resistance. But that doesn't mean he was unprepared for it. "Well don't just stand there, you dolts," he yelled at the regiment at his command, "get them!"
The nameless beings started across the Quad toward the six, who for a time just stood stock-still and waited for them to get there.
"OK, girls," Twilight said, "let's get them."
Five of them immediately charged, with Fluttershy lagging behind. Rainbow and Applejack reached the enemy first, and began to make quick work of the slow, lumbering, beings, throwing all manner of punches and kicks, seemingly striking with each swing. Twilight and Rarity were holding their own quite nicely, assisting each other in the fight. Pinkie didn't seem to be fighting at all, content to let her attackers knock themselves out with well-placed dodges and blocks, throwing in a cartwheel every now and then for good measure.
Fluttershy, meanwhile, was trying her best to just get away, leading a group of them on a chase around the Quad. Eventually, she found herself running straight toward a building, and instead of stopping, she simply allowed herself to run up the wall some, causing her pursuers to crash and stumble. Planting a foot on the wall, she executed a perfect backflip and landed gracefully back on her feet. This shocked her somewhat, as she never could have done such a thing usually. However, she didn't have a lot of time to congratulate herself, as the attackers were simply stunned, not knocked out, and began to move toward her again.
"Um...bye bye," the timid former-pegasus said with a little wave, proceeding to perform a cartwheel followed by a series of back handsprings, getting herself far away from them.
This battle went on for a time, Rainbow even trying to get her hands of Barbarus. But he took this as a sign that he should retreat and report back to his lord, beaming off of the ground in a similar manner that he had reached it. Once Barbarus was gone, the minions decided to give up the fight, disappearing one by one into the ether.
The six regrouped in the middle of the Quad and checked themselves over, seeing nary a scratch on their new outfits. There were a few seconds of silence before there was an eruption of cheers and applause. Everybody who had witnessed the battle now came out of temporary hiding and gave the heroes a stirring round.
Rainbow could barely contain her excitement, always being one who loved being the center of attention. She began reaching up to the helmet to see if she could pry it off, but the hand of Applejack stopped her, followed by a solemn shake of the head from the cowgirl. Twilight, seeing this, reached for her wrist where her watch had been. After a few seconds of fidling with it, she figured the magical technology out and a golden light once again enveloped the six, causing them all to disappear from the Quad, much to the confusion of the masses.
Episode 2: Assimilating Before School
The teleportation magic Twilight had found in her wristwatch had landed them back in the same part of campus where they had crash-landed in the first place, and sans uniforms.
"Woo!" Rainbow yelled, "That was awesome! Did you see us all out there, kicking flank.
"Yeah, that was lots of fun," Pinkie joined in, "I hope we get to fight whatever those things were again soon."
"Something tells me we will," Twilight said before feeling her wrist begin to buzz. Looking at her watch, she pressed a button, and a picture of Celestia appeared on the face.
"Good work, my little ponies," Celestia said, "I knew you all would be able to unlock the magic."
"Princess," Applejack spoke up, "just who was that big guy in the armor? And those smaller creatures?"
"He goes by the name Barbarus. He is Constellarous' muscle and the leader of his foot-soldiers, though I don't know what he calls them."
"So what's next princess," Twilight asked eagerly.
"I'm glad you asked. There are many things that you six must understand in order to keep up your disguises here in the human world. For instance, you will be living and sleeping on-campus, and yes, you will have to go to school."
"Aw, man," Rainbow moaned.
"I know, but rest assured, I think you will each like your classes very much," she turned her head slightly, "Spike, you can send them now.
A second later, a bag sat at the feet of each of the six, each color-coded to their uniform color. Rainbow, AJ, Twilight, and Pinkie had backpacks, while Rarity and Fluttershy were now the owners of large shoulder bags.
"These are basically the human equivalent to saddlebags," Celestia continued to explain, "inside you will find everything you will need. Your schedules, your room numbers, and other assorted things found in the human world that I think would help you."
All of them started digging around their bags. Rarity was the first to pull out something interesting, a thin, plastic, card with various numbers engraved on the front.
"What is this, princess?"
"That, Rarity, is called a credit card. Humans use it to pay for things when they don't have money with them. You each have one. Don't go overboard, but everything is covered, you all won't want for a thing."
Rarity quickly placed her card in the clutch purse that she had found inside her bag.
"And what about this weird rectangle," Rainbow wondered, fishing out a black flip phone from her backpack.
"That is called a cellular phone, or cell phone for short. Humans use it to communicate with each other from vast distances. You each have one, with your own number and the numbers of the others pre-programmed. Use it whenever you please."
"Princess, why does the top of my schedule say my name is Skylar Sparkle," Twilight asked, perplexed.
"Well, to be quite honest, your pony names won't fit here in the human world, so I have given each of you a more human name."
They each read them off in turn.
"Skylar Sparkle."
"Rachel Dash."
"Anne Jane Apple. Well at least y'all can still call me AJ."
"Rebecca Belle."
"Fiona Shy."
"Diane Pie. I guess I already had a human name, hee-hee."
"Yes," Celestia continued again, "well I would suggest finding your dorm rooms and getting familiar with campus. There are still two days before the school year truly starts, so you have plenty of time."
"Got it, princess," Twilight nodded.
"And be on the lookout for Barbarus. I will contact you if I come across anything strange that I think you need to check out."
"Roger that, princess," Rainbow said, impatient again, "let's go girls."
The six traveled back on campus, making sure to take it slow as to get used to their new bodies. As they walked, they noticed two things. First, there were many, many guys staring at them. And second, that they heard more than one person say something about "The battle" or "Six fighters".
Eventually, after finding a map of campus, they found the dormitory they were looking for. The name "Hillcrest" didn't seem to make much sense, since they weren't on a hill, but who were they to argue about it. They walked inside and quickly found the rooms. Incidentally, Hillcrest was one of the nicer dorms on campus. The dorm rooms were laid out where there was a kitchen and common living space, but each of the three people that each room held had a separate bedroom, complete with closet, desk, and nightstand. Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy were together in Room 109, while Pinkie, Rainbow, and AJ were together in Room 110, just across the hall.
Once inside the rooms, Rarity again was the first to discover something, her room was already made up, as if someone else was supposed to be living there. The bed was made, and the closet was filled with clothes that Rarity found well within her taste. Checking with the others, they discovered the same thing in all their rooms. Seems Celestia had thought of everything.
"Well girls," Twilight said, "what do you think we should do?"
"Ah don't know 'bout y'all," AJ answered, "but Ah'm mighty hungry after that fight. We should go find somethin' to eat."
"I'm with you, AJ," Rainbow responded.
"Then let's go," Pinkie said, jumping a little into the air.
*-*-*-*-*
Meanwhile, in a space between dimensions, Barbarus had returned and was trying to explain the situation.
"I'm telling you, there were six of them, just out of nowhere. If they hadn't showed up, you would already have control of the planet."
"I don't care for your excuses," the dark-cloaked figure Barbarus was addressing said, not turning to face the large warrior.
"But you have to understand, it wasn't my fault."
"I don't care--," the figure started, but then he turned aroud, revealing an older man with graying skin whose eyes were dark and full of light at the same time, "Wait...six of them...were they perhaps, color-coded."
"Now that you mention it, yeah. Each one of them was wearing a uniform of a different color, red, orange, yellow, blue, purple, and white. Why?"
"Celestia," the cloaked man said, his voice dripping with venom.
"Who?"
"The co-ruler of Equestria! The next world on our universe-domination list. She must have sent them."
"I don't follow, my lord."
"Celestia had in her possession a very powerful force called the Elements of Harmony. There are six elements, and they are often coordinated by the colors of the rainbow. These six you saw must be the holders of those elements. Which means Celestia knows I'm here, which means she's a step ahead of me. We have to destroy those six at all costs!"
"Yes, my lord. But how do you suppose we do that?"
"Go back and engage them again. Now that I know what I'm looking for, I will observe the battle. They are not of this world, Barbarus. Celestia must have them disguised among the humans. We must either figure out which ones they are or destroy all the humans trying. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Good, now go back down to Earth, and double the regiment of Stars. The second battle won't be as easy as the first."
*-*-*-*-*
The six former ponies had found their way to a restaurant just off-campus, and had begun to eat. Fortunately for them, it isn't hard to find vegetarian options in Southern California. Unfortunately, they didn't get as much time as they would like to enjoy their food before they heard a scream of terror and saw many people running for their lives.
"What in tarnation," AJ asked.
"C'mon girls," Twilight answered, "we gotta check it out."
"But what about our food," Rainbow complained.
"Later. Let's go!"
The ran out of the eatery to be met with a rush of people. And they didn't have to look very far to see what had caused it. Standing in the middle of the street, flanked by numerous of those scrawny black-clad beings, was Barbarus.
"Come on out," he yelled, "I know you'll show up, so come out already!"
"Well what are we waiting for," Rainbow said, moving for her morpher. But Twilight grabbed her arm.
"Not here in the open," the princess said, pointing toward an alleyway, "over there."
They made their way between buildings and initiated their morphing sequence.
"Ready! Power of Harmony! Go!"
"Loyal Red!"
"Honest Orange!"
"Kind Yellow!"
"Laughing Blue!"
"Generous Violet!"
"Magical White!"
After a few seconds, the six emerged back on the street, decked out, staring down Barbarus and his minions.
"Ah, there you are," he said, "Ready for round two!"
"You're not," Rainbow said, making a charge for him. As she did this, the others noticed something. Rainbow was moving really fast, like as fast as she could fly as a pegasus, even leaving a red streak behind her. She zipped and dodged around multiple minions before making a lunge for Barbarus himself, one that he barely dodged.
The others quickly sprung into action. As before, AJ was taking out opponents left and right, Rarity and Twilight were holding their own, and Pinkie was being Pinkie. At one point, she decided to use a lampost as her personal exercise pole, grabbing onto it and twirling around it, stepping on minion after minion to make herself go around and around the pole. Fluttershy was still playing more keep-away than fighting, but in this urban environment, she was using her newly-found athletic abilities more advantageously, such as jumping into a tree and coming down on two minions with a double kick.
Though it took longer than their first fight today, eventually the Six made work of the footsoldiers, leaving only Barbarus standing in their path. Swiftly, he pointed his sword to the sky in an attempt to teleport away. Rainbow saw this and made a beeline toward him, once again moving at blazing speed. However, he was just a split second faster, disappearing from the street a mere blink of the eye before Rainbow would have made it their.
Once again, the people who witnessed the event gave a stirring round of applause, intercut with various cheers and hollers. This time, Rainbow didn't try to unmask herself, instead waiting for Twilight to once again teleport them away.
This time the teleportation landed them on the behind Hillcrest, once again demorphed. Fortunately, like before, there was no one around to witness them beaming in.
"Another job well done," Twilight proudly said.
"Yeah," Pinkie concurred, "and it was so cool to see Dashie move like that."
"That's true. I wouldn't think you'd be able to move that fast as a human."
"Perhaps it has something to do with the outfit, darling," Rarity guessed, "who knows what kind of magic Celestia put in these watches."
The girls walked around to the front of the dorm, as there wasn't a door in the back. However, just before they walked inside, Pinkie stopped dead in her tracks.
"Twitchy...tail?" she said quietly before quickly grabbing Rarity, who was directly in front of her, and pulling her back, just in time to see a bucket full of dirty water come crashing down.
Looking up, they saw a window washer sitting on a kind of scaffolding with a very concerned expression on his face.
"Sorry about that, miss," he called.
"No problem," Pinkie replied, "no harm, no foul."
The girls continued inside and down the hall to where their rooms were.
"Pinkie," Rarity asked, "how did you know that was going to happen?"
"My Pinkie Sense, of course," she answered as if it was nothing, "Though it did feel kind of weird to have a twitchy tail when I don't have a tail."
"Your Pinkie Sense works here?" Twilight asked, flummoxed.
"I guess so. Hey, that could explain about Dashie."
"What about me," Rainbow said, stopping in her tracks.
"How you were able to move so fast. I mean, you can fly really fast in Equestria, maybe it's just natural that you can run really fast here, suit or no suit."
"We'll have to test that theory out," Twilight mused, "If each of us has some kind of gift held over from Equestria to this universe, it would be a big help in our fight against Constellarous."
