The Black Eyes of the Nightmare

"VICTOR! NO! VICTOR, PLEASE COME BACK!"

"Get a hold of yourself! It's no use..."

"But it's already bad enough that we lost Moon Fox, now HIM TOO?"

"Yes, we will miss him. We never knew each other much, so I can only have empathy for him."

"But what if Groves comes back? Victor was the only one strong enough to go against him!"

"It'll have to be Jin. Didn't that boy pull off a transformation based on you, Corvus?"

"I-I remember. He saved me."

"You along with Moon Fox and the others are more than just an influence."

"Wait. Maybe Adam or Nick could pull it off. Then we'd stand a chance."

"It's not that easy. I'm going to assume that the stronger the relationship you build up with a Settler, like you or Moon Fox, the more energy they absorb off of one. When enough is absorbed, and a trigger is pulled, it happens. The trigger is anger or sorrow."

"If Victor turned out to be this strong, he can find a way back from the dead. I know he can! He has to!"

"Most of us here are immortal. Watching others die is just something we have to go through for eternity."

                                                                *                                *                               *

"Hmm, I just noticed," says Moon Fox, looking at a structure she built in the Everfree Forest. Princess Luna and Celestia are with her while everyone else is having fun at Fluttershy's birthday party. It's two thirty, and Celestia's sun is starting its decent. A breeze whistles through the structure, which is surrounded by a pile of wood, stone, gems, and books. Everything but the books are used for building material. It's almost done.

"What?" says Luna.

"This is gonna consume a lot of energy. How are we gonna get all that power?"

"Fox, we're four powerful beings. How could we NOT get enough energy for this gate?"

"Four? Oh, right. Vic..."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Moon Fox, Luna, and Celestia are paralyzed by a sudden shriek. The look around for the source, but they hear rapid footsteps. Their ears twitch to the source of the shout, and it's from the boy, running toward them. He looks panicky and extremely worried, holding the wrist that has the bracelet.

"What's wrong, Victor?" asks Celestia.

"No! Nononononono! Dammit! Just fuck everything!" shouts Victor.

"Stop yelling and just tell us!" commands Moon Fox, glaring at Victor.

"My bracelet broke!" he says, showing his wrist, covered with a few slices. Blood drips out.

"But isn't that the thing that was supposed to take you back?" asks Luna, starting to get worried.

"YES!"

"How did it break?" asks the Moon Fox.

"Well, I was messing around with the ponies, and then I felt searing pain on my wrist. The bracelet literally exploded, just like that. I started to panic, then I went looking for you guys. Now we're stuck in this world. Dammit!" In a fit of rage, Victor shoots lightning at a tree, bursting it open in a flash of light.

Moon Fox wraps a tail around Victor and moves him closer to her. "Victor, you've got to calm down," she says, calm. "Remember your anger. You've got problems with it, and no one likes to see them."

"But, I'm angry when I transform," says Victor, not even trying to break free from the grip. One of the things he learned about Moon Fox is that when you're trapped by the tails, she means business.

Moon Fox puts her hands on Victor's shoulders and leans closer, staring eye-to-eye. "Yes, but that's controlled anger. When you're just exploding like that, you hurt others and yourself."

"But there's no way back home now."

"But don't you like Equestria?" asks Celestia.

Victor looks at her, starting to feel guilty. As Moon Fox's tail lets him go, he says, "I do, but it's not home. Home is back on Earth, but I can't go there until everything's fixed up in Vremena. I have to go back to Vremena. My friends miss me, and they also miss Fox."

Celestia starts snicker. "Did you really think we were never gonna see each other again?"

"Uh, yeah. Every time there's a story about going to a new world or something, there's always a painful good-bye to it."

"It doesn't have to be that way," says Celestia, smiling. "You've proven yourself worthy of being an honored guest in our world. And we weren't going to let you go away like that. Now that you can't get back, the only way back is to discover multiverse travel."

"Yeah," says Victor, intrigued. "We can make history. Two worlds, maybe three, connected to one another. But if we do pull it off..." This is where he gestures Luna, Celestia, and Moon Fox to listen carefully. "...listen to me so this doesn't turn into a whole mess. There's a chance that our actions could seriously screw the pooch on our goals, resulting in worst case scenario, interplanetary war."

"Good point," says Moon Fox.

"So princesses, it's best if you listen to both Fox and I, because if we end up in either Vremena or Earth, you'll have one of us with the experience."

"Of course," agrees Luna and Celestia, simultaneously.

"Not gonna lie," continues Victor. "There will be some cases where we need to fight. Hopefully, that won't happen. When I defeated Groves, it ended the war in Vremena, and last time I was on Earth, economy was pretty stable. What I'm worried about is how people are gonna react to you two."

"Then just tell them we mean no harm," suggest Celestia.

"Easier said than done, Sister," says Luna.

                                                                *                                *                               *

Every day, Victor and Moon Fox would wake up early and fly over to Canterlot, which is a problem for Victor. Moon Fox just lets him ride on her if he doesn't feel like transforming. Victor likes to save it when it's absolutely necessary. They meet with the two princesses and work on experiments. First, they study and test the behavior of teleportation, trying figure how to perform it at a large distance. These are molecules being broken apart and reassembled light years away, so they attempt amplified teleportation spells on simpler life, like a potted plant.

Victor finds all the studying boring, but the rest are very interested about it. Sometimes he's helping with carrying books to and from the library by the princesses' bidding, and sometimes he's donating his power into the experiments. Of course, this requires him to transform because it works as a power multiplier. He remembers how doing it so often fatigues, so such experiments can only be done once or twice a day. He tries to get into the studying portion so he can be a bigger help, but has difficulty understanding the concept.

Sometimes, they all would be in the Everfree Forest, working on the structure. Celestia and Luna are a big help to Moon Fox, because where everything is placed is crucial for the multiverse travel to be a success. The structure is finished within a week, and it's basically an arc made out of twisted, grown trees, props to Twilight Sparkle for providing a rapid growth spell. The twisted trees are encrusted with a few large gems to store the energy that will produce the portal.

The ponies are very supportive of their work, at least when they found out about it when they were through a few days on the project. The idea of interacting with a new world was very interesting to them, so they offered help whenever they could. Victor starts to worry, because he knows what will happen if the ponies are seen in the other worlds. Vremena would be okay. The humans there are very tolerant of other species, and most of them live harmoniously despite their differences. They coexist without problems, but Victor is worried about Earth. There's a fifty-fifty chance of going there. He should be glad that he's going home, but he's too busy being concerned for his friends. Earth humans would freak out if they saw the ponies. They look little to nothing like actual horses, and how is he going to explain the cutie marks showing bare on their flanks?

This cycle of work, worrying, and helping goes for three weeks. Victor starts to get used to Ponyville, and he is to be stuck here forever, if all their work is be in vain, he'd be okay with that. The folks are kind and neighborly, it's a time of peace, and mane six are very fun to be around. But there's still his friends back in Vremena and his family back on Earth. He knows they all miss him dearly. That is why he prays for the gate to work. They were all very busy for a while, especially Celestia and Luna, juggling their royal duties and the multiverse project. Celestia even took the time to teach Luna how to raise the Sun, so they can swap their position on the throne while the other worked on the project. One night, Celestia and Luna smile at each other. The gate is finally ready.

"About time," jokes Celestia.

Moon Fox, Luna, and Victor laugh, but Victor's is short-lived. "You sure it'll work?" he asks.

"I'm very certain. How many tests did we run. Like, thirty?"

"Thirty-four," corrects Luna. "And they proved for this to be safe."

"We tested this on plants..."

"Yes, but they appeared miles away from here without a scratch on them. This is really just teleportation, but further away," says Celestia.

"Y'know," says Victor. "I'm surprised you and Luna didn't go once going all 'ow, I broke a hoof!'" He makes a mockingly girly tone. This makes Celestia and Luna fall over laughing. "That shows that you both didn't let all the luxury got into your heads."

"Oh ho, who wishes to drink?" suggests Luna.

"You mean go out?"

"Yeah! A night out! To celebrate, of course," says Luna as she gets back up.

Moon Fox and Celestia smile to the idea. Victor smiles last, but he's still worried. Maybe some wine should help him ease his mind. Too bad he hates wine.

                                                                *                                *                               *

"Corvus, give it a rest. He's not coming back."

"Don't say that! He will! I know it!"

"It's been a frickin' MONTH. If he found a way back, he would've been alive again. You're just staring at a corpse."

"Edward, I'm not gonna stop believing in him. Victor proved himself countless times that he can get out of these kinds of messes. He's a miracle boy, and he'll keep on making miracles."

"Hmm, don't you notice something weird about the body?"

"Huh? Well, it looks fine to me."

"That's the thing. It looks fine."

"I'm not following."

"When someone dies, their body decomposes. It should start smelling bad or something."

"Now that you mention it, that is weird..."

"But I think we should leave Victor at peace. We got our own problems."

"Like what?"

"Peake City's been having so many storms lately. They're starting to get dangerous, and we don't have our storm mage anymore."

"A little lightning can't hurt anyone unless they're careless."

"I'm not worried about the lightning..."

                                                                *                                *                               *

Victor and Moon Fox lean on the finished gate the next morning. They told their friends that they were 'going away for a while'. They took it decently, except for Fluttershy. After about a month of living with them, she grew very fond of them and didn't want them to leave, but Victor promised right in her eyes that he would come back. He even made it a Pinkie promise. For all he knows, if he breaks the promise, Pinkie would cause a rift in space and time just to hunt him down. He will miss the mares, but Moon Fox feels better about it. Yeah, she will miss them, but she tries not to get too attached to people, because she knows they'll eventually die and while she lives on.

Victor looks up, still worried. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both fly over them and land, carrying a couple of saddlebags. Victor and Moon Fox have little to nothing to pack, except for food and water stored in 1 saddlebag Fluttershy let them borrow. Victor looks at the two princesses. He can read their anticipation, but he's not entirely confident about the success of their project. He feels like the slightest mistake could make things go horribly wrong.

"Mornin', Your Highnesses," he greets, blankly.

"Still got your doubts, I see," says Celestia.

"I do. And let's start with the biggest one: Who the hell is going to rule Equestria when you're both gone."

"Shining Armor volunteered, no questions asked," responds Luna.

"And Princess Cadence agreed to help him out with all the royal stuff," adds Celestia.

"A wise choice," says Victor, feeling interested. "Just make sure it's the REAL Cadence." He replays the season two finale in his head, especially when the so-called Cadenza revealed herself as Queen Chrysalis, the Changeling Queen. Celestia scowls at the thought, remembering the events of that little episode. "So you're both willing to leave Equestria, the place where you rule, for a while just for this?"

"We certainly won't be princesses there, but I'd like to try out being an adventurer for a little."

"So are we gonna just stand her and talk or are we gonna crank this gate up?" says Moon Fox, feeling annoyed.

"I thought you'd never ask," says Celestia. "Alright, everyone aim on the top gem."

"We only tried this with only one person doing the charging," says Victor. "Preferably me..."

"The experiments proved that the more power the gems hold, the longer the radius of the teleportation gets. If we charge it up with just enough energy, we'll create a link to either world. Everypony, give yourself some space."

Moon Fox, Victor, Luna, and Celestia spread apart, all staring at the top gem, laying proudly on the top of the tree arc, ten feet above the ground.

"We might destroys the gems," says Victor.

"Not really. They're indestructible," says Luna.

"Okay, then..." Victor takes a deep breath, and black lightning surrounds him. With a roar, his whole body changes back into the beast. Unlike Moon Fox's eyeballs, his stay black the whole day. His aura causes a gust that flutters with the princesses' manes. "Ready."

"On the count of three," says Celestia. Luna, Moon Fox, and Victor all point at the gem, which is the size of a beach ball. Fox and Victor aim with their hands, but Luna and Celestia aim with their horns.

"One...two...three!"

The four powerful beings fire a stream of energy at the gem. Victor's is black and white lightning, Moon Fox's is a dark blue fire, Luna's is a line of black, and Celestia's is shining yellow, like the Sun. The gem easily consumes the energy, but the four keep going. Victor glares at the charge with his black eyes, mentally commanding it to open the gate to another world. The gems starts to glow white.

"Stop!" shouts Celestia. They all stop, staring at the bright gem. They can feel the heat giving out, and a stream of white energy travels through the arc, charging the other two gems. An aura begins to form within the arc. It grows, and kees growing, until it reaches the edges. They did it.

"It worked!" shouts Luna, happily.

"Holy crap, it really did!" says Victor, surprised. This is an unlikely shift of emotion for him, considering how sadistic and serious he acts when he's in his transformed state. The aura contained by the arc is light blue, and it's being transferred from the three gems, travelling through the trees, making them glow white in the cracks. "Ladies first," says Victor.

Princess Celestia is the first one to take a step. She looks carefully at the swirling vortex in front of her, and to he surprise, a figure starts to manifest. She steps back as a gruff voice comes out of the portal.

"Hello?" asks the voice.

"Who are you?" asks Celestia. Even though she can see edges of a figure, she can't make out who she's talking to. Her friends listen, very surprised how the gate turned out.

"Twig! Who the hell are you?"

"Uh, I'm Princess Celestia..." says Celestia, feeling nervous.

"Never heard of ya."

"Wait, did I just hear 'Twig'?" asks Victor as he gets closer to the gate.

"Victor?" says Twig's voice.

"It worked!"

"What worked?"

"Twig, don't you realize what just happened? We just made a link to both worlds!"

"I guess Corvus was right..." mutters Twig. "Where are you?"

"Equestria. You probably don't know it, but this is where we ended up when we died. What's going on over there?"

"I was just minding my own business, and this tree arc just popped in the middle of the room," answers Twig. "I started calling out to it, and I heard this Celestia. I saw the outlines of a horse, too."

"This world is full of talking ponies..."

The voice from the portal is speechless for a moment. "Okay...? Is it safe to come through?" asks Twig.

"I bet. Moon Fox and I, with the help of Celestia and her sister Luna perfected this gate to transport us safely. it took us a while, but we got it."

"Are you actually talking to Twig?" asks Moon Fox, surprised.

"Yeah. Something wrong?"

"I haven't seen for centuries, is all."

"Victor, you might wanna switch the portal to Earth," suggests Twig.

"Why?" asks Victor.

"Because there's been some weird storms lately in Vremena. I guess I was right about the multiverse thing, and examining these storms and all the cloud formations, they might be a warning to what's going to happen on Earth. We need to prepare ourselves. Earth doesn't have the power to defend against this upcoming threat."

"So what do we do?"

"Bring your pony friends," says Twig, blankly. "I'll send a couple of Settlers to Earth, along with Jin. He can transform like you, so that should give you some firepower. How do you switch this portal to Earth?"

"Shoot the gem on the right," says Celestia. "It should change the focus."

"Alright," says Twig. "Another arc's gonna form, and since we had no previous link with Earth, it could be anywhere. Be prepared."

"Why can't you come, too?" suggests Moon Fox.

"I should stay in Vremena and look out for any more possible signs and warnings. I'm switching the focus now."

Luna shoots the gem on the right side of the arc. The aura grows and switches from light blue to a lime green color. Victor roars and reverts back to his normal state and looks closely into the portal.

"What do you see, human?" asks Luna.

"I see...buildings!" says Victor. "It's definitely Earth." He jumps into the portal and vanishes in a flash of light. Moon Fox runs in next, then Celestia, then Luna. The aura contained by the portal remains, maintaining the connection between the worlds.