A New Voyage

"Twilight?" It was quiet, but she heard it. Somepony was calling her name.

"Twilight, please wake up!" She managed to open her eyes. She wasn't in pain, just a little drowsy.

"Huh.. Who.. ?" She looked around and saw Spike leaning over her. "Spike.. ?"

"TWILIGHT!" The young dragon wrapped his arms round her neck. She looked around and saw Pinkie trying to wake Rarity, Applejack meanwhile was already sitting up and holding her head trying to focus

"Spike.. what happened?" She said after a moment.

"I don't know. I came to tell you Fluttershy wasn't home when.. You all were just.. laying there.. I.. I thought you were.." Tears began to fill the young dragons eyes.

Seeing this, Twilight pulled him close "It's alright spike. We're alright" After he seemed to calm down, Twilight spoke again. "Did you see Princess Celestia anywhere?"

Spike shook his head "No, was really she here?"

"Yes, but now.." Twilight looked over and noticed Applejack seemed to have cleared her head. "Spike go help Pinkie with Rarity" Surprisingly, Spike hesitated, by after a moment did as he was told. Twilight made her way to Applejack.

"Applejack?" She started.

"...Y-yeah?" She responded after a moment, head hanging low.

"...Who.. Who was that pony?" Twilight asked attempting to get her friend to look her in the eyes.

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Some time before Twilight's reawakening, a field on the opposite side of the mountain range west of Ponyville, found itself hosting two unannounced guests.

'This was as far as I could take him in one trip. I doubt I'll be able to get close enough to teleport both of us again,' Thought Celestia, guest number one. As for guest number two a far larger and older looking pony he stood looking around, blinking periodically.

".. Oi, what the hell did you do?" He said after surveying the suddenly changed landscape.

"I told you, I won't allow you to harm my ponies. We're far away from them now," She responded from a good distance away.

"Ah? But that doesn't answer my question, does it?" He said narrowing his eyes.

"I'm afraid it is the only answer you'll be receiving," Still keeping her distance, she began snapping her wings out periodically, as if preparing to take flight.

"Gurarara, you think its wise to keep secrets from me?" she didn't answer "You must not know who I am.." She stood perfectly still, not reacting in the slightest.

"I AM-" before he could announce himself, his vision was cut of by a white light, and a high pitched sound was made behind him. A solid leap to the left, and he was able to observe a sizable beam of white energy scream through the air he previously occupied, and right up to.. where he thought the princess was standing, where now only a few glittery particles remained. A single glance behind him revealed the Princess hovering a few meters away, horn alight.

The very moment he landed, he threw his front right leg forward, pivoted back and slammed his hoof in her direction the air cracked and a shock wave was sent her way.

She snapped her wings down and was carried upwards, causing the wave to trail off for a distance before reducing a tree to mere splinters and leaves. He looked up at her and noticed she wasn't paying attention, rather, she was eyeing the shock wave as it traveled.

'Speedy bitch,' He thought to himself.

Allowing the momentum of his backward swing to turn him fully, he landed facing her direction, and then after a brief crouch, jumped up to where she was, left hoof already drawn back. She met his gaze as he ascended to her height; in her eyes was no fear, nor confusion... in fact her eyes were empty, as though she was hollow.

'A fake? You've got some experience... but that alone won't save you from me' He thought. He punched to his left, and narrowly missed her as she suddenly appeared, then vanished again just before the wave connected causing this one too, to trail off.

Again, he struck with his right leg backwards, however rather than simply avoid it this time she flew around it in a spiraling path at a high speed, and was above him in an instant at an angle, horn ablaze with light.

"Damn" He muttered. He braced as another beam was fired, this time hitting him dead on, sending him to the ground producing a large vision obscuring cloud of dust. The princess herself followed after a moment, gracefully landing a good distance away.

She watched where he had landed, occasionally snapping her wings as before.

"Gurararara, not bad kid." Upon hearing his voice she took three steps back. Moments later the entire mass of air born particles was dispersed in a spiral, revealing a completely unscathed giant pony.

"Letting me throw all of those so you could get an idea of their size and range..Ha ha.. Not bad. Most aren't sharp enough to be able to notice such things.. You've got some skill," He grinned. "Just don't count on what you think you know, getting you out of this alive," Celestia backed a few more steps away, eyes wide, though again, no fear was found in her gaze.

"Let me ask you," With a mighty grunt Whitebeard leaned back and brought his front right leg across "When did I say that was the largest quake I could throw?!"

With a roar, he swung his leg in her direction, only for it to stop short held in place by some unseen force. As he looked down to figure out what went wrong, he realized the Princess was charging another attack.

"Let me ask you," She said as she slowly ascended, horn alight "When did I the size of the attack was all I was studying?"

Another beam was fired and charged through the air, set to strike him dead on. Whitebeard didn't flinch, instead he focused on the speed it traveled and just before it's impact let the power he held in his hoof flow through his whole body. The result was an omni-directional shock wave, which easily dispersed the oncoming attack and began its trek through the air in all directions.

"LEARN YOUR PLACE YOU BRAT" He yelled as Celestia hastily erected a barrier around herself.

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"Thanks for helping me out there Shy, sorry for pulling you away from your animals" Said a certain rainbow maned pegasus as she and her yellow friend were leisurely flying back to Ponyville.

"Oh its alright. They seemed just fine when I left," Fluttershy said before taking a more solemn expression " You really shouldn't be fighting with animals Rainbow Dash.."

"Ugh.. I told you they bumped into me, I only retaliated," Rainbow huffed.

"Well even still, you see that just going around fighting can get you in trouble" Fluttershy said as she looked over the landscape. "After all they dragged you pretty far.. We're still a little ways from Ponyville,"

"Yeah and you still say they aren't insane. You really should-" The sound of a deep roar in the distance followed by a rumbling in the air around them caught their attention.

"WHOA! What was that?!" Rainbow shouted.

"Oh my.." Fluttershy peeped hiding behind her friend.

Staring at where it seemed to come from, Rainbow Dash's expression changed as if she had figured out the source of the event "C'mon, lets go check it out!" Dash said before flying of in the direction of the chaos.

"W-wait! Maybe we.. shouldn't??" Fluttershy tried to suggest, but Rainbow Dash was already gone. Not wishing to be left alone, she sighed and followed after her.

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Celestia's barrier was already cracking from the initial burst of power, she knew she couldn't hold it up under the current barrage this old stallion was unleashing. She counted herself lucky her shield was shock resistant.

"Hmph, you just going to hide in there all day?" Whitebeard mocked as he struck the shield dead on causing it to crack further. "You know this won't hold up much longer, not against this assault. Just give up, make it easy on yourself,"

In truth she was only half listening. She was searching for something, an opening, anything that would allow her the chance to put some distance between them. At this range, he proved too quick with his strange ability for her to properly cast any effective spells, and she most likely lacked the physical capacity to take one of his strikes dead on.

She winced. Another strike, much stronger than the previous ones landed. His patience was wearing out, she had to hurry.

"I've had enough, get lost," Whitebeard growled. He stood up on his hind legs and raised his front legs in preparation for a downward attack; which was the opening she was looking for.

A quick cast and she was gone, teleporting a few dozen meters away. Whitebeard allowed himself to comeback to the ground without any tremors, taking a moment to try and relocate her. Right as he set eyes on her however, a spear sailed through the air and pinned itself to the ground right between his forelegs.

"PROTECT THE PRINCESS!" A gruff voice shouted. With in seconds a team of six armored ponies appeared, four with wings and two with horns.

As the four winged ones formed up around him he was reminded that  Rainbow Dash had wings, and that at least two other ponies he saw had horns.

'Devil fruits.. or something else.. Oh well, doesn't matter either way,' He thought.

"Princess Celestia, are you well?" Said one of the two horned ponies who stood at her side.

"Oh its you.. I apologize for abandoning you mid-flight like that but.. Well I think you can imagine" She said refocusing on Whitebeard. "I'm sorry commander, but I don't think your squad will be of much help here. Rather I need you to return to Ponyville and tend to Twilight and the other Elements"

"The Elements, your majesty?" The other guard questioned.

"Oi, these toy soldiers belong to you?" Whitebeard called out to Celestia.

The guard to his left spoke up "How dare you! We are the personal guard of Princess Celestia herself! You should learn to-"

The guard was cut off when his eyes were suddenly aligned with the gaze of the towering pony before him "I don't remember asking you for your thoughts on the matter,"

Before he could express his offense, the guard was sent flying through the air with a sizable dent in his chest plate. He sailed for a few meters before landing on the ground, alive but unable to stand. This signaled the remaining three guards to pounce, but before they could even make contact Whitebeard released another omni-directional tremor, blowing them through the air. In response to this, Celestia was preparing another teleport to attack Whitebeard, but she stopped when she noticed he was again on his hind legs.

"I'm done with you and your gang of fools, little girl," He said before he pulled his legs down, and appeared to drag the very air with them. As the Princess and her still conscious guards marveled at the spectacle, they became very aware that the earth they stood upon was violently shaking.

"Collect the wounded and get behind me!!" The Princess shouted to her guards. They did as commanded and gathered their comrades. Celestia remained where she stood, as if preparing something. The ground was starting to crack and fragments of earth were being shaken to the point of rising out of place.

"Princess!" One of her guards shouted over the now deafening rumble.

Glancing behind her, all six of her guard were present. Her horn lit up and an indignant glare at Whitebeard was her only her only farewell as she and her group vanished from sight. Had they remained but a moment more, they would have seen the old stallion violently thrust his legs and the air they dragged straight to the ground.

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"Applejack?" Twilight asked again.

"He.. he just sorta.. showed up.. I was trying to keep an eye on him but he.. got away.. Ah'm sorry.." Applejack lowered her head further. Twilight placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"No, Applejack it's not-" She was cut off by the sound of a teleportation spell going off.

Looking to where the sound came from she saw the Princess, and six guards had suddenly appeared. "Princess Celestia?" She ran to her teacher who wore a expression of worry, and anger.

Celestia looked down at her student "Twilight, have the other Elements arrived yet? We have to-" A violent tremor through the entire area which shook even the Princess herself, cut her off.

"Impossible," The Princess whispered.

"Ah'm so sorry," Applejack cried.

All of Ponyville began violently shaking. Any animals on its outskirts fled shrieking cries of terror as they ran. As Twilight and her friends tried to keep their balance, the Princess surveyed the area as a few smaller structures began to topple. A great many ponies came running out of there homes, and even greater was the screams of terror heard through out the town.

"He can't," The Princess whispered again.

The tremor's violence increased, and many buildings began to appear as though they were about to topple over.

"He wouldn't," She said at a volume nopony could hear over the rumbling.

Her guards attempted to lead the civilians to safety, but they themselves were being thrown off balance. Only thanks to the pegasus guards were at least a hoof full of the citizens saved. Then all of a sudden, every structure in the town appeared to be falling over, without actually falling, a number of them cracking apart and collapsing. At the same time, the force of gravity shifted causing most ponies, including the Elements and her nonpegasus guards to slide across the ground. As the Princess tried to process what was occurring, she came to a grim epiphany.

"No," She took off into the sky. Once she was high enough she hovered in place to survey the scene and her fears were realized.

The whole of Ponyville, a large section of the Everfree and the northern forests, as well as a great deal of the fields surrounding the town, including the one she identified as where she and Whitebeard had battled even the mountain range itself, were being torn from the rest of the continent, and tilting as if to fall over.

She could only look on in abject horror as the screams of her ponies rang out through the air. After a few moments small portions of the landmass began to break off and fall to where they had been originally, causing the destruction of anything built upon them. After what seemed like an eternity to her, she watched as the entire mass fell back into place, causing nearly anything still standing to crumble under its own weight. As the dust settled she was able to fully take in the devastation dealt before her.

Ponyville was in ruins, its railway was destroyed. Its residents either injured or in absolute panic.

As she clumsily flew back down to the town, over her own heavy breathing a single statement from their conversation rung out with perfectly clarity in her ears.

'That goes for you too, Princess'